Justice Prayers - January 3, 2024

The Lord does not forget the cry of the oppressed. - Psalm 9:12

Ukraine/Russia war ongoing

The urgency of the news cycle inevitably subsides but war - the destruction of infrastructure, loss of life and plays for power - are very real in Ukraine. On day 679 of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, we pray:

Lord you do not forget. While we can’t hold all the pain and all the hope needed for life’s full; redemption, you can. And so we continue to come to you and ask for a reckoning of this war. That the aggression in the name of power would cease and the interior and exterior wounds of nations, of soldiers, of civilians, of leaders begin to heal.  Help us seek peace, help us pursue it even in our homes where it is easy to forget that peace is not guaranteed.

Sudanese Confront Swedish Oil Giant Over Slaughter in 1990’s

Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples subjected to land rights claim “time marker”

In Brazil, a new law has been implemented  that says Indigenous groups have no rights to land if they did not live there in 1988, when the newest Brazilian constitution was created. 
This legislation, brought in by conservative congress despite Brazil’s Supreme Court ruling it unconstitutional, effectively bars Indigenous groups who had been displaced during military rule earlier in the century from any land claims they would have had. We pray for this injustice to be remedied and for your people, shaped by the cross, to insist on just treatment for all. 

Lord you do not forget. You created humans to have such a deep and rich relationship to the earth. And yet, we continue to insist that this is not the case. We continue to find reasons to dismiss those closest to the land and elevate those who only use it and consume it to make money. But you don’t forget. We pray that the memories of indigenous peoples around the world and in particular in Brazil, would be valued and their access to their lands guaranteed despite colonial insistence of the opposite. We pray for justice for the Indigenous groups left out of this agreement. We pray for your spirit to guide lawmakers in Brazil. 

Japan experiences 7.6 magnitude Earthquake on New Year’s Day

As Japan considers the damage and toll of a big earthquake in its central region, we join with believers and pray:

Lord you do not forget. In the midst of the trauma of loss and confusion of these early days after destruction, you do not leave. May the reality of Christ’s body - your people - be present and active in rebuilding communities around Japan. May there be peace in the chaos and grace in the distress. Help communities come together to heal and rebuild in Jesus’ name and may each person affected know You see them and are with them.

Becoming (part of) the Answer to our Own Prayers

Justice & Mission: Good News for All

As Christians, we are called to gospel-shaped mission, but that looks much different today than in the past. This is due to a changing global society, to advances in communication tools and travel, and to the very important listening to local and global neighbours about dismantling harmful ways that mission has been done in the past. 

At Synod 2023 delegates discussed addressing ministry decline and what it would look like for the CRC to live into mission in a new way. So as we seek to grow in the area together as a church how can we consider the intersection of justice and the great commission? How are mercy and justice part of God’s big mission for his church?  In this Do Justice series writers will help us to consider this topic from the places they live out God’s mission.  

Subscribe so that you don't miss a story in this series!  

Caterpillars and Cornstalks

Teach kids about hunger using this game from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.  The game follows the same rules as the popular children’s activity ‘Chutes and Ladders,’ is designed to teach children about some of the factors that help and hinder the ability of small-scale (subsistence) farmers in the developing world to grow food.