TEARFUND PRAYER DIARY OCTOBER 2016
Speak Up For Creation: 9-15 October
This week's prayers are about the church responding to climate change - in Africa, here in the UK, and across the world. We are joining with the Climate Coalition's Speak Up Week of Action. Across the UK this week, people will meet their local MPs in their constituency to say why they care about climate change and ask them to do more.
Sunday 9 October
'And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?' Luke 18:7 Give thanks for last year's Paris Agreement on climate, which the UK and 200 other countries signed. Pray that each nation will follow through on their pledges.
Monday 10 October
Pray for your local MP, for God to put climate on their heart and convict them of the urgency. Pray for the conversation they have with constituents as part of the Speak Up Week of Action - you could visit to see when it is. In Scotland people lobbied their MSPs instead, at Holyrood two weeks ago - pray those meetings had an impact.
Tuesday 11 October
Lord, we ask for forgiveness for where, through carelessness and greed, we have allowed the destruction of what you have commanded us to care for. We are sorry that so often it is the poorest people who suffer when the environment is damaged.
Wednesday 12 October
Give thanks that church leaders are prophetically calling for action on climate change. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, recently declared climate a global priority. Pray blessing on the global Anglican communion as it works this out in practice. The Tearfund Nigeria office is working with church leaders to call Christians to action on climate change - pray for protection and wisdom for those Nigerian pastors.
Thursday 13 October
Seventy-two young Anglicans from southern African countries recently attended a Tearfund-funded workshop to learn how to become more effective advocates on the environment. Pray for them, now back in their home countries, as they work to bring about change on issues such as, soil erosion, deforestation, mining and pollution.
Friday 14 October
Shadreck Nyanja, who attended our Green Anglican workshop, describes himself and fellow advocates as 'young people who are seriously affected by climate change'. Millions of Malawians are suffering hunger and food insecurity from drought. Shadreck and colleagues have brought together Malawian youth leaders to form a church response. Pray that their efforts will be blessed, and that the Malawian church can make an impact.
Saturday 15 October
Dear Lord, we pray that you will help us to prevent the world getting warmer than 1.5 degrees Celsius. We pray that poor communities will be able to thrive and escape from poverty. Please use world leaders and ordinary people, and we ask that you will give the church the grace to take the lead. Amen.
Water Flowing in Nepal: 16 – 22 October
The April and May 2015 earthquakes in Nepal caused significant damage to infrastructure. As well as shelter, schooling and livelihoods, essential water supplies were also affected. Tearfund has been supporting communities to return to normal life by rehabilitating 12 gravity-fed water systems in Makwanpur district, central Nepal.
Sunday 16 October
Springs are a great source of clean water as most contaminants have been filtered out by the soil. They occur where the water table meets ground level. Following the earthquake, the water table shifted, leaving some communities without clean water. Be thankful that we have safe water to drink and pray for those who suffer without.
Monday 17 October
Pipelines are used to transfer water from source to community. In Agra, the pipeline was destroyed by a landslide following the earthquake. Tearfund has provided funds and expertise to re-establish the pipeline and water supply. Pray for the connections Tearfund is making with new communities and for these to be used to bring holistic transformation.
Tuesday 18 October
Storage tanks are used to collect water in low demand periods, for use during high demand periods. In the same way that the reservoir tanks fill up, so they can deliver water when it's needed, we are building the capacity of communities, so that they are better prepared next time disaster strikes.
Wednesday 19 October
Jesus told the Samaritan women at the well: 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst...' (John 4:13-14) Pray that, as people draw water from the tap stands, they would also remember the water of life that Christ offers us.
Thursday 20 October
'We are grateful, not only that you funded the rehabilitation work, but you have also come to see it. This makes me so so happy,' says Budhi. We should not underestimate the value of personal connection. The community in which Budhi lives was amazed that people would walk 2.5 hours to reach them and were thrilled to show us the repair work they had implemented. Thank God for the enthusiasm and commitment of beneficiaries like Budhi, working hard to build a better future.
Friday 21 October
A Tearfund partner is being trained in a tool that helps communities assess the vulnerability of their environment to natural hazards and find ways to reduce this -for example, by planting trees to minimise the risk of landslides. Pray for the Community Mobilisers as they roll this out and pray that communities would find effective, innovative solutions.
Saturday 22 October
Successful water systems rely on good maintenance. Tearfund encourages local people to form committees to take responsibility for monitoring and maintaining the system - supplying spare parts where needed and promoting proper use. Tearfund cannot intervene indefinitely, so pray that these committees would be effective and sustainable in the long term, for the benefit of the whole community.
Feeding the hungry in Burundi: 23 – 29 October
Political instability is causing widespread suffering for huge numbers of people in Burundi. Nearly a year of insecurity and violence has left 900,000 people facing hunger, unable to cope with the economic fallout and rising food prices following a disputed presidential election. Poverty is already widespread in Burundi, where nine in ten people rely on small-scale farming for a living.
Sunday 23 October
Food crises always hit the most vulnerable first. Boniface worked hard to support his family until he contracted malaria. 'Now I have trouble walking. As long as I cannot work, food will be difficult to find.' We pray for Boniface and for all who are struggling to feed themselves and their families.
Monday 24 October
Violence forced Leoncie and her family to flee their village. Their home was burnt down and they lost all their possessions. They were severely malnourished when Fraternite Evangelistique du Christ en Afrique au Burundi (FECABU), a Tearfund partner, provided help through the local church. FECABU is running emergency feeding centres near Bujumbura. Give thanks for churches reaching out to their communities and pray that God will give strength and courage to all our partners.
Tuesday 25 October
Agnes' seven-year-old daughter, Yvette, was badly malnourished until a Tearfund partner offered help. 'We were taught about different types of food and how we can combine them to have a balanced diet,' said Agnes. 'Now my daughter has started primary school, when before she could not even walk.' Pray that children in Burundi will have the food and security they need to enjoy a proper childhood.
Wednesday 26 October
Pray for Burundians to discover their true potential. Arthemon, an amputee, used to beg on the street corner and felt 'completely useless'. Tearfund partner FECABU invited Arthemon and his wife to a seminar. There he realised that God had given him many abilities, and he now grows banana plants, earning money for food and school fees for his children. 'Now I know I am as useful as other men, and the community values me.'
Thursday 27 October
Emmanuel Murangira is Tearfund's Country Representative for Burundi and Rwanda. Pray for God's strength, wisdom and guidance for Emmanuel as he supports Tearfund partners to follow Jesus where the need is greatest.
Friday 28 October
The lives of Burundians will not improve without lasting security. Pray for peace in Burundi, so that the country can recover economically. Pray for an end to fear, violence and killing, and that the President will make wise decisions to benefit all in Burundi.
Saturday 29 October
'For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink ... truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:35, 40 Father, we pray for your light to shine through your church in Burundi. We pray for your love, forgiveness and justice to prevail and for the violence to end.
The Light of Hope: 30 October – 5 November
The master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full' Luke 12:23 In India, Tearfund partners go into the most troubled parts of cities like Mumbai – to invite outcast and damaged people to the party. This week join us in praying for children and their families affected by trafficking.
Sunday 30 October
Many children trafficked into Mumbai enter through the city's train stations. Often fleeing hunger, poverty and disaster, the children arrive with nothing but false promises of future jobs and security. Every day, Tearfund partners work in and around the main stations seeking out children in distress - providing a final safety net to prevent them being taken. Pray that more children would be kept safe.
Monday 31 October
Tonight around 15 children will arrive at a night shelter in Mumbai's red-light district. The centre, run by Tearfund partner Oasis India, provides safety for children of women who have been trafficked. Praise God that here they are able to talk about their lives, get help with their homework, are fed, and given a safe place to sleep.
Tuesday 1 November
'I was uneducated and illiterate, I didn't know how to do anything else to survive,' says Anisha, who was sold into the sex trade aged 11. Freeing children from forced prostitution usually means providing alternative employment and life skill training. Pray that the women survivors our partners support would find job opportunities and that we can bring childhood back to life for the young ones living in high risk areas.
Wednesday 2 November
It's difficult reaching out to the most vulnerable in Mumbai's brothels, helping children and young people deal with emotional and physical scars and patrolling railway stations for new victims. Pray for our partners on the front line, that they would know God's peace, protection and strength.
Thursday 3 November
'We think it's about us bringing Christ, actually it's about Christ bringing us,' said one Indian church pastor. More churches in Mumbai have begun to engage with the work in the red-light district - providing volunteers to help with outreach. If more were involved, more could be achieved. Pray for more local and national churches to hear Christ's call.
Friday 4 November
People living in Mumbai's red-light district can sometimes reject the support offered to them. If they do accept it, they find unconditional love. 'They never asked anything from me,' said one child. 'They provided love and care. They cried and smiled with me.' Pray more people would find the courage to accept the support they need.
Saturday 5 November
For children and young people rescued from Mumbai's brothels, our partners provide intense rehabilitation support, through counselling, life skills and employment training. Pray for those survivors currently being helped, that they would have the strength to carry on, and for those who find it too hard to escape what they've known.
Tearfund Prayer Diary October 2016 – tearfund.org/praying