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Environmental Missions Prayer Digest
February 2011 |
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Greetings!
When I was a little girl we used to go to prayer meeting every Wednesday evening. My younger brother and I were the only kids there. It was held in a room off the sanctuary of McLauren Baptist Church. The room was bordered in over sized mismatched couches in various shades of plaid. Most of the people who attended seemed really old, at least as old as mom and dad, maybe even older --- mind you I was only 6 or 7 or 8. I remember Pastor Hansen would say a few things, maybe read a passage from scripture and then people would begin to share the concerns on their heart, they would list hurting hearts and broken bodies. And then they would begin to pray. I remember the experience as being a combination of Holy and Boring. Sacred and strange.
On certain nights when feeling particularly brave Neil and I would venture to pray as well. The older saints would cheer us on with "hmm"s or their "Yes Lord"s. It was a way to affirm our young sincere prayers. It was a way to encourage us in our attempts to be a part of that mysterious sacrament: Corporate Prayer.
Many churches have eliminated the Wednesday night prayer meeting. With it has gone the chance for people to come together and share the burdens of the congregation, the pains of the Body. Prayer now is, more often than not, done on our own.... individuals scattered across their communities lifting up their prayers to the Most High. We no longer have those "hmm"s agreeing with the prayers we pray. It can be a lonely solitary discipline.
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(don't?) Let it snow!
This past week at our church small group, we asked the introductory question, "When do you say 'there is too much snow" and what standard do you use to determine it's too much?" We had some scientists among us, albeit no meterologists; nonetheless no one answered in inches of snow. Instead, everyone had personal reasons. One person answered, "There is too much snow whenever I have go out in it." Another said, "If I'm snowed in for more than two days, there's too much." On the third day, she wants a resurrection. Also this past week, with a massive 2000-mile storm that hit North America, climate skeptics have said "there's too much snow for climate change to be real." Bill McKibben said there's too much snow for our own good. "You don't need a PhD to understand what's happening," McKibben wrote. "That carbon we've poured into the air traps more of the sun's heat near the planet. And that extra energy expresses itself in a thousand ways, from melting ice to powering storms. Since warm air can hold more water vapor than cold, it's not surprising that the atmosphere is 4% moister than it was 40 years ago. That '4% extra amount, it invigorates the storms, it provides plenty of moisture for these storms,' said Kevin Trenberth, head of the climate analysis section at the government's National Center for Atmospheric Research. It loads the dice for record rain and snow. Yesterday the Midwest and Queensland [cyclone Yasi] crapped out." Despite the squabble we shouldn't forget when too much snow really is too much for people. The homeless are at risk, travelers are stranded, the poor are cold, city services are crippled.Blizzards should elicit an equal compassion. (LB) 
Please join us in praying: - For the poor, the homeless, the elderly. Cold weather quickly reveals those that are vulnerable. Ask Jesus to extend His mercy and meet their needs.
- For cities that have been particularly hard hit-- for roads to be cleared, for power to be restored, for services to be resumed. Pray for wisdom for officials as they determine priorities and how to distribute limited resources.
- For the lonely. Winter isolates people from community. Snow keeps people closed indoors. Grey skies depress and deepen that loneliness. Pray for neighbors to rise up and check on each other. Pray for boldness for Christ followers to use the season to shine the light of good deeds: hot soup, shovelled drive ways, warm conversations.
Link:McKibben: The New Normal Photo Credit: AFP |
Outsourcing.... pollution??
At face value, it's a common, though large-scale, story of environmental impact. A company is awarded 97-square miles of rice fields, cashew nut groves, white-sand beaches, and fishing-fertile coastline. The list of industries they intend to build include: a coal-burning power plant, a steel mill, oil refinery, petro-chemical complex, shipbuilding yard, and fertilizer factory. The local population will be displayed, but many, many jobs are promised. In the end, the land will be. . . well, polluted. What other outcome could be imagined? What's unique about this story is that it represents-with all parties's knowledge and consent-the outsourcing of pollution. The developer is from Thailand; the land is in Myanmar.
After the November 2, 2010 announcement of the Dawei Development Project, Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Thai prime minister, explained in a weekly television address, "Some industries are not suitable to be located in Thailand. This is why they decided to set up there." Certainly, Thailand requires environmental impact reports and hearings with local residents. The military junta in Myanmar has not traditionally such consideration to its displaced and polluted population. "It is totally different from Thailand," one corporate spokesman said, "Thais would argue about compensation and go to court. That's not the case with this project." The New York Times further explains: "For foreign companies, the project also means less environmental oversight. In the case of Thailand, new laws that require more environmental safeguards have slowed the expansion of the industrial complex at Map Ta Phut, the country's largest petrochemical facility. Local residents at Map Ta Phut have pointed to data indicating higher cancer rates and polluted air and groundwater - and government studies have backed them up." (LB)
Please join Eden Vigil in praying:
- for another solution!
- for the people that are affected by this! They matter! Their souls matter!
- Pray for justice.
- Pray for Christian brothers and sisters to see through this plan and act boldly and with conviction on behalf of the oppressed and exploited.
- for government officials In Myanmar to see past the economical benefits to the people they serve: their health, their well being.
Photo Credits: International Herald Tribune |
The loneliness of prayer is erased when we join with the Holy Trinity in Prayer.No longer do we pray on our own.... we join in with Jesus, who himself is pleading for us (Romans 8:34) --for the victim nation of Myanmar, for those overwhelmed by blizzards, snow and inclement weather. What better prayer meeting to join in on? I'm not saying the requests I've listed are the prayers Jesus is praying...but let's ask Him together.Let's find out! Let's listen in on His prayers and "hmm" along with Him.
What should we pray in 2011?
We are always asking that question of God, not only because we need to publish a new prayer digest next month, but because we want to be praying for that ministry, people group, or issue where God Himself is ready to act. If you would like to suggest a prayer focus, please contact us.
Pleading with Jesus,
Robynn Bliss
Eden Vigil
Links: Contact the editors, Eden Vigil website, Donations to Eden Vigil
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