My we help the helpless, comfort the mourner, sympathize with the widow and fatherless, and may we always be ready to put up with wrong, to be long-suffering, to be very patient, full of forgiveness, counting it a small thing that we should forgive our fellow-men since we have been forgiven by God. - Charles Spurgeon
Zimbabwe has been managing a spike in Cholera cases this year. Measures such as limiting funerals to 50 people and forbidding attendees from shaking hands or serving food at the gatherings have been put into place. Authorities are discouraging visiting outdoor markets or open air church meetings where sanitation facilities are not present.
Cholera, a water-borne disease caused by ingesting contaminated food or water, often spreads quickly throughout Zimbabwe because of its poor sanitation infrastructure and limited clean water.
Lord, clean water can mean life and contaminated water, death. So we pray for these communities living daily life under the threat of severe illness. We pray for money, investment and solutions that match the communities in need. We pray for those with vulnerabilities to be kept healthy.
Protect the Children
The UN estimates that there are over 100 incubator babies at risk in Gaza due to the fuel cuts. This is in addition to the Gaza Ministry of Health report that 40% of the 5000 Palestinian deaths are in fact children. We pray mercy for them now.
Eternal Father, the one who gathers their children like a mother hen, we pray that you would hover over the incubators of these babies. Keep them safe. Lead them and their caregivers to secure shelter. Keep the fuel lines flowing, Lord. May the leaders making decisions on all sides remember these precious lives and let these children’s very existence be what guides their next steps. May those in deep grief know you are with the brokenhearted.
Free the Captives
Over 200 people were kidnapped by Hamas gunmen are believed to be hidden in Gaza. Included in the stolen are over 20 children and between 10 and 20 people over the age of 60. While 4 women have been released so far, so many families still do not know how their loved ones are being treated or if they are alive. We pray for this nightmare to end.
God, this is a nightmare. Be with the ones terrorized tonight. Let them know you are close. Protect them from bodily harm, keep the children safe. May your Spirit lead their captors to repentance and may the freedom for these captives come fast. God, hear their prayers. Do not let humanity’s darkest need win here.
All six states voted No to a proposal to amend the constitution to recognise First Nations people and create a body for them to advise the government. This “no” vote followed a fraught and deeply acrimonious campaign. Supporters of the Yes side said that solidifying Indigenous peoples into the constitution would unite Australia and usher in a new era. No leaders said that the idea was divisive and that the new advisory body would slow government decision-making.
Jesus, you tore down the dividing wall between us. And yet we still do not know how to be together, how to honor one another in word, in deed and in the foundations of our imaginations. We pray for the wounded hearts and the fearful hearts in Australia this week. We pray that the truth about the God Who Is Love would form the imaginations of settler and indigenous populations around the world.
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.
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It doesn't have to be difficult or scary to talk with your kids about reconciliation. Kids Corner has some great lessons focusing on reconciliation in an age appropriate way (plus resources for parents). Check it out!
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