CPA Praying Together – June 2022Thank you for joining with us. Please feel free to pass onto friends.

Please use this opening prayer for both yourself and our African friends.

Holy Lord, everything we need is found in you.
For those of us who come here feeling broken, bring restoration.
For those of us who come here feeling weak, bring strength.
For those who come here weeping, bring joy.
For those of us who come here with doubts, bring faith.
For those who come here feeling shame, bring freedom.
For those of us who come here feeling burdened, bring rest.
For those of us who come here feeling anxious, bring peace.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

May the Holy Spirit guide you in your prayers. Please take a moment to reflect on these verses from Isaiah and how they impact your life and worldview.

Isaiah 61 1-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour.

Ethiopia

• We are so thankful for the recent news of how your generosity has enabled CPA to partner with Compassion International in buying and distributing food to the communities of Sefi Beret and Abay Atir.
• Compassion International wrote to us with reports and stories of how these parcels were received. I attach one here:

“S. lives in Sefi Beret town and has a family of four. She does not have sufficient farmland to produce crops to feed her family – she had run out of ‘teff’ flour to bake injera and fortified food oil to make stew. Life was challenging for her family. She is delighted with the recent food parcel. They have been eating injura (bread) at home for some days now and cooking stew with oil. She said, “The food is tasty, and the family has an appetite for it.”

S’s situation was so terrible that she said she had thought about abandoning her family or divorcing her husband. Now, she is happy and excited about the support. Though it is only for a few days, she has forgotten to worry about what she will eat at home and how to feed her children. She now believes that God prepares food for the hungry and her feelings of guilt have begun to heal. She realises that God can provide daily food for her children, and they can continue their education. She said that it is good to wait for God’s intervention and she believes that prayer can bring solutions; that God has arranged for someone to help during her life challenges. She is very grateful to those who have helped her family. She prayed, “May God reward the funding partner abundantly and bless them”. Finally, she thanked all so much for the support!

• Please pray that we might have wisdom on how we move forward in our support, remaining compassionate while wrestling with the knowledge that we cannot support all. Father, we pray you will help us with this reality.

Uganda:

• The news from Uganda continues to be encouraging, with all the children back in school now. Julius reports that all is well. Please remember Julius in your prayers as he continues to visit children and their guardians helping them to develop good and wise strategies for their futures. Several of the children are in their final years of study and are doing placements in preparation for work. Pray for God’s peace to be on all.
• CPA is busy developing the on-going relationship with our partners in the North Kigezi Diocese. In the last month an agreement on how best to serve the local communities is beginning to take real shape. We value your prayers as we long to see a sustainable model that blesses many from across the different households and communities.
• Let us on a wider note, pray for the leaders of Uganda and the decisions they are making on a Macro scale that have repercussions for so many. We pray they would rule with a mindfulness and humility that looks out for those on the very edges of their society. Lord, we pray have mercy.

Finally, please remember the many nations, and therefore individuals, throughout Africa, who will suffer food shortages and price hikes because of the war in Ukraine. Lord, we pray have mercy.

Thank you so much for joining with us.

Raymond and the team at CPA.