CPA Praying Together – November/December 2022Thank you for joining with us. Please feel free to pass on to friends.

Let us begin with a prayer for the continent of Africa and the world in which we all live:

We pray for peace in our world: that all people may live free from violence, in safety and security, and with hope for the future.

We pray for all people who are working to build peace in their communities: that they may inspire others by their example and be strengthened to carry on, even in the hardest times.

We pray for all people who have been affected by violence as they rebuild their lives: that they may find it in their hearts to move forwards in peace and forgiveness.

We pray for our local community: that we may be bearers of peace to those around us.

Lord hear our prayer.                    (Intercessions on peace – CAFOD)

It seems ‘Peace’ or (Shalom in Hebrew) is a rare commodity in our world. Shalom’s wider meaning includes peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquillity. Let’s hold that in our hearts and pray for it to be a reality for those we are lifting in prayer.

Uganda:

• Our three social workers in the North Kigezi diocese are doing amazing work. Esther, Adeera and Nelson have been working hard with the families and communities in the area. Let’s pray for them and their families, that they would continue to know the strength of the Lord. That they would have Shalom in their own households.
• We give thanks that we have been given formal approval to extend the scope of the self-help/savings groups within the diocese. This will bring an opportunity for those with so little, in the wider community, to improve their own lives. May Shalom be established in homes and communities across the North Kigezi diocese.
• Please pray for Peace, one of the former children of the Komamboga Children’s Home, who has graduated from school and with some help from CPA has set up her own hair dressing salon. We pray for her success and the ability to share her skills with others. We lift all the Komamboga children, their schooling and potential future work opportunities, in prayer.
• Having launched the ‘CPA Gifts of Love’ recently we pray that this opportunity for people to bless others, will be taken up by many this coming Christmas season.

One caregiver in a NKD savings group recently said, “Come 2025, I will have kicked ultra-poverty in my home, thanks to CPA’s project Gifts of Love”.

Let us pray this is accompanied with growing Shalom.

• Please pray for Julius and his family in Kampala. We so appreciate what he is able to do on the ground as he meets with the Komamboga Children and their guardians/families. His wisdom and care is a great encouragement to them, but we know that even the encouragers need encouragement.

Ethiopia:

• If anywhere is in need of Shalom, it’s the country of Ethiopia. Our hearts continue to break at the current situation there. Lord God have mercy and let your Spirit move over the land, restoring that which is being destroyed: love, life, livelihoods and much more.
• Beletew whom we have worked with for many years, has increased his team and therefore his capacity to do more. Pray Paul and Chris will have wisdom as they talk with Beletew and his team, about future possibilities of working together.
• Beletew has asked CPA to sponsor five additional girls from the Afar through their first year at university, on top of the original 10 girls, now about to start year 2. This has been made possible by the huge generosity of one of our supporters. Please pray that each of these girls will be safe and secure in any relocation required. That they would know Shalom as they pursue further education and the opportunity this brings.

If you are able, maybe consider joining with another person to pray through this prayer update, and pray this final prayer together in unison.

May El Shaddai, the Lord God Almighty who loves us, protect us and our African friends.

May Jesus Christ His Son, who died for us, save us.

May the Holy Spirit, who broods over the chaos and fills us with his presence, intercede for us and in us, for others at this time.

Amen.

Thank you so much for joining with us.

Raymond and team at CPA.