Prayer cycle (7-14 April): East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines

Week 15 (1-14 April): East Timor, Indonesia, Philippines

Intercessions

Give thanks for:

• The witness of those who work towards an end to violence.
• Those who have worked for greater understanding among different religions.
• Those who stand with the poor.
• Gamelan, gongs, and bamboo buzzers.
• Shadow puppets, an ancient art with which Christians tell Bible stories.
• Rice from fertile soil and fish from the warm sea.

Pray for:

• The rebuilding of East Timor into a stable and independent nation.
• Healing for all those who have suffered the loss of loved ones and livelihood because of religious strife and political conflict.
• The Christians of Ambon, who after years of peace with their Muslim neighbours have endured a long and deadly conflict.
• Refugees and internally displaced people who long to return to their families and homes.
• Women who leave their country in order to provide for their families.
• Contact between different ethnic and religious groups, to bring deeper understanding and tolerance, rather than hatred and violence.
• Governments that will end corruption and strive for true justice and peace for all.
• The people of West Papua who are denied their rights.
• Those trapped in dire poverty, that they may have food, shelter and security.
• Those who must rebuild their lives after volcanic eruptions, mudslides and tsunamis.
• The victims of extrajudicial killings and violence in the Philippines, and the Christian ministries of care and advocacy for justice, the establishment of rule of law and restitution for victims.

 Prayer

 

Lord, make us realize that our Christianity is like a rice field: when it is 
newly planted the paddies are prominent, but as the plants take root and grow taller, these divided paddies gradually vanish, and soon there appears only one vast continuous field. So give us roots that love, and help us grow in Christian fellowship and service, that your will be done in our lives, through our Saviour, your Son, Jesus Christ.

From the Philippines. A Procession of Prayers: Meditations and Prayers from around the World, comp. John Carden, WCC and Cassell, London, UK, 1998, p. 174.

Prayer in remembrance of the victims of the 2005 tsunami

                       Stay with us, Lord, in the devastating moment
                       when waters roll above our heads,
                       smashing trees, destroying houses,
                        flooding rice fields, swallowing cattle herds,
                       chasing people running to save their lives.

                       Stay with us, Lord, in the dark moments,
                       open our eyes that we may recognize you as the risen One,
                       who has defeated death and its sting;
                       who has come by water and blood;
                       who has been baptized with water by John;
                       who has changed water into wine;
                       who has calmed the stormy sea;
                       who has given living water;
                       who wipes away our tears.

                       Stay with us, Lord, in the uncertain moments.
                       With your Holy Spirit raise us from our hopelessness,
                       wipe away our disbelief and strengthen our faith,
                       so that our hearts will burn to proclaim your resurrection,
                       the water of life springing forth and bringing hope.

Source: oikoumene.org