Justice Prayers - January 22, 2020

To trust God in the light is nothing, but trust him in the dark, that is faith.  - C.H. Spurgon 

Coastal GasLink and the Wet’suwet’en People

One year ago there were dramatic images of conflict in the path of a Coastal GasLink pipeline in Canada’s traditional Wet'suwet'en territory.  Today, attempts are being made to restart construction and the potential for conflict is all too real. There is a complexity within the Wet’suwet’en community itself -- hereditary chiefs and their supporters oppose the project, saying they want to protect their traditional hunting, trapping and fishing territory for future generations. But, many elected First Nation leaders are in support of the project because of its economic development potential. The question of land title, jurisdiction and consent for development on non-reserve lands (much of the planned pipeline path)  is formally unsettled but there are clear legal arguments in favour of the jurisdiction of hereditary chiefs in major Supreme Court decisions. There are several Christian Reformed Churches in this region with important relationships with Wet’suwet’en people and well as people who work in the gas industry or the RCMP.

God, we amplify the prayer requests of one of the local CRC pastors over this complex and critical situation -- we pray that God’s people be ambassadors of your reconciliation power. We pray that your church will grow in its understanding of injustice. We pray we would listen with open hearts when we hear things that are new, or different from our current views. We pray that those who have been bypassed in the past would today be honoured and empowered. We pray that life would be spared, that land would be stewarded, and that lessons would be learned that would serve as signposts for  the journey of reconciliation.

Praying for Asylum

January 29 is the anniversary of the first asylum seeker who was turned away from the U.S and sent back to Mexico while asking for asylum, a policy now known as Remain in Mexico that has impacted thousands of vulnerable immigrants. To draw public attention to this and other drastic changes to the U.S. asylum system, January 29 will be a National Day of Prayer, drawing faith communities together for vigils across the U.S. and advocacy calling for an end to U.S. government policies like Remain in Mexico.

God, we pray for the ones who wait -- who are far from home, surrounded by strangers, and have run out of options and run out of hope. We pray for the ones whose job it is to implement these new policies, and who see the faces of the ones who bear the policies’ devastating impacts. We pray, God, for the powerful to seek justice, and to use their influence to protect rather than imperil the poor and powerless.

Australia's Future Refugees

A climatologist and geophysicist is warning that Australia’s rising temperatures could soon lead to a new generation of climate refugees, as residents are forced to flee a continent that could become “too hot and dry for human habitation.” Australia is in the midst of one of its worst fire seasons on record, with bushfires burning since September and claiming the lives of 28 people, killing more than a billion animals and razing forests and farmland the size of Bulgaria.

God, for the ongoing impact that these fires will have on Australia’s people, and on the world, we pray for your providence and for your hope. We pray for those whose lives have already changed. We pray for the adaptation that will have to come.