Liberia, Sierra Leone

INTERCESSIONS

We are thankful for:

• the natural resources in these countries, that they might benefit the peace and welfare of all
• the diverse ethnic and religious groups who long have lived together in peace and harmony, especially the Muslims and Christians in Sierra Leone
• democratic election of leaders who have brought political stability and accountability
• how diseases such as Ebola have been brought under control.

We pray for:

• the churches in these countries, for their evangelism and social outreach, faithful witness and action in times of conflict, and for interfaith cooperation with others
• the majority of the people who are still impoverished, that adequate services and policies will be provided that enable them to live with dignity and good health
• more just governance, free of corruption, accountable to the people, and that manages resources in ways that benefit all.

PRAYERS

A prayer for the survivors (John 1: 1-14)
Living word, who became flesh
through whom all have life,
thank you for your light
in the darkness of the Ebola crisis.
Thank you for those who have overcome,
for those who have survived.
We pray for them as they return
to live among their families and communities.

We pray for the enlightenment needed
so that stigma around Ebola will not spread,
so that livelihoods and homes would not be destroyed,
so that those who survive can be a light of comfort and hope
among those who are afraid.
Thank you for your incarnation, living word,
full of the grace and truth that blesses all flesh.
Amen.

(© 2014 Christian Aid)

A Litany of Renewal

Son of the Living God:
our God of power and might,
of love, grace and mercy; by whose spoken word
the world came into being
and without whose guidance
we are lost;
we stand in awe of you
and in adoration lift our voices to you:
We thank you for the people of Sierra Leone.

Come, Lord Jesus.
Come and make Sierra Leone
a better place for the people there
and for their children.

You have given them a wonderful country
with lovely landscapes, a coast with beautiful beaches,
enough rain and sunshine, green vegetation,
fertile land and mineral resources,
enough to make each family happy.
We pray with them,
“Somehow Lord,
greed, selfishness and corruption overtake us and destroy us;
we confess our manifold sins.”
We lift up our voices to you:

Come, Lord Jesus. Come and make Sierra Leone a better place for the people there and for their children.

After a decade of maiming, killing and destruction
with deadly weapons of war,
a once beautiful country is scarred, disfigured and devastated.
A part of Africa is still groping in darkness.
Teach them to let go of the old
and let you into their lives and daily work.

(© Sahr Kemoore Salia, general secretary, Council of Churches in Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone)

A Child's Prayer

God, what kind of world is this
that the adult people are going to leave for us children?
There is fighting everywhere
and they tell us we live in a time of peace.
You are the only one who can help us.
Lord, give us a new world in which we can be happy,
in which we can have friends
and work together for a good future.
A world in which there will not be any cruel people
who seek to destroy us and our world in so many ways.

(Liberia. Another Day, comp. John Carden, SPCK, Triangle © SPCK, London. UK)

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