Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the Mainland of China

Intercessions

We give thanks for:

• the long and complex history of China, with its many artefacts, cultures and traditions that have developed over millennia
• those who established missions and churches in the past, and the determination of Chinese Christians to contextualize the church here and now
• those who boldly live out their faith, challenging injustices even when they fear persecution
• the economic growth and development that have lifted many out of poverty
• the steps China is taking to counter huge environmental challenges.

We pray for:

• those left behind and further marginalized by rising economic growth, especially women and peasants in rural areas
• the political and social tensions between the mainland of China and Hong Kong and the rest of the world
• a growth in prophetic witness of the Chinese church in society
• for greater understanding and cooperation between Taiwan and the Mainland of China
• spiritual meaning and freedom from captivity to economic growth and consumerism.

Prayers

God of many names
Shangdi
Tianzhu
God of all peoples
God of China

No great wall
can keep you out

no great dam
stop your love flowing.

From mountain to sea
in paddy field and city
you walk with your people,
you see
smile
suffer
weep.
In you
strangers become friends

and so

we weep for China's pain
sing of China's faith
pray with China's people
hope for China's future

Lord God of all people
Tianzhu
Shangdi

(http://www.thefcc.org/Prayers.html)

As they face this day, O God,
find those who are lost,
separated from those they love,
crossing unknown borders,
without a country or home,
not knowing where to turn:
Find them, God, who always seek for the lost,
and cover them safely as a hen covers her chickens.

As they face this day, O God,
stand among the ones in refugee camps around the world,
in the hunger and despair,
in the crowds and the emptiness,
in the wet and the thirstiness:
Be their hope and their strength
in the crying out for justice
and open the ears of the world to hear their cries.

As they face this day, O God,
may those who live with us,
uprooted from their homelands,
find a new home
where their history is respected,
their gifts and graces celebrated
and their fear departed from them.
May we be their home,
may we be the ones who open our hearts in welcome.

As we face this day, O God,
sing to us your song of encouragement,
paint for us your bright pictures of a new world
where people need not flee from wars and oppression,
where no one lacks a country or a home,
and where we are all part of your new creation.
For we long to be your people, in spirit and in truth.
We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ,
who knew the life of a refugee.

(© Christian Conference of Asia, Hong Kong
SAR, China. WIC pp.219-20)

Lord of life,
God of love, here and now,
I offer you my whole life.

Like the master bends the bamboo,
and carves deeply into it,
form me and use me.

Make me a good instrument,
that the Holy Spirit can blow into,
and teach me to sing your song.

Jen-Wen Wang, Tainan, Taiwan

We all see as if we are looking into a dark glass.
We only know a part.
O God, grant us a humble heart.

God looks through justice and love so clearly.
God knows all our weakness.
O God, have mercy on us.

We see the cross emerging in the darkness.
We embrace the twilight.
O God, guide us on your way. Amen.

Jen-Wen Wang, Tainan, Taiwan

Song