For the past month, since World Communion Sunday, we've been including the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle in our prayers of the people. The Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, created by the World Council of Churches, allows us to pray for every country in the world throughout the year. Each week we pray for different countries, offering both thanksgiving and petitions.
This week we are praying for Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. I don't know anything about Burundi, I know a little about the DRC, and I know alot about Rwanda, thanks to the movie Hotel Rwanda and then other documentaries that I watched. I also know that Rwanda received a grant to establish a specialty coffee industry, and Starbucks gave them a Black Apron award (I bought and drank some of the Rwandan coffee several years ago).
Not only does the prayer cycle give us an opportunity to pray for our brothers and sisters in other countries, it encourages us to learn about the countries we don't know anything about. So I'm off to learn about Burundi.
This week we are praying for Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. I don't know anything about Burundi, I know a little about the DRC, and I know alot about Rwanda, thanks to the movie Hotel Rwanda and then other documentaries that I watched. I also know that Rwanda received a grant to establish a specialty coffee industry, and Starbucks gave them a Black Apron award (I bought and drank some of the Rwandan coffee several years ago).Not only does the prayer cycle give us an opportunity to pray for our brothers and sisters in other countries, it encourages us to learn about the countries we don't know anything about. So I'm off to learn about Burundi.
I agree that using the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle is educational. There are so many little countries in the world and I don't keep up with where they are unless they are in the news. Africa seems to have been divided in tribal kingdoms and they struggle to survive. Maybe they should still be colonies? I guess those in power treated the people as slaves and being independent is better than being a slave. We pray that they work together to better their life.
ReplyDeleteBillyT
Many of the African nations received indepedence in the 1960's, so even though it seems like a long time to us, many nations' governments are still quite young. I think about what the United States was like several decades after we received our indepedence from England.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we can help some of the African nations, like Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia with basics like clean water and schools. If they have help with that, it gives them a chance to get their governments stronger.