To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. - Martin Luther
At least 24 people were killed after unidentified gunmen attacked a church in northern Burkina Faso, in the latest assault against places of worship in the West African nation. The attack took place on Sunday during a weekly service at a Protestant church in Yagha, a volatile province near the border with Niger. A group of "armed terrorists attacked the peaceful local population after having identified them and separated them from non-residents," the regional governor said. "The provisional toll is 24 killed, including the pastor... 18 wounded and individuals who were kidnapped," he added.
For this congregation, for these families, for this community, we offer our grief and prayer. Bring peace, Lord. Bring protection from further harm. For the attackers, we offer our prayers -- we pray for healing from what has prompted such violence, we pray for a path toward hope, we pray that they might be motivated to repent and to make peace.
Thousands of schools across Venezuela are unable to educate children as teachers abandon their profession or leave the country altogether amid one of the worst economic downturns in modern history. They leave behind students so malnourished they faint during class or fail to turn up; schools so neglected they often lack even water and electricity; and young lives put in jeopardy by the disintegration of what was once one of Latin America’s better public schooling systems. Activists claim as many as 120,000 teachers have left the profession in recent years, after hyperinflation rendered their salaries almost worthless.
God, we pray for the children of Venezuela, who are without food, without resources, without a path toward a secure future. We pray for all the people who have been forced to make huge changes to the lives they thought they would have in order to survive. We pray, Lord, for a change in Venezuela that would mark the end of this era of suffering there.
Delta plans to become the first US airline to go carbon neutral, committing U.S. $1 billion over the next 10 years to mitigate all emissions from its global business. The move by Delta will put pressure on other airlines to follow suit at a time when the UN is warning that airplane emissions of carbon dioxide will triple by 2050. One study says that carbon dioxide emitted by airlines increased by 32% from 2013 to 2018, and another analysis says that long-haul flights generate more carbon emissions than the average person in dozens of countries around the world produces in a year.
We pray for those who are in powerful business positions to use their skills and influence in ways that can bring positive change. For these commitments from Delta, for the changes it will cause in the airline industry, for the effects that it may have on climate change, we offer our prayers. We pray that you would bring good things from it, Lord.
A Saskatoon woman is pleading for help after her adult daughter, who has a young child, was refused refugee status by the Canadian government. Last week, the daughter’s application was denied due to concerns about her history with a company allegedly embezzling money for the Iranian government. The mother believes that her daughter’s deportation back to Iran will put her in grave danger. She said her daughter lived like a slave at the business, where she worked as a receptionist. She said she never broke the law and is not a security concern for the Canadian government.
God, we pray for those who have escaped desperate situations, only to remain in desperate situations. Bring hope. We pray for those who have been tasked with the difficult job of discerning truth, issuing acceptances or denials, and protecting security. Give wisdom. We pray for this mother, this daughter, this child. Make a way for justice, Lord.
Each year, hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are trafficked within Canada’s borders, and a greater awareness of the issues surrounding human trafficking will help the public to prevent and report it. Ask your MP to support a National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada as Parliament debates the issue. As Parliament debates creating a National Human Trafficking Awareness Day please ask your MP to support.
Our world is in crisis yet Christians are a people of hope. Join us on a holy and hope-filled journey through Lent. We will contemplate and lament the devastation humans have wrought, and take positive action to reduce our reliance on single-use plastic. “Travel” as an individual, with your family, or with a group of friends. Learn more here!
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