Tearfund Prayer Diary September 2013
TEARFUND PRAYER DIARY SEPTEMBER 2013
Dealing With Drought In India: 1–7 September
This week, we lift up in prayer the work of Tearfund’s partner in the district of Dungarpur in Rajasthan, north-west India, which is severely affected by drought. Climate change means that the monsoon is shorter and less predictable than it used to be, making water scarcity even more of an issue. ‘When my husband died, there was no money for food,’ says Haju. Tearfund partner Eficor provided vegetable seeds, levelled the land and deepened wells so she could generate income from the land.
Sunday 1 September
Pray for the success of the work of Tearfund partner the Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief (Eficor) in rural Galandhar village, which helps people to use their own skills to help themselves. Pray that they will build strong relationships within their team and ask God to inspire Eficor as they work with the community.
Monday 2 September
Pray for the practical elements of EFICOR’s work - assisting the villagers with strategies to access more water. Pray for success as they deepen open ponds and wells, and teach new methods like drip irrigation.
Tuesday 3 September
Praise God that, thanks to EFICOR’s water provision initiatives, migration to the city for work has not been necessary for men from 400 of the 800 households in Galandhar. Pray that the project will grow, making it possible for more people to stay with their families.
Wednesday 4 September
Pray for Kailash, aged 45, who has been the head of the village development committee for the last two years. Pray that God will give the committee wisdom, discernment and a sense of joy about the work it is undertaking. Pray particularly for Kailash as he plans ahead to 2014.
Thursday 5 September
Praise God for the Galandhar self-help group, led by local lady Radha: together the group has saved around 10,000 rupees (about £120) and this means that villagers no longer need to use money lenders, whom they sometimes travelled up to 15km to find.
Friday 6 September
Pray for the other villages in this region where Tearfund partner Eficor is at work on similar projects. Pray in particular for villages Panchmahudi and Manathali, where agricultural projects are underway, including land treatment (developing plots so they are suitable to be cultivated) and kitchen gardening.
Saturday 7 September
Father, we praise you for the success of the work in the district of Dungarpur. Thank you that this work has meant that families can stay together and become more financially secure. We ask that you would draw them into a deeper relationship with you and each other. Amen.
Welcome to the weekend – creative prayer idea
Find a chapati recipe online and pray for the nation of India while you bake this traditional flatbread. As you are mixing the ingredients, pray that the right people will be involved in the projects. When you knead the bread, pray for strong relationships to grow among communities as people work together for the common good. As you separate and cook the mixture, pray the good work that has begun will come to fruition.
Inspire, Connect, Equip: 8–14 September
This week, we will be sharing examples from Tearfund’s Integral Mission Initiative which aims to inspire, connect and equip global networks to encourage others to reflect, pray and act around issues of poverty and injustice.
Sunday 8 September
Urban Neighbours of Hope are nine communities of Christians living and working to see transformation in deprived inner-city communities in Asia and Australasia. We have learnt a lot from their experience of mission in slums. Pray for these teams who live long-term in the poorest neighbourhoods of their cities, working to restore hope.
Monday 9 September
In February 2013, Tearfund staff in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) visited Africa Inland Church of Tanzania (AICT), a Tearfund partner working in the north of Tanzania, to see their amazing church and community mobilisation work. Give thanks that they were encouraged by the scale of the transformation and pray for wisdom for how this can work in DRC.
Tuesday 10 September
Pray for our friends in La Red del Camino who support networks of pastors in countries across Latin America as they demonstrate God’s love and serve local communities by putting the gospel into action. Pray for pastors such as Juan Jose who leads a Baptist church in Buenos Aires, Argentina - that they will inspire their congregations into action.
Wednesday 11 September
Pray for the success of the Call to Compassion and Justice Conference in Mumbai, India, this November. The conference brings together people who are already engaging in compassion and justice ministries with people who are planning to start one - to share ideas and experiences. Among those present will be Tearfund partner Sahaara in Mumbai.
Thursday 12 September
Give thanks for our partner, the Amahoro Network, which brings African leaders together to inspire and equip them to act for justice in their communities. Some 200 leaders gathered in Uganda in May to reflect on the biblical call to be salt and light; pray that they will be reinvigorated as they apply their learning at home.
Friday 13 September
At the Integral Mission Initiative, we’re passionate about sharing stories of the kingdom of God from all over the world, especially from places which are the poorest in economic terms. Pray that more people will hear these stories and be inspired to be part of them.
Saturday 14 September
Father God, thank you for the privilege of connecting in prayer with your family all over the world. May these stories of hope inspire us in our own faith journeys to think about the connections we have and what we can do in our own communities.
Welcome to the weekend – creative prayer idea
At the heart of Tearfund’s Integral Mission Initiative is a focus on creating time and space to reflect, pray and act. Retreat is a devotional resource which uses stories from the gospels: each session is designed to help you encounter Jesus in a fresh way, using creative storytelling and music. Visit to watch the videos.
Togetherness In Cambodia: 15–28 September
Over the next two weeks, we’d like to introduce you to a community in Cambodia, Tonle Batie - which will feature as part of Tearfund’s See for yourself programme. Through this scheme, you can give regularly to Tearfund, follow and pray for the church and community in the village. Tonle Batie church recently started a Tearfund initiative called Umoja (the Swahili word for ‘togetherness’), a church and community mobilisation process that helps people lift themselves out of poverty. The needs in Tonle Batie are very great: lack of food, water and sanitation in particular. But the church, supported by Tearfund partner International Cooperation for Cambodia (ICC), are determined to help people use their own God-given resources to address these problems.
Sunday 15 September
For 14-year-old Seng, Umoja is a glimmer of hope. He lives in Tonle Batie with his mum, Rim, and two younger sisters. Seng finds it hard to see his mother struggle to provide food. In the rainy season, Rim collects crabs to sell to tourists, but in the dry season there’s little income. ‘Pray that Umoja provides our family with more to eat,’ Seng asks.
Monday 16 September
Yiv Toch, part of the church Umoja group, has a six-year-old daughter, and she worries about whether she can provide enough food for her daughter. Her husband, who is not a Christian, is a moto-taxi driver but his income barely covers the cost of the motorbike. Yiv asks, ‘Please pray that our 50 chickens [provided through Umoja] sell well, and that my husband will join me in church.’
Tuesday 17 September
Tonle Batie church pastor Ke Pich is also the Umoja facilitator - helping the community to discover for themselves the potential they have to bring positive change. He says, ‘Umoja is just starting here - please pray that the community stick with the scheme, and see the benefits.’
Wednesday 18 September
There is a thriving group of young people at Tonle Batie church. Thany, 19, is a youth leader and Umoja treasurer - he really enjoys contributing ideas to the Umoja sessions. Pray that he will be key in inspiring young people to contribute. ‘I want the youth to be involved because we have more energy,’ Thany says.
Thursday 19 September
Gneam, now 63, lived through the darkest period of Cambodia’s history, the rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. She lost her first husband and their son to malnutrition in the early-1980s. ‘I don’t always have enough food, but the church has started to help me,’ she says. Pray that Umoja will give her more income opportunities, and more to eat.
Friday 20 September
Navy works for Tearfund’s partner in Tonle Batie, ICC. She regularly visits the community to oversee the Umoja process. ‘The needs in the village are really great,’ she says. ‘Join me in praying that Umoja will reach beyond the church to support the wider community.’
Saturday 21 September
Tonle Batie is in the first stage of Umoja, ‘Envisioning and equipping the church’; the next stage is ‘Envisioning the community’. Pray about the decision the church and ICC will soon make for when and how to move to this crucial next stage, which will benefit the whole community.
Welcome to the weekend – what you can do
If you have been inspired by the story of Tonle Batie this week, you can continue to follow this community by giving and praying. Visit to see short films from people featured in the prayers this week, and find details of how to sign up.
Envisioning the community: 22–28 September
With Tearfund’s support, the church in Tonle Batie is piloting a project among 21 families, empowering them to find ways to overcome poverty. The church has exciting plans to roll this project out to the wider village, where the poorest of the poor face a daily struggle for survival. This week, we introduce you to Sina, who is not yet part of the Umoja programme.
Sunday 22 September
‘I feel I have nothing,’ says Sina. She lives in a one-room shack with her husband and three young children. They can’t afford their own land, and so they built their tiny home on government-owned land. They might be thrown off any day. Please pray for Sina and her neighbours, for whom every day is filled with worry and instability.
Monday 23 September
Sina’s husband, Bora, is poorly educated, as she is. Bora’s employment options are extremely limited, unstable and poorly paid. The family struggle to survive on his wage. Pray for all those in Tonle Batie doing their best to provide for their families, but still struggling to put enough food on the table.
Tuesday 24 September
At times, Bora must leave Sina and the children to go away for work, sometimes for weeks at a time. Their home is made of palm branches and is unsecured, and Sina fears for her family’s safety when her husband is gone. Pray for the safety of Sina and her neighbours who are made so vulnerable by poverty.
Wednesday 25 September
‘Sometimes, there is no food. So I go without so my children can eat,’ says Sina, who is still breastfeeding her baby, Den. Pray that the church will be able to expand its project quickly and successfully to help the poorest families such as Sina’s to provide for themselves and flourish.
Thursday 26 September
‘I pray that my children’s lives will be more blessed than mine,’ says Sina, who does everything she can to ensure her sons, Yuth, ten, and eight-year-old Rath, can go to school. They must pay fees to the teachers, so keeping them in school is a constant battle. Pray for them and for the other children from Tonle Batie’s poorest families, that they will make it through school and have bright futures.
Friday 27 September
The church plans to expand this project next year to offer help to people like Sina. However, Sina would still have to choose whether to get involved. Pray for God’s Spirit to be working in the hearts of her and her neighbours, preparing them to be open to the life-changing work of the church.
Saturday 28 September
Dear Lord Jesus, I pray for Sina and others like her who have been born into lives of poverty and hardship. Please work through us, your church, to reach out and empower them to take a stand against poverty. Be with the church in Tonle Batie as it works towards transforming the whole village in your name. Amen.
Welcome to the weekend – creative prayer idea
Here’s a Bible study adapted from one in the Umoja handbook, which you could use in a small group, or on your own.
Nehemiah inspects the walls
Nehemiah 2:11-18:
1. Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem after many years in exile to find the city in ruins. What does he do?.
2. As he arrived in the city, he must have seen that the walls needed repairing. Why do you think he conducts a thorough assessment of the situation?
3. What are the ways that we can assess the situation in our community before taking action? Consider how these biblical ideas are as relevant to your community and church as they are to Tonle Batie.
Tearfund Prayer Diary September 2013