Nigeria

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 7 January 2021

Editor’s note: World In Prayer needs a few more writers and editors! Our team consists of 12-15 volunteers, from several different countries and continents. Each week, one person writes the prayers in response to international news. A second person then edits and posts the prayers online. Because we rotate who writes and edits, you would end up serving approximately once every five or six weeks.

Due to life changes, some of our team members need to cut back. So, we’re looking for people who deeply care about our world, see God’s hand at work throughout all creation and all persons, and are inspired to help write and produce these prayers. If you are interested, please send an email to worldinprayer@aol.com.

Though I may speak with bravest fire,
And have the gift to all inspire,
And have not love; my words are vain;
as sounding brass, and hopeless gain.

Though I may give all I possess,
And striving so my love profess,
But not be giv’n by love within,
The profit soon turns strangely thin. [i]

Our shining Child,
Out of the Nativity you call to all nations, all peoples.

Yet nations build walls, lay mines and militarize their borders. Watchtowers are built and billions in electronic surveillance deployed. O little town of Bethlehem, a beloved carol, is today a town suffering, partitioned. Help us to reconcile these injustices as land is taken, houses destroyed and people’s movement severely restricted. Walls comprise a growing Border Industrial Complex in 2021. We pray for the peoples in Israel where six walls exist; in Morocco, Iran and India each having three walls; South Africa, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Hungary and Lithuania each with two walls, and all countries who violate human rights in this new and growing apartheid.[ii] We pray mightily for the peoples of Syria nearly surrounded as five nations have put up walls for a people utterly displaced and ravaged. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

We pray for those who seek asylum and are “neither here, nor there.” We pray for those who have traveled unbelievable distances and through unimaginable harms to be turned away, silenced, detained and imprisoned. Be with us in this complex suffering. It feels so upside down. We pray for those from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador the so called Northern Triangle where so many have fled due to record levels of violence, torture and death. Our spirits long as we hear how severe the terror must be for parents to send their children alone to flee.[iii] They cross into Mexico and the US. We pray for the Rohingya in Myanmar escaping genocide and now displaced in Bangladesh. Guard them. Sustain them. We pray for the leaders in all of these countries.

We pray for those who grow, harvest and transport food that we may take for granted in these times where shelves are stocked and gas seems plenty, … and in these same times where COVID and famine and war keep house together in Yemen[iv] and now South Sudan, Burkina Faso and northeastern Nigeria, and where 16 other countries are entering famine where children are the first to silently suffer and die. Though I may give all I possess.

We pray where reports of war, political instability, civil war, humanitarian strife and years of occupation are endured. We call out in prayer for peace in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, South Sudan, Somalia, Venezuela, Mali, Lebanon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Republic of Congo, the US and Iran relations, the India and Pakistan conflict, North Korea, between Israel and Palestine, the terrorizing by the Boko Haram in Nigeria, the criminal violence in Mexico, the enmity of Turkey and Kurdish troops, Egypt, and Ukraine. Lord have mercy.

The news of the world is on our radios, TV, laptops, phones, newspapers and word of mouth. We hear of protests in streets. We hear of the breaking of curfews and mass gatherings as during a rave in France. We hear of rage and violence in the US, including the shocking invasion of the US Capitol by reactionary factions, who have been goaded on for months by the words of elected officials. Help us to remember and live out the truth that, in the words of U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black, “…words matter, and the power of life and death is in the tongue.” The news tolls of the police shooting of Andre Hill in Columbus, Ohio, USA as Casey Goodson, Jr. was being laid to rest after a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed him at the doorstep of his Columbus home earlier this month. We grieve and are angered, we march, we lay flowers and light candles. Help us to discern right action lest – My words are vain; as sounding brass.

The news tolls the deaths from COVID19, the overflow in hospitals, surge upon surge. We pray for the teams that know no border at the bedside, vaccine clinic, lab or as first responders. We are hopeful for the multitude of COVID vaccines coming to communities. We call for equity in vaccine distribution as developing nations manifest such a great need. May the wealthy countries dig deeper to stave off further crisis. Unify us in this time of horrendous loss of life and the devastation that has reached in some way into each of our homes and neighborhoods and circles the globe. Protect those in severe economic insecurity from further debt and eviction. Help us to universalize health care access. We pray in gratitude as increased access to women’s health care in Argentina is manifested. Comfort the grieving in every nation, in every town and village. Our spirits long.

We pray for the journalist teams that film, write and publish with risk of death as they give voice and document the injustices around the world. Help us to listen as they lift these tentative voices to the world’s stage. Help each of us to find our voice, and remind those of us with public platforms of our deep responsibility to speak the truth in love. Magnify the Good News. May it stream through all of these spaces – guide every deed.

Help us to honor the multitude of indigenous peoples[v] who keep the land and guard it’s teachings. We pray that the pressures of extraction that degrade rivers, displace tribes and communities, and cultivate institutional racism can be acknowledged for what they are – social and environmental and climate injustices – as they have been through the ages. The marginalized are among us and in the news daily. These transgressions trample our relationship to you, your kin-dom, and all of creation. Help us to hear and heed their warnings. Repair these wrongs. Reconcile us to right action. Come spirit.

Bring us to a new accounting and clarity in these opening days of 2021. Forgive us for the deeds done that cannot be undone, the sins and trespasses and willfulness that did not serve. Open our hearts to inward love, to one and other, nation-to-nation in a new way – in the Good News you gave to the world–of Christ’s birth, his baptism, journey to the cross and resurrection. Help us to forgive one another as we are sheltered and made whole by this great love. Help us to repair, restore and amend what is ours to do. Lord in your great compassion hear us.

Come, spirit, come, our hearts control,
Our spirits long to be made whole,
Let inward love guide every deed;
By this we worship and are freed.[vi]

Amen.

[ii] https://www.tni.org/en/walledworld

[iii] https://www.wola.org/analysis/children-fleeing-violence-central-america-face-dangers-mexico/

[iv] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/opinion/sunday/2020-worst-year-famine.html

[v] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_indigenous_peoples

[vi] Hopson

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, December 17, 2020

Come now, O Prince of Peace, make us one body.
Come, O Lord Jesus, reconcile your people. – Geonyong Lee (Tune: OSOSO)

With heavy hearts, we come to you during this time of waiting, this time of Advent as we prepare for the coming of the One who is God’s incarnated Love. Only this year, this time, looks and feels and is very different, as all the world shudders under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic which has so far taken 300,000 lives in the United States…which has caused the flight of nearly 3.6 million from the city of New York…which continues to stress health care workers and facilities to their outer limits…which has caused the shutdown of all the theatres of London’s West End and New York’s Broadway…which is causing nationwide lockdowns in South Korea, Germany, and parts of England. And so, we hold them all in our hearts and ask your abundant mercy to shower down upon one and all in this hurting world. Come now, O Prince of Peace – for we ARE one body.

–Silence for reflection–

Come now, O God of love, make us one body.
Come, O Lord Jesus, reconcile your people.

Even as we pray for reconciliation and peace, we learn that more than 250,000 children, youth, and vulnerable adults have been abused in the faith-based and state care facilities in New Zealand over the past several decades, about 40% of all those in care, with the majority being Maori children, members of the indigenous peoples of that nation. We learn of the winter storm threatening the northeastern United States, bringing frigid temperatures and heavy snows to areas already bowed down by the pandemic, and threatening the lives of those left homeless. And so, we hold them in our hearts and ask your healing hand to rest upon one and all in this hurting world. Come now, O God of love – for we ARE one body.

–Silence for reflection—

Come now and set us free, O God, our Savior.
Come, O Lord Jesus, reconcile all nations.

Even as we long for reconciliation, we learn that nearly 2.3 million children in Ethiopia have been cut off from humanitarian aid, including food and medicine. We learn that half of Singapore’s migrant workers are COVID positive, despite the generally low COVID statistics in the population. We learn that Boko Harum has kidnapped more than 300 male students from a school in Nigeria. And we learn that Hungary’s parliament has passed a law prohibiting same-sex couples from adopting children, following their anti-gay policies begun earlier this year. And so, we hold them in our hearts and ask your reconciling spirit to fill one and all in this hurting world. Come now, O God our Savior – for we ARE one body.

—Silence for reflection—

Come, Hope of unity, make us one body.
Come, O Lord Jesus, reconcile all nations.

With hope-filled hearts, we gaze at our world and our hearts are lifted by the Electoral College affirming the results of the November Presidential election in the United States. We affirm the Giving Pledge initiative which is encouraging the world’s richest people to donate a large portion of their fortunes to charitable causes. We applaud the 370 major religious leaders worldwide who have called for an end to conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people. And we cheer with 74-year-old Pat Ormond who has just graduated from college alongside her granddaughter at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga in the United States. And so, we hold them in our hearts and ask that your hope continue to life our spirits and those of all this hurting world. Come, Hope of Unity – for we ARE one body.

All of these things we pray, O God who Comes. Remind us of your incredible, unchanging love for this hurting, broken world, and fill us with the certainty that we are indeed ONE body.

Amen and amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs., Dec. 10, 2020

Dear God,

We know this above all things – your steadfast love endures beyond all things here on this earth and beyond this earth. We know this, and yet we still struggle. We know that we are your people, and we also know that you most certainly are our God. Although we know we can rest in this certainty, Lord, there is so much more that we are so very uncertain about – so much that we don’t know. So much to worry about that we sometimes find ourselves frozen unknowing what to do next.

God, we give to you the things we are uncertain about, because many of us truly don’t know what may be next in each of our lives.

We are uncertain about our jobs, our livelihood, the things which allow us to not worry about where our next meals may come from and keep us safe in the places we call home. We are uncertain about our health and the health of the ones we hold dear. We have lost some of our dearest people due to all kinds of illnesses, including Covid-19. As the numbers of those infected and those who have died continue to climb in the U.S. and around the world to levels we never imagined, we are uncertain about our own lives.

Although we pray we may stay healthy – we are uncertain about how much time we each have on this earth. We are uncertain about how to take care of those we love – knowing that we must stay away in order to care for one another. We are uncertain about what our world is going to look like in the next weeks, months, and years, and how it will change and become a different place than we remember.

We are uncertain, Lord. Deeply uncertain, but as we look toward this next week in the season of Advent – we look towards this week which encompasses joy.

We find joy and hope even in the places where there seems to be no goodness. We see the tensions in Venezuela due to the election. We worry as we see more than 300 people in southeastern India hospitalized with an unidentified illness. Our hearts ache as we see violence in Ethiopia, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. We grieve the losses, including at least seven people have been killed in ongoing violent protests in northern Iraq.

Even as we see violence and our neighbors being hurt, we find hope in the helpers. And even more, we find joy in you, and in those making a difference even amidst terror.
We see joy, Lord, in the faces that light up when a Zoom call is first opened and we see people we haven’t seen in a long time.
We recognize joy, as we see people come together to lift up marginalized voices.
We hear joy in our middle and high schoolers who choose to have difficult conversations about topics that matter.
We feel joy as we keep going – as we continue doing some of the things we enjoy in an altered way.

We have joy and hope, Lord. And for this joy we are so grateful. We have joy, Lord, because it is you who gives us the joy that runs through our bodies. The joy that you are greater and can give us more possibilities than we could ever imagine. The joy that we can be absolutely certain, that even if our world may be breaking, our very bodies might be giving out, our jobs may not be there tomorrow, our dearest friends and family may be unhappy with us – even with all of this – we are absolutely certain that you fill us with a joy that will lift us up. Help us, Lord, to spread this unbelievable joy to every single person we meet – so that we may not hold this for ourselves, but so that this world might have a glimmer of your infinite and amazing joy.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 26 November 2020

Creator God,

This year has been different. We know you don’t need us to tell you that – but it helps to get it off our minds and you have broad shoulders to carry our burden.

Easter was different, Eid and Diwali, too. And now Thanksgiving and next it will be Christmas. We know people’s circumstances are constantly changing, that over the course of our lives festivals have always gradually changed. But that was little by little and okay. There are the family stories about “when we moved …” across countries and continents and cultures. We learnt to do the New Zealand haka and we learned those big, dark birds were edible and called them turkeys. We found Norwegian brown cheese palatable but that there is no cheese at all in many tropical countries. So many changes, Lord, but why so many all heaped on us in this one year?

So, we give thanks.

We give thanks that 10 months of concentrated, dedicated work in many countries is being brought to fruition as viable vaccines for Covid19 are discovered and successfully tested.

We give thanks for the generosity of the purchase of at least a billion doses of one vaccine for distribution in developing Countries.

We give thanks that the unprecedented lockdowns across the world are giving the opportunity for fresh, green environment, restarts.

And at the same time we recognise that disasters these lockdowns are causing – the businesses closed; the jobs lost; the lives disastrously changed by diverted medical attention; the failure of human contact.

We pray –

: for the dedicated doctors and nurses working to exhaustion, risking their lives,
: for the ministers and pastors working in unexpected new ways and through unaccustomed media to support others,
: for those who mourn and those who weep,
: for the politicians unsure which science is correct; which advisors are right,
: for elderly family members unable to comprehend the depth and seriousness “Don’t kill Gran”.
: for those who are turned into unwarranted scapegoats,
: for our own families and friends,
: for ourselves.

While all this goes on, there remains the continuing battle of wars and rumors of wars, violence used against neighbours in word or action, and refugees everywhere. We hold in our prayers those in Ethiopia and Tigray province, Sudan, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Nigeria, the USA, and in too many corners of your world. We pray for listening hearts and minds unclouded by fear and fake news. We give thanks for all working to bring peace, truth, reconciliation and justice into our brokenness.

Lord, help us to take the road less travelled that we may make a difference for your kingdom. AMEN

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, November 5, 2020

Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. Psalm 104: 1-5

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Job 38:4

Oh, Lord,
We breathe in the verses in these scriptures. Awaken us. Be with us now. Stir our awareness. Strengthen our resolve and hope. Help us to focus on your creation beyond these times yet in the midst of these times. Let us not be distracted by grand schemes, nattering and judging of this and that, ways that divide and devalue, ways that twist us away from you. Turn our eyes toward your light. This great light is all around us. You revealed your truth and way to us through your son Jesus.

We light a candle or watch the sunrise or the afterglow as the day settles into dusk or gaze at the ascendent moon full and now declining in this first week of November 2020.

Everything seems at stake and our anxieties rise and rise. The news seems to pour over our lives — the world news this week challenges us, occupies our waking moments and even our dreams. We are so burdened and distracted. What foundations do we cling to that will fall, will disintegrate, will become dust? What ways of being no longer work, perhaps have never worked and must be let go of? In our everyday lives help us to loosen our grip on being right and judging others. You forgive us. Help us to forgive. This is a potent act. It returns us to love. Can we see into our neighbor’s eyes? What is our friend really needing right now? What would it be like to delight in the stranger as we would upon seeing a family member or friend walking towards us?

Help us to connect with those both true and false to us and we to them. Yes, all of our ancestors as we have remembered the dead on All Souls Day. Help us to see that our acts have consequences. Guide our understanding that we can change and perhaps soften. We can express kindness. We can produce a miracle with a change of heart, an apology can be communicated in a second, in word, behind a mask and with a light touch.

We pray for the love expressed as we hear of Elena S. of Caracas, Venezuela who dresses in PPE. A cafeteria worker at a kindergarten, she goes to her hospitalized father to clean his bed, feed and diaper him in the COVID–19 wing of a city, of a country destitute of health care workers. Lord in your compassion.

We take up our individual duties and jobs during this pandemic that has infected 48 million people. May we consider the sick, severely ill and dying. Help us to attend to this great suffering. Guide the health care work force. Position their every step and wrap them in appropriate PPE. Help our hospital administrations fight this pandemic and sustain their resources and mission. Let no patient be turned away. Help us to use our ICU beds, step down units, rehab facilities and skilled nursing facilities to take care of each and all even as some hospitals must divert patients to other facilities. Sustain those in training and gather our energies to fill the six-million gap in nurses needed around the world. We honor the over 7000 health care workers who have died world-wide. Sustain their families and communities in this great loss. We mourn the over 1,209,927 dead as of this week. Lord in your compassion.

We pray for justice and right action by the government of Nigeria as it sets up tribunals to hear and address the Lekki Toll Gate violence and murder of protestors. We are concerned of the independence of its judiciary. Sustain journalistic voice and those who testify on the crimes and losses even as they are held and beaten. Lord have mercy.

We pray for the people of Austria mourning as gunmen took the lives of four individuals and wounded 17 persons in central Vienna. We decry terrorism.

We pray for the nation of Ethiopia as it mourns the massacre of 54 men, women and children from the Amhara ethnic group attack by an armed group who then looted and set fire to the community. Lord have mercy. Remove the swords, bullets and weapons of terrorism. Let there be no collusion by governments of the people with paramilitaries and false liberation groups that kill.

Draw leaders close to their people. Draw them close to their suffering. Help them to see the promise of each child, the strength of youth who dream. Unlock the cages. Task those in power to protect the least with food and water not with armed guards in watchtowers. Challenge our implicit bias of who belongs and who does not. Send your messengers to those who would build structures that divide and deny. Remind us that our institutions like physical structures can act like walls and prisons denying human rights and causing terrible isolation. We pray mightily for justice.

Oh Lord your tent so vast as the universe we see at night it contains us in all times. This world is trembling. Call our faith. This world so broken. Call our active hope. This world is so tender. Call our love.

Amen.

The following prayer is offered for those of our readers who are fearful about the results of the U.S. election, and may wish to join in making this vow before God.

Today
I awake
Realizing that the election
will not be settled today.
Or tomorrow.
Not until all the votes (including the paper ballots) are counted,
And the results are certified by Dec. 14.
Not until the January 6, 2021 Joint Session of Congress to count electoral votes and declare election results.

Today
I awake
Knowing that I cannot hold onto my dread
for that long.
Choosing that I will no longer
Let my life be ruled by
fear, fostered by fear,
foisted by fear upon fear.
Today I choose Life.
Whatever the election may bring.

Today
I affirm
That nothing – but nothing – but nothing
Will change my commitment
To make this a world (and a nation)
That is safe, and just, and healthy,
and fruitful, and life-affirming,
for my LGBTQIA+ friends,
and my Black friends,
and my immigrant friends,
and my Muslim friends,
and my Jewish friends,
and my Latinx friends.
For my disabled friends,
and my homeless and underemployed friends.
For my youngest friends
and my oldest friends
of every color or shape
or ethnicity or national origin or gender
or religion (or lack of religion).

Today
I affirm my commitment
To make this a world (and a nation)
That is filled with compassion and justice
and hopes for the well-being
even for my political opponents.
Even for those with whom I disagree.

Today
Whatever happens in this election
Today, I choose love.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs., October 29, 2020

We meet you in prayer this day, asking for hope and guidance during these times of great uncertainty.

We lift our hearts in prayer for all those protesting police brutality:

In Philadelphia, PA, U.S., where Walter Wallace, Jr., a black man experiencing a mental health crisis, was shot and killed by police.
In Nigeria amid the #EndSARS weeks-long protests, where dozens of unarmed demonstrators were killed this week at two different demonstrations.

We ask for Your peace, in place of our violence.

Less than a week before Election Day in the United States, many of us are nervously praying for a just election and for all who are able to make their voice heard at the polls.

We ask for Your calm, in place of our anxiety.

We pray for the world during this global pandemic as countries contemplate fresh lockdowns amid the surge of new Covid-19 deaths. Many of us feel completely discouraged.

We pray particularly for France, where there’s a record number of new cases.
And especially for refugee camps in Syria, where the cases have risen tenfold.

We ask for Your hope, in place of our despair.

We continue prayers for Syria, where violence is steadily escalating, and, this week, Russian airstrikes have killed more than 50, and injured many others.

We ask for Your love, in place of our hatred.

O God of all people, grant us open eyes, minds, and hearts: for all that we can learn during this uncertain time, for new understanding, for abundant generosity, and for more love, that we may learn to truly be Your beloved community.

Amen.

World News this Week in Prayer, Thursday, October 22, 2020

“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Dear God,

Our world is changing in ways that we never imagined. We are in need of your unwavering love. We live in a world which holds so much pain and need – need for hope, peace, expressed love, justice and heartfelt understanding. Comfort us. Strengthen us. God, our world might be changing, but you are changeless. You remain with us. Help us to find new ways to live and to love acknowledging our diversity and honoring differences.

God, relationships seem to be everchanging. When things fall apart, we ask that you bind us up, heal our spiritual brokenness and pain. We know, Lord, that you are a part of all of us, and so we know that you deeply care for all of our relations. Whether connections with family, friends, work mates and neighbors or in our expanding interactions around the world we ask that you bring your peace to one and many. We pray for the liaisons between China and the United States as tensions continue to rise. May peace always prevail and may conversations be stateswoman-like and more fruitful. We ask that you be with those in the United Kingdom and countries within the European Union as the economy is being affected and so many are already in need of help. We also pray for relationships that spiral into violence. We ask for your healing presence for those in Nigeria where anti-police violence protests continue. As demonstrators have been horribly wounded in Lagos, we pray that somehow all of your dear people might be protected and comforted.

We need your help, Lord, with our relationships. We are so grateful that although our human relationships might be shaken or fall severely apart at times, we know your spirit is woven into every part of our lives.

God, as new forest fires in Colorado destroy homes and force hundreds of people to evacuate, and fires are burning in Utah, United States we ask for your comfort. We ask that peace and safety be rendered to those who are suffering from natural and man made disasters throughout the world. Shore up the essential workers, firefighters and logistics teams that work day and night in great peril. Guard those who steward and safeguard parks, wetlands, preserves, great rivers and watersheds.

God, we are in need of your constant and abiding presence as we see Covid-19 cases and deaths sweep upward. With over 40 million cases worldwide, we are weary of knowing how best to help neighbors and distant kin. As we sort through ways in the UK, France, Spain, and Italy and around the world on how to disrupt the spread of this virus, help us to bear witness that your love encourages and strengthens. Although we are in deep need of change in this world guide us to find ways to protect our dear people. We ask for your cooling breath to come upon us all. May your shining presence always be there even as we forget that “yes!” you are always alongside us.

We pray for critical watch and diplomatic action as cyber attacks by Iran have targeted countries in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as hundreds of individuals and entities in 30 additional countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Guide us as we negotiate in this changing world.

God, sometimes it is so hard to not be dismayed and anxious and so we ask that you carry our fears and lift these burdens. Lead us God as we try to be spreaders of hope, peace, and understanding as we kindle new connections and rebuild old relationships. For your infinite love we are forever grateful.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs., October 8, 2020

Editor’s note: World Teachers’ Day has been celebrated internationally on 5 October each year since 1994, commemorating the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers, which establishes standards for teacher rights and responsibilities, as well as teacher preparation and support. This year’s theme, “Teachers: Leading in Crisis, Reimaging the Future,” acknowledges the additional challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for teachers worldwide and seeks to remind us that we must support teachers, protect the right to education, and celebrate the accomplishments of teachers in responding to this current crisis and building the resilience needed to shape the future of education in our world.

A reading from the Psalms, chapter 86, verse 11: “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.”

And a reading from the Letter to the Colossians, chapter 3 verses 16 to 17: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Wise Teacher, you call us to learn to live in right relationship with one another. Political tensions deepen in places like Kyrgyzstan, where the contested and potentially corrupted results of a recent election have led to violence and unrest, and the United States, where similar violence and unrest have followed in the wake of disordered and inconsistent pandemic responses and racial inequalities.

Teach us to guard our hearts, to use our political and social power on behalf of the powerless and vulnerable, and to treat each other as the beloved children of God that they are.

Just Teacher, you call us to learn to live in right relationship with your creation. Storm Alex has proven deadly in the face of heavy rains and flash floods in south-eastern France and north-western Italy, yet so many of us refuse to acknowledge the ways our behavior affects the climate of this world we call home. The Pacific waters along the shore of Kamchatka, Russia, are so polluted that the water is discolored and dead sea life washes onto shore every day, but so many of us fail to connect our well-being and our very survival with good stewardship of the environment.

Teach us to tend your garden in the way you intend for us, with selflessness, love, and deep gratitude.

Loving Teacher, you call us to learn to live in right relationship with you. Open our eyes to see you in the faces of those who suffer, including mentally-ill children in Nigeria who are being discovered after years of abuse and neglect by their parents, the hundreds of Myanmar children who have been driven into illegal work in the seafood industry after the closure of migrant learning centers in the southern province of Ranong, and the impoverished millions who face starvation as the human-made famine in Yemen enters its fifth year.

Teach us to number our days, to understand who we are to whom we belong, so that we might apply our hearts, hands, and voices with wisdom.

Patient Teacher, you call us to learn, to teach, and to grow in our faith in you and in our love for others. Teach us respect and honor you, fill our hearts with the word of Christ, form us so that whatever we do, in word or deed, we might do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 10, 2020

May you be well,
And all whom you love,
And those you work with,
And all who eat of the crops you handle.

That has been my prayer/mantra at least one afternoon a week for the past month, as I joined with other volunteers to prepare 100,000 Covid-19 prevention kits to be given to agricultural workers in this part of California (U.S.). One washable cloth mask, one small bottle of hand sanitizer, several small multi-lingual instruction cards in each zip lock bag. One bag, one prayer. Fifty completed bags in each box; another prayer. Looking at the stacks and stacks of boxes ready to be delivered to the agencies who will pass the kits out; another prayer.

For all who face the risk of Covid-19, or extreme heat, or smoke, or drought, or flooding in order to feed themselves and others; for all who work in the fields, and harvest the seas, and nurture the livestock; for all who gather and transport and package and prepare the food we eat; for all who have barely enough food to survive, and those who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and those for whom mealtime is a feast of abundance:

May you be well,
And all whom you love,
And those you work with,
And all who share in the fruits of the planet.

It is so, so hard to pray for those who want to hurt us or endanger the lives of those we love. The Russian and Chinese (and probably other) agencies using social media to foment unrest and influence elections in other countries. Whoever started QAnon, and all the social media and dark web sites that are allowing its conspiracy theories to spread. United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government, who have threatened to override elements of the Brexit withdrawal agreement with the European Union – even though that would violate international law. The Niger army that, instead of protecting civilians, has now been accused by Niger’s human rights commission of executing dozens of civilians during counterinsurgency operations.

Countries treating dissent as treachery: China, arresting people in Inner Mongolia who protest against the edict that Chinese language textbooks must replace Mongolian language ones; opposition leaders in Belarus who have been terrorized, detained, and threatened with deportation.

United States President Donald Trump, who has made more than 20,000 lies or misleading comments during the past 15 months – including, it has now been proven this week, lying repeatedly about the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, and repeatedly denigrating those who serve in the U.S. armed forces. And U.S. legislators who have failed to extend financial relief to the millions who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 and are now facing eviction and homelessness. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro giving in to international pressure to protect the rainforest against fires by imposing a 120-day ban on fires and deploying the army to badly-hit areas – while simultaneously declaring the fires a lie.

It is so, so hard to pray for them. And yet, it is like watching a teenager engaging in a risky activity despite everything you can do to dissuade them: you hope, and hope, and hope they will come to their senses before anyone gets hurt. Despite being terrified and furious, despite the desire to lock them in their room without privileges until they turn 30 (at least), still you pray for them to escape the worst consequences of their rash actions.

And so we pray for all governments and corporations and individuals who are endangering lives, and for those whose lives are endangered:

May you be well,
And all whom you govern,
And those who rule over you,
And all who must choose ways to live together in mutual benefit.

In California, Oregon and Washington (U.S.), the skies are orange, the sun invisible, and smoke and ash from the 56 major wildfires currently burning over 3.7 million acres is making the air unhealthy to breath; thousands have been evacuated. Greece is struggling to find shelter for the 13,000 migrants who had been living in the overcrowded Moria camp on the Island of Lesbos, until it was destroyed by fire earlier this week. Sudan is trying to protect its 2,300-year-old pyramids in Meroe from unprecedented flooding by the River Nile, which has also made thousands homeless. Yet, experts have known for at least 20 years how to manage forests and grasslands to prevent massive wildfires. We know how to treat migrants with dignity and safety. We have learned how to restore wetlands and floodplains to mitigate flooding. We are learning how to plant and farm in order restore depleted groundwater and break the cycle of desertification.

For those who are fighting natural disasters; for those waiting to hear if their homes have survived, for those living in fear, and those wondering how they will once again find the strength to start over; for those whose warnings and advice have been ignored, and those who know what to do but not how to rally massive support and resources:

May you be well,
And all whom you want to protect,
And the earth that we cherish.

Several well-known figures died this week. Chadwick Boseman, the U.S. movie actor who starred as Black American icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown, and inspired audiences worldwide as the regal Black Panther, died at age 43. Through him, many Black children for the first time were able to see themselves as strong, beautiful, worthy, and able to change the world. English actress Dame Diana Rigg, who starred in Game of Thrones and as Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, died at age 82. But it was her role as Emma Peel in the original Avengers that led a whole generation of young women to imagine themselves as bright, inventive, funny, and powerful against evil. Top South African human rights lawyer George Bizos died at age 92. He represented some of the country’s best-known political activists during the apartheid years, including defending Nelson Mandela, and became one of the architects of South Africa’s new constitution.

And then there are the living heroes whom virtually no one has heard of. In Nigeria, math teacher Basirat Olamide Ajayi came up with a way to help 12th graders prepare for crucial final exams despite the Covid-19 school closures, by offering free, 5-minute video classes online via Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram. She now has more than 1,800 students – and not only from Nigeria. Also in Nigeria, Anthony Mmesoma Madu, an 11-year-old male ballet dance student in a country where ballet is almost unknown, won the hearts of the world after a video of him dancing in the rain went viral. This week, he was awarded several scholarships to continue his studies in the United States, and his teacher, self-trained Daniel Ayala, also received a scholarship for a two-week intensive U.S. training program for ballet teachers. In Sweden, a secret group of artists is sneaking stunning miniature installations for mice into public spaces in the dead of night. The clandestine collective ― called Anonymouse ― has installed 25 pieces*, mostly in cellar windows, across Sweden, in France and on the Isle of Man. In Jerusalem, Israel, hospitals are enlisting those who recovered from Covid-19 and are antibody positive, to visit hospitalized patients who would otherwise be in isolation. In Singapore, two mothers who lost sons to suicide have started the PleaseStay movement, urging a national strategy to address youth mental health and suicide, to break the taboo against talking about these topics, and – most poignantly – to urge troubled teens and youngsters, to “please stay.”

For all heroes, alive and dead, great and small; for the hope they give us; for those whom they inspire:

May you be well,
And all whom you help,
And all whom you inspire,
And all who gladly enliven the world.

For all of who you read, and share, and pray these prayers:

May you be well,
And all whom you love,
And the great, wonderful, terrifying and awesome world you surround with your prayers.

Amen.

*Ok, we can’t resist: here’s a website where you can enjoy some of Anonymouse’s creations: https://www.instagram.com/anonymouse_mmx/?utm_source=ig_embed

World News in Prayer – August 6, 2020

Dear Lord, help us to hear these voices.

I pray today that my knees and back hold up. I pray that my mom and children are ok in our two-bedroom apartment while I work at a hotel and clean 15 rooms each day. I pray that my paycheck will be enough, that my car holds up, that someone cares about me enough to say “hello” to give a smile.

There are approximately 926,960 maids and housekeeping cleaners in the U.S. Sometimes cleaners are assigned 30 rooms in a day.

Across the barrier of our indifference awaken us to the other, help us to understand the burdens they carry, oh Christ, by your grace. May we understand the equity built into a living wage, the costs of health care and child care, housing and food, transportation, and school supplies.

I was a child soldier in Liberia, but first I was a schoolboy. I still pray for my grandparents. The soldiers arrived and took me away. I was taught to fight. Smoking drugs would energize us. The war is over, long over and many of us are trying to get off of drugs. I pray that I can leave this sad life. What price must I pay for my country’s war. I pray that I am not abandoned and shunned. I pray that God will protect me and hear my voice.

The UN investigates and reports on child soldiers. The top-ranking countries are Afghanistan, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Myanmar, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen. Children as young as eight are used as combatants, guards, human shields, porters, messengers, spies, cooks, and/or for sexual purposes. Girl soldiers are often used as “wives” and sexually abused by their commanders and other soldiers. Iraq’s Kurdish and Yezidi children were recruited. Myanmar children are forcibly recruited into the National Army. In Nigeria girls, ages 7 and 8 were used as suicide bombers. In Somalia over 900 children were recruited and posted at checkpoints. Two factions in South Sudan have taken over 17,000 children. In Syria, warring sides have recruited children as young as seven, half are under age 15. They have been exploited in propaganda videos. In Yemen, where we pray that those suffering from starvation will be cared for, boys are recruited to fight on all sides.

Across the world where these horrendous injustices continue against the most vulnerable, their childhood swept away, torn from their families, oh Christ by your grace we call out against war and these atrocities. Help us to take right action. Help us to speak out against militarization. We pray for those suffering and the loss to their families.

Will my land flood and be silted over taking away our livelihood? I feel there is nothing to do but wait and watch. I pray we will be safe and not lose everything. The wind is picking up and the rain has already been falling.

River flooding in population-dense countries includes India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Thailand, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, and Cambodia.

Oh, Christ in your mercy, protect these countries from what seems to be inevitable flooding and a cycle of loss and destitution. We pray for those in harm’s way around the world. Give us the ability to work together to share resources and contribute knowledge to reduce this suffering. Be with the emergency transport, the health care workers, the utility crews, the engineers, and their teams as they design and plan and understand the rivers that bring life and death.

We are the over 1,700 health care workers who have died of COVID 19. We did our work, loved our work, trained many years, endured long hours, cried and spoke out and then we too became sick. We were not indifferent or complacent. We pray this pandemic will end that the billions of people under this veil of suffering will find comfort that leaders will come together in reason and generosity of heart and mind.

Medscape publishes the names of workers around the world. We name these few in remembrance of so many. Onyenachi Obasi, 51 Nurse, National Health Service, Barking and Dagenham, London, England. Morteza Vojdan, age unknown, General Practitioner, Mashhad, Iran. Patricia Wilke, 63, Pharmacist, Winslow, Arizona. Valeriu Pripa, 59, Head of Radiological Imaging Department, Chisinau, Moldova. Rosalinda “Rose” Pulido, 46, Oncologist, San Juan de Dios Hospital, Pasay City Philippines. Freddy Pow Hing, 59, Interventional Cardiologist, Hospital IESS Duran, Duran, Ecuador. Anonymous, 62, Organ Transplantation, Wuhan, China. Oh Christ, in your compassion and mercy give us the will to endure, care, and remember.

We’re still in shock; we’re still refusing to believe that something happened. We still think it’s like a dream or something. It was terrifying. It was horrible.

Residents of Beruit, Lebanon are reeling after an explosion of ammonium nitrate leveled the port injuring at least 50,00 people and leaving at least 137 dead. Residents have been working together to clear the rubble and investigations seeking to determine responsibility are underway as residents grieve and begin to rebuild from the devastation.

I am a tree, a forest, a bird, a butterfly, a bumblebee and a bat I have no human voice, my habitat is shrinking and yet I cling to beautiful nature. Hear my song, the wind moving in the fir, the singing wetland, the happy buzz and light wings. Receive our offerings.

Oh Lord, we have trespassed on our own earth, we have stolen and killed, sprayed and paved over, and cut down without thought to 7 generations. Forgive us. Approximately 30,000 species per year — about three per hour — are being driven to extinction. Where is our mindfulness? Nearly 80 percent of species diversity of our world is destroyed because of habitat loss — approximately 5,760 acres per day or 240 acres per hour. Christ in your mercy awaken us to our stewardship. Help us to live and step lightly.

Oh Lord, call us to your table of life. Remind us of the mighty work we need to do to care for each and all. Rest us at night and renew us for this day that is before us.

Amen.