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Girls walking

Girls displaced by war in the eastern Congo live in a displaced persons camp set up on a lava flow in the village of Nzulu. 

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INTERCESSIONS

We are thankful for:

  • wildlife and rainforests in these lands, and those who protect this habitat
  • the oral traditions, folklore, and good practices that have been preserved
  • rich minerals and economic development, although benefits need to be shared more fairly
  • healing from exploitative practices that began under colonial rule.

We pray for:

  • democratic fair elections and political stability in this region
  • economic development that benefits all the people, especially those living in poverty
  • preservation of the wildlife and the land
  • the witness of the churches and other faith groups in the midst of the challenges.

 

PRAYERS

Lord, if you want that we should love you with all our heart,
without distraction or detour,
teach us to become constant in your love.

When those without faith or law insult us,
help us to forgive, O Resurrected One.

Jesus, the friend of the people of the Congo,
your Father is not a God of the dead but of the living;

therefore, guide us in your love,
so that we may live in your presence forever.

(Louise Bakala Koumouno, People’s Republic of Congo.)

A Pygmy Prayer

In the beginning God was.
Today God is.
Tomorrow God will be.
Who could possibly make an image of God?
God does not have a body.
God is a word that springs from our mouths.
And what a word!
There is nothing more to be said.
God is the past, and yet God is.
That is what God is.

 

Prayer for transformation

Barriers, walls, and barbed wire mark the frontiers, O Lord.
Help us to transform them into places where we can meet,
with sincerity,
as countries and as persons,
so that the world will know that we are Christians
by the love with which our actions are marked.

(Louise Bakala Koumouno, People’s Republic of Congo.)

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