We pray for peace in all our world, although peace feels ever more fragile.
Jesus told a story of a poor widow who teaches us what it means to pray and not to give up. He said once there was a judge in some city who neither thought of God nor cared for his people. But day after day, this widow cried out to him saying, “Please give me justice! Please protect me!” The judge couldn’t have cared less for this woman, or for what God thought about her situation. But eventually, her persistent heart-cry for justice wore him down. Unable to ignore her any longer, he decided to do something about her situation.
Jesus said, if this judge – corrupt and cold-hearted as he was – responded to help this poor woman, how much more will our Good God step in to bring justice to his chosen people – the poor and vulnerable in this world. Jesus ends this story with a question, “How much of this kind of persistent, unrelenting faith will he find on this earth?” (For more, see Luke 18:1-8)
Through the faith-filled witness of the poor and most vulnerable in society, we learn about persistence in prayer. We learn to pray not with fear, but with boldness. We learn to cry out to God with unwavering persistence, praying that God’s justice, mercy, and love be revealed on earth as it is in heaven. We are never “just” praying. Through prayer we reach beyond ourselves to God’s transforming power – power that transforms the world, power that transforms us and can move us to action.
Last Friday, in our Buffalo all-staff meeting, we were privileged to hear from the directors of each of Jericho Road’s global sites, and also to hear the vision for a potential new global site.
We heard from Chantal Mandro (JR/Congo), Amos Rai (JR/Nepal), Phebian Abudulai (JR/Sierra Leone), and Han Moe (vison for a future JR/Burma). These leaders and their teams steadfastly serve the poor and vulnerable day after day. They shared the following prayer requests with us. Will we persist and pray boldly on their behalf?
For our team and patients in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – Pray for the war to stop, for peace to come to help break the chain of poverty in the country; pray for the work of The Wellness Clinic to continue and expand to help many more people.
For our team and patients in Nepal – Pray for strength, wisdom, and unity for the team as they navigate the challenges of the work; pray for open doors and hearts as they work with the local community.
For our team and patients in Sierra Leone – Pray for God to send faithful workers to add to the team, staff who share the mission & vision of Jericho Road; pray for needed supplies to continue to do the work effectively, as patients cannot afford the cost of these quality services.
For the potential of a clinic in Burma – Pray for an end to the war, for in-country medical providers doing what they can to provide medical care amidst war, for God’s guidance regarding this potential new JR global site on the Burma/Thai border.
FOR OUR WORLD – We pray for peace in all our world, and name the desperate conditions in Gaza and the volatile situation in Iran – praying for the fulfillment of God’s vision spoken through the prophet Isaiah — that God will work to settle international disputes, so that nations will no longer fight against nation, or train for war anymore. (from Isaiah 2:4)
-Ruth Strand, Director of Spiritual Care
Our spiritual care team includes volunteers. If you are interested in hearing more about what spiritual care at Jericho Road involves, please feel free get in touch – ruth.strand@jrchc.org
