fbpx
1800 998 122Contact

Pray

Project overview 

In 2015, UnitingWorld supported our partner church, Church of North India, Diocese of Eastern Himalayas, to build a small school in a remote mountain village in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas, enabling boys and girls from neighbouring hills to access good and affordable education.  

The area is steep jungle-covered terrain, with families mostly eking out a subsistence livelihood. To get to school, children previously had  to walk up to four hours through jungle tracks. The dropout rate was very high, especially amongst girls. Young people were at high risk of human trafficking as they sought livelihoods in low-skill jobs. 

We now support this school to fund post-graduate training for their teachers, to enable the school become accreditated for government subsidies. We also contribute towards operating costs, so that they can provide affordable, high quality education for children living in this remote region who cannot afford high fees. 

Training for the teaching staff is progressing well and most staff members have now successfully completed their teacher training degree. Students are excelling in academic as well as extracurricular activities and are actively participating in inter-school events and competitions held in Kalimpong. 

In addition to a global pandemic, challenges this school community face include a staggering remoteness, lack of access to health services and facilities and an systemic poverty. Floods and landslides regulalry disrupt transport, and the staff are sacrificing their own career opportunities to stay and teach at this school. 

Together, we are helping our partners address these issues by strengthening the school and local services. 

Since this project started, attendance at the school has increased from 117 to 193. Thirteen teachers have been employed and classes have increased to Grade 12. 

Current year 

Getting students back to school after the pandemic has been a challenge but there are currently: 

  • 162 students from Grade 5 to 12 
  • 25 new students took admissions in Class XI (Grade 11) 
  • 16 new students joined the school for classes V-IX   
  • The school received 100% pass results in West Bengal Higher Secondary Examinations and 10 students passed with first division in the examinations. 

We also helped develop a Diocese-wide child protection policy that applies to churches, youth groups, Sunday schools and schools. School staff have all participated in workshops, enhancing the school’s understanding of child protection, disability inclusion, education and project management. 

UnitingWorld National Director Dr Sureka Goringe and International Program Manager Shreshtha Kumar visited the school in April 2023 to meet the school staff, management committee members as well Diocesan officials to discuss the key priorities for the project.  

The meeting with the School Management Committee (SMC) highlighted several achievements of the school, however, the teachers /staff members also made UW aware of the salary related challenges that pose barriers to staff retention. UW has brought these matters to the attention of the school Principal and these aspects are being taken into consideration in the annual planning process. 

2023-24 plans  

The next financial year brings a new phase of the project. During UnitingWorld’s visit, the discussion with students’ guardians/parents highlighted some interesting priorities for the school to consider. Community insights will be important to consider in the planning for the coming year.
Some of these insights included:  

  • More opportunities for extracurricular activities (music, sports, dance etc) to expand children’s career horizons. 
  • More education on substance abuse prevention  
  • Parents also requested more emphasis on career counselling sessions to prevent children from getting into daily wage work.  
  • Improved spoken English and computer literacy skills for students to improve their career/employment options. 
  • Some parents emphasised the need for more awareness on gender equality messaging, so that girls don’t feel the social pressure to marry early, and are able to pursue their goals and aspirations after gaining quality education.  

Prayer Requests 

  • The Diocese has been without a Bishop for some time. A new Bishop is likely to be elected soon, however in the absence of a Church leader most administrative burden has been managed by the Secretary and Treasurer of the Diocese. Please pray for a smooth transition and a spirit of unity in the Diocese.  
  • The pandemic and climate change issues have increased precarity for farming families in the region. The tea gardens are becoming unprofitable with climate change, and this has further aggravated poverty and unemployment for the tea garden workers. 
  • These socio-economic factors are pushing many families to migrate for work, and this has resulted in an increased risk of trafficking over the last couple of years.  
  • The school’s principal, Deena, and the Diocese project manager Sanjay, as they work together to support the Diocese, staff, students and their families.  

Thank you once again for your partnership in this life-giving mission! 

Mardi Lumsden, Donor Relations Manager
MardiL@unitingworld.org.au  

UnitingWorld 

Rev. Samuel Gnanarajah
Deaf Link, Methodist Church Sri Lanka (MCSL)

 

All mighty Heavenly Father,

People with disabilities are one of the most marginalized and vulnerable minorities in Sri Lankan society.

They are less likely to have access to education, health care facilities, economic and social status than those without disabilities.

Our prayer is that the ‘self-help’ groups we’ve formed will become independent and include themselves in wider society confidently.

Our prayer is always for children with special needs, for their education, livelihood and inclusion with other children.

God of life, we are sorry for looking down and treating people with disabilities as objects for charity instead of considering them as fuller humans who need our empathy and understanding.

Our prayer to have a fruitful life together towards an inclusive community in our country.

Lord, Deaf Link is on an incredible journey to embrace the PWD’S and uphold their dignity. Guide us throughout our pilgrimage.

God of the disabled, give us the vision to see that all people have gifts and abilities to share as part of our community of faith.

We pray in the name of the one who always saw the best in people, Jesus Christ, our lord,

Amen.

 

UnitingWorld supports our partner Deaf Link to provide occupational training to women with disabilities and provide access to education for children with disabilities. This enables people with disabilities, through work and study, to be accepted, equal and valued members of society. Find out more

 


 

Pray in solidarity with our partners

As part of Lent Event this year, we asked our church partners from around the world how we can support them in prayer. Their responses allow us to pray in solidarity, but also to learn about their struggles and what they long to see in their communities.

The above prayer was one that was featured in the guide in a shortened version.

Click here to download or order a printed booklet.

 

 

 

Pipit Purwadi
MBM Foundation, Protestant Christian Church in Bali (GKPB)

 

 

 

Lord Jesus, we are grateful for Your presence in our lives.

Towards the end of the year, there were many natural disasters around us.

Floods, landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

Previously, Covid-19 haunted our lives. Many of our brothers and sisters have been laid off, resulting in an increase in poverty in our assisted communities, they have difficulty accessing basic rights: Education, health and food. Assistance for women’s reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, plastic waste management that was previously carried out by MBM, can no longer be carried out optimally due to the pandemic.

Dear God, as social workers assisting the community, we also experience confusion. However, we know that You are always with and blessing. For this reason, we continue to try to help the community with what we have.

We are grateful, through the help of partners, communities affected by Covid-19 and natural disasters, have received business capital assistance and assistance to survive. Likewise, support from the Village Government in dealing with disasters helps residents survive difficult situations.

O God, give us the strength to survive the threat of future disasters. Enable us to be able to adapt to climate change, while maintaining this nature.

We believe, only by Your help can we go through every struggle.

Thank you Jesus,

Amen.

The Maha Bhoga Marga Foundation (MBM) is an advocacy and empowerment organisation established by our partner the Protestant Christian Church (GKPB) in Bali. UnitingWorld supports MBM to advocate for the rights of women and the poor to participate in village decision-making processes and provides women and poor families with vocational skills training so they can generate an income. We also support rural communities with health and hygiene services and education. Find out more

 


 

Pray in solidarity with our partners

As part of Lent Event this year, we asked our church partners from around the world how we can support them in prayer. Their responses allow us to pray in solidarity, but also to learn about their struggles and what they long to see in their communities.

The above prayer was one that was featured in the guide in a shortened version.

Click here to download or order a printed booklet.

 

 

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. Soaring inflation has caused devastating shortages of food, medicine and fuel, as well as power cuts across the country. Months of street protests have followed.

The Prime Minster Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned this week, and a nation-wide curfew has been put in place to try to curb the escalating protests.

Our partners the Methodist Church in Sri Lanka (MCSL) have been outspoken about the failings of the government and recently pledged to do everything in their means to alleviate suffering.

In another statement released this week, MCSL describes the situation as one of “immense suffering and hardship” leading to a feeling of “hopelessness among all our people.”

They urge the government to end the party politicking and seek greater unity to bring an end to the crisis.

“We appeal to all citizens of our country to be united, rooted in principles of non-violence and to extend care and love to our fellow beings as they go through immense hardships. Let us work together to bring our beloved country out of the current economic downfall,” read the statement.

“We as a Church Commit ourselves to do all within our means to alleviate the sufferings of the people and to create a new political culture for which we will pray and ceaselessly work for.”

Click here to read the full statement (released 9 May 2022)

We stand with them in prayer and solidarity.

UnitingWorld staff have reached out to our partners MCSL and Deaf Link offering support. We stand ready to respond.

Deaf Link Consultant Rev Samuel Gnanarajah says he is keeping in touch with the project field staff and is planning to visit people with disabilities supported through the project as soon as possible. He also asks us to pray for his nation.

Uniting Church in Australia President Reverend Sharon Hollis has previously encouraged UCA members to pray for Sri Lanka.

“We’re deeply concerned by what is happening in Sri Lanka and by what we’re hearing from our church partners and Sri Lankan-Australian members of the UCA,” said Rev Hollis.

“The situation is dire. We must pray in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka suffering through this crisis, as well as Sri Lankan Australians who are concerned for their country, families and friends.”

On Monday 9 May, the Philippines will hold national and local elections. Our partner the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) has called for prayer amid political violence, disinformation and fears of vote-rigging.

Already on 27 February, 60-year-old UCCP elder and local mayor Filipina Grace America was shot four times by a gunman while getting into her car after church. She survived the assassination attempt and was transferred to a hospital in Manila.

Filipina was running for re-election at the time of the shooting, and had been leading her local community in opposing the construction of the Kaliwa Dam. The mega-dam project sits on an earthquake fault and will also destroy the ancestral land of the Dumagat tribes. Filipina had received threats due to her activism about the dam.

Our partner UCCP has reported that some political parties and candidates in the Philippines have engaged in campaigns of disinformation and propaganda against their political rivals in the lead up to the election.

UCCP is working with local youth organisations in the Philippines to promote good governance. They are encouraging voters to advocate for peaceful and honest elections, and have released informational graphics to combat fake news and disinformation.

They are also mobilising people to monitor the ballots and election-related human rights abuses to protect against vote-rigging.

The Uniting Church in Australia has provided some funding for these activities.

Please use and share the below prayer in solidarity with our partners and neighbours in the Philippines.

Prayer for the Philippines elections

[Leader:] Be with us, O Lord our God, as we pray with the peoples of the Philippines, including those overseas, in this time of elections marked by deep division, uncertainty and pain.

We pray for all public servants and electoral authorities in the Philippines, especially those who remain upright and motivated by a genuine sense of duty and respect for good governance.  

We pray for those who peacefully challenge human rights violations and disinformation. Give them strength and courage to stand their ground for truth and justice. Protect their lives from those who seek to harm them when they hold firm to Your righteousness.

May the crises brought about by political differences everywhere bring about conversion and a change of heart in all.   

May You teach all people to rise above personal and political loyalties, redirecting our efforts towards the common good and celebrating the gift of diversity in life.

May we be guided by your Spirit to respond with mercy and compassion for those in need, the persecuted and the most vulnerable members of our societies.

For we know that what we do for others in need, we do for You.

[All:] In the spirit of solidarity, we pray for the Filipino people as they face their forthcoming national and local elections on 9 May. We pray that the elections may be peaceful, honest, and clean. We further pray that those elected will serve the common good.

 

Thank you to Dr Mark Zirnsak and the Justice and International Mission cluster of the Victoria/Tasmania Synod of the UCA for providing this information and prayer. 

Are you angry during the pandemic? How do you make peace with anger?

Rev Dr Mery Kolimon is Moderator of GMIT, our partner Church in West Timor, Indonesia. Throughout the pandemic, she has shown leadership in public health and coordinated the emergency relief program after the devastation of Cylone Seroja.  I encourage you to read Rev Dr Kolimon’s full reflection below, a truly insightful exploration of God’s presence in the midst of our suffering. I believe the ‘theology of the body’ she articulates is deeply inspirational for Uniting Church members, particularly those living in regions under lockdown.

-Rev Dr Ji Zhang, Uniting Church in Australia Assembly Theologian-in-Residence

At the end of June 2021, my husband began to feel unwell: colds, coughs, weak body, loss of taste. At that time Kupang was windy and the weather was unstable: sometimes hot, sometimes cold. So my husband thought it must have been a cold caused by tiredness from his schedule of long meetings.

I had previously reminded him: “Work should not be too late, too long or too often. It’s a pandemic. Masks should be replaced frequently. If you go home, change your clothes immediately.”

By the end of that week my daughter rang when I was in the office to say she also felt unwell, and I hurriedly finished my meeting and rushed home.

While my husband was still reluctant to test for Covid-19, believing it just to be a cold, I insisted that we were swabbed and we soon found out that our entire family was positive.  Our nephew, Efi, tested negative – Praise God! As long as we were sick he was able to take care of us.

Making peace with sadness and anger

When I found out the result, I felt angry. Why had we not been more careful? Our kids have been learning from home for over a year, but as parents we were always at work, even though as a Synod we help educate others about how to be safe. Often we have adhered to health protocols. But there are times when we are off-guard, such as unmasking to take pictures and eating together in meetings. Everyone should be more vigilant.

It took me a few days to come to terms with the anger and sadness.

We both know we are lucky to have been vaccinated, because while there is still risk of infection, the impact is not as severe. The four of us did not have problems with breathing, something we’re very grateful for.

We also learned once again that the impact of Covid-19 is more pronounced for older people. My 17-year-old daughter lost her sense of smell and had difficulty eating, but it wasn’t as bad as for my husband and I, who had body pain for days. Alberd, 9 years old, had fever and vomiting, a loss of sense of taste for several days and a lack of appetite. Alberd’s spirits stayed high though and he was a great comfort to us.

The Light of God’s Love

On the third day after being declared positive, our situation was quite severe. Our whole bodies hurt, we couldn’t drink or eat; we had fever, nausea, scalp pain. As a Mama, I had difficulty taking care of the family or paying attention to church affairs. I was worried about many post-Cyclone Seroja agendas in GMIT that needed to be taken care of and plans with ecumenical partners and congregations on various islands.

I almost cried in bed. My God, why am I having this experience?

I thought about what might happen if I couldn’t get through this Covid – my mind was everywhere as I imagined how things would be with GMIT. Within our five Daily Synod Assemblies, three people were also infected at the same time as me; all have now improved.

When it all felt very heavy, I told my daughter who was also having difficulty eating:

“Our Covid situation is like walking into a dark alley without knowing if we will ever get out of that dark alley safely. Although it is very dark, one day we will see light at the end of the hallway, as long as we believe that there is light at the end of that dark passageway. Come on, keep eating.”

She replied: “Mama’s dark hallway analogy is horrifying but true.””

We experienced the light of God’s love in many ways: people came to give care and support; some sent Bible verses and messages; my sisters at SoE sent the medicines we needed; others sent herbal remedies; Oepoi Health Center always contacted us to ask about our situation; the Governor of NTT called and sent Chinese medicine; Tanta Yo from the Synod Office guest house cooked for us for a week. There was a friend who sent Timor Island’s best honey; there was a friend who transferred money and said don’t get dizzy with the thought of medical expenses. Fruits and vegetables flowed from all directions.

We really experienced in these dark times the light and warmth of love – even while we struggled with nausea, fever and night sleep disorders, every day we experienced God loving us. Thank you to all who shared the light with us when the night was so intense and we lived as though in a great storm.

What sin?

A question asked by a group of GBI pastors arose: “Are we affected by Covid-19 because we have betrayed the Lord Jesus like Judas Iscariot?”

This way of thinking is very closely related to the understanding of the relationship of disease and curses in our culture. For example, among West Timorese there is a naketi concept. A person can be afflicted by adversity such as illness because there are certain sins or mistakes.  Sin is seen as so powerful that it can jump across generations. Children and even grandchildren a few generations later can get sick because of the sins of their ancestors. To be healed, it is necessary to confess sin.

I myself struggled with the same question as I lay in bed: “What sin have I and my family committed?”

I reflected that perhaps we did not do enough to wear the masks correctly and keep a distance. I also prayed that if something was wrong, the Holy Ghost would rebuke us so that we realized it, opening our hearts to understand His will through the pain we experienced.

But I could not accept the idea that we were so sinful that we were punished with Covid.

I wrote to a fellow pastor who had shared his concern:

“Reverend, test all voices … I remain a believer in all seasons of life, and God’s faithful love is eternal. He allows us, His servant ministers, to experience this like any other person, that we may also experience the deification of the world today and find that even in the valley of darkness, God has not forsaken His creation.”

Shepherd Infected with Covid-19

In 2015 I was elected chairperson of the Synod. I remember one of the intercessory prayers when I was elected was that I would not be sick for four years while I led the church. I wanted to always look good, healthy, and happy, and refused to allow myself to be sick. I promised to live a healthy life with a good diet, rest, exercise, and management of my mental health.

But early in 2019, due to exhaustion, I suddenly got sick quite seriously.

I told my husband one morning: “Yustus, I can’t lift my legs. Help me.”

Friends who came to visit me advised me: “Mery, it doesn’t matter if you’re sick. The body needs rest too.”

In the second period of my shepherding ministry now, I have come to terms with my body more, to embrace fatigue, rest, and pain.

When I was infected with Covid, I learnt to better understand the deepest fears, anxieties, and worries of those who are sick. I was infected in the second wave in Indonesia, when every day there was news that 20,000 to 30,000 Indonesians were infected and more than a thousand people died because of Covid.

Every morning from the bedroom when we woke up, we heard birdsong from our beautiful courtyard, but also sirens roaring in a hurry to deliver the bodies to the cemetery. A shepherd who suffers herself is allowed understand mankind’s deepest fears in front of menacing diseases, and learn to say the most honest prayers to God during threat of sickness and death. But if she is sensitive, she can also see and follow God’s unceasing care. Birds singing, brothers caring, comrades supporting. Life isn’t just about crying and anxiety. In life there is also friendship, love, and genuine care.

As theologians, we often preach too quickly about certain circumstances. We want to directly write and connect Covid with bible verses so that we are able to lecture others. The experience of having Covid helped me not to rush to jump to certain theological conclusions.

Instead, in suffering:

Listen to your body language. Feel the heart. Listen to your own feelings and anxieties. Listen to your deepest hopes and longing. Talk to God honestly and listen to what God is saying. Start theology from there. Connect the experiences of suffering, anxiety, hope, and longing with the struggles of the faithful in biblical times. Learn the deepest struggles of today’s people, and see what can be learned as the gospel message for mankind’s struggles today.

Body Theology

A female pastor friend who served in one of the church denominations in Kupang City, wrote to me thus: “Mama, I am still struggling with the issue of concentration. Although it has been 2 months since my COVID illness, assignments from the campus are abandoned. Although I still can write, it is at a creeping speed… According to some friends who are over 50 years old, COVID weakens the life spirit, and we become apathetic.”

I wondered whether a lot of people have experienced something like that? This is interesting to study and reflect upon theologically.

Our family does not yet know what the full impact of Covid will be: are our lungs going to be okay? What about our stomachs, our hearts, and our brains? How does Covid impact people long term?

This disease helps us to be more sensitive to the body as God’s noble and fragile work. Our bodies are glorious because they were created by God Himself in His image and likeness, and because man has fallen into sin. The realization of God’s redemption encourages us to hold our bodies accountable because the body is the fruit of God’s glorious work. The invaded body must be loved and cared for as a form of involvement in Christ’s work of redemption and restoration. The invaded body should not be forced to work beyond its means.

The virus may go after a certain time, but its traces will remain to teach mankind valuable life lessons to care for God’s created body and honor His given life.  One of the theological agendas as a survivor of Covid is the journey towards self, to seriously care for and appreciate the body, soul, and spirit.

Being infected with Covid helped me to reflect more on body theology. The human body and life are theological sites. The body is where we meet God. The body comes from the ground and God has touched it to bring it to life: moving, walking, jumping, full of joy. There is also a time when the body is sick and sad. Because the body was created by God, we can meet God there, in all experiences of the body: sad, happy, sick, healthy. The body reveals something about the work of the glorious God. But the body is also limited. There’s a time when the body no longer exists. As long as the body is still there, I exist. When the body stops working, I am no longer in the world. Body theology helps us to honor and care for the body with gratitude to God who created it, until it is time for the body to return to the ground.

 

The Language of Faith in Times of Crisis

There is something interesting in my experience of spirituality in this time of crisis. I was raised as a child speaking two languages: Indonesian and Meto-Timorese. In childhood when we started attending school in the interior, our teachers used two languages for children who could not speak Indonesian. Everyday we learnt more of the regional language. For the sake of study, I also learned English and Dutch so that now I speak four languages: Indonesian, Meto, English, and Dutch.

In my deepest times of fear and anxiety, I prayed in Timorese. When I prayed in that mother tongue, I was able to express my deepest feelings. Sometimes I feel angry at myself for not being able to find a word in the language of the area for what I want to express. Now I am more fluent in Indonesian than the local language. But I really felt the depth of the experience with God in my mother tongue.

In that language I told God about my worries, about my family, the impact of this disease on my ministry, and my anxiety over all human civilization. Sometimes when praying during times of crisis using Indonesian or other languages, I wonder if maybe what I express is superficial. But when I pray in the language of the region, there are very deep things that are revealed to the Lord and to myself. The prayer became very personal between God and me.

I think this may be related to the experience of faith that shaped me. I grew up knowing God in a believing community in West Timor. My father, who was from Alor Island, married my mother, a West Timorese woman, and they worked in Timor until the end of their lives. I grew up as a child learning to know God, the Word, and his works in a strong community nurturing the culture and language of the region in that environment. I am reminded of the strong faith of my mother and grandmother formed by Timorese culture, the late Elder Banunaek of Oetoli in the Western Oinlasi Church who prayed for us when we were sick, or celebrated with us in the depths of the language of poetry. It was all absorbed into my heart. When I struggle with the deepest things, it’s this language that expresses all longing, hope, and anxiety.

Embracing Uncertainty, Learning to Know Boundaries

I no longer have a definite list of activities and a series of trips arranged in order and detail. My suitcases remain untouched, and now all of humanity finds itself experiencing uncertainty. There’s no plan that’s currently workable. People again study the Bible counsel: “For my design is not your plan” (Isaiah 55:8a).

Since the Enlightenment era, people have felt they can do anything. Mankind has thought with his brain that he knows all things and conquer all things in the universe: “I think, then I exist.” Human reason is considered very powerful.

But the Covid pandemic at the beginning of the third decade of this century is teaching us that humans and their abilities are limited. Even a virus so small and invisible to the eye can make an entire human civilization chaotic. Man is not omnipotent. Science and technology are important and very helpful. But human intelligence and technology must not make man act arbitrarily over the life of God’s creation.

I think Covid also teaches us humans to take a break from our ambitions and busyness. We’re stuck in an age where everything we do is rushed. Waking up early, our agenda is long and our plans are layered: after this we will continue with something else. Even before we finish one thing, the other is waiting. We force our bodies, souls, and spirits to keep running without adequate rest periods.

Covid interrupts our busy life. Covid invites us to pause: to take time for the body, for the soul and mentally, for the family, for the Lord, to rest. This disease gives us the opportunity to truly take shelter, submit to God, and submit our life plans to His sovereignty.

Ecological Repentance

For almost two years the earth has been left helpless. Perhaps it is rebuking us harshly and giving us a hard lesson?

As Thomas L. Friedman said in an opinion piece in the New York Times,May 30, 2020: “These past few weeks we have learned… our earth is fragile… Our pandemic today is no longer just a biological pandemic, but also a geopolitical, financial, and environmental pandemic.”

Without a radical change in our consciousness and attitude toward Mother Earth, we will experience even greater consequences than what we are feeling today.

The economic system of capitalism makes people compete for profit and accumulate capital. For financial gain, nature is mercilessly plundered. The rich get richer, the poor and nature is exploited. The uncontrollable virus is now alerting us to a disturbed balance of nature.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a wake up call moment for all human beings. All of us —governments, communities, businesspeople, politicians, anyone—should interpret it as an opportunity to come back to peace with the earth. We are in need of mass repentance for ecological justice. We must stop carrying out development that is solely oriented towards financial gain. Instead we need to commit together to a development oriented towards the sustainability of life.

Claiming Divine Power

Where is God when the whole world struggles with suffering? Does God care about the tears and suffering of the sick or the family’s hope for their brother’s recovery? Where is God when we fight to maintain the lives of our families who are infected by Covid-19? For the healed there is praise to the Lord, but what about those who die? Is God with those who died because of Covid-19? Are the dead unloved by God?

This pandemic invites the church into the midst of the struggle of human suffering. In this great pain, we are challenged to put our ears and hearts on, hear and feel the screams and moans of pain, and the lamentations of life. This pandemic is calling us to see the fragility and dryness of human life.

It is in this context that this year’s GMIT Synod Assembly developed our ministry theme for 2021 from Ezekiel 37:14. Ezekiel was called to be a prophet at exactly the most precarious moment in the history of the Israelic covenant: the destruction of Israel by Babylonia. In the vision in chapter 37, Ezekiel is taken into a valley full of bones. Like Ezekiel, we are not led to avoid disaster, but rather to stand up and acknowledge the existence of it. The Covid-19 pandemic is real, not a conspiracy of certain parties to seek self-and group advantage.

Moreover God gave Ezekiel the task of prophesying to the bones to live again. He was told to prophesy tothe ruakh/spirit of life to enter the bones in the valley. The Spirit is called from the four corners of the earth. Learning from Ezekiel, the church during this pandemic is tasked with voicing God’s intent for the world in disaster.

In human suffering, God does not leave us. The Spirit of Life is with His creation, the Spirit of God gives life and moves the bones that are already very dry (and there is no more life). Just as the work of the Holy Spirit blew when man was created (Gen. 2:7), God continues to work to give life to man. To His frightened and hiding disciples, Jesus was present and breathed His Spirit upon them, restoring them from worry, panic, and fear (Jn. 20:22).  He calls us to repentance, learns from the sufferings of life for the restoration of relations with God, with fellow human beings, and with all creation. He heals us from the worries and anxieties of life.

Where is God in this pandemic? God is in human suffering.

He is in solidarity with those who are terrified in isolation rooms. He hugs the families who have lost their loved ones. God is pleased to use those who care for others as His co-workers for the ministry of salvation.

The message of the book of Ezekiel to the churches this year is that just as God calls Ezekiel to be a prophet in the wasteland, so we must continue to prepare to be ministers of God in this difficult time. On the cross of Jesus, God Himself acted to restore man. He entered into the valley of death as His son gave his life. But no suffering is eternal. No disaster lasts forever. Death has been defeated. Jesus has risen from the dead. God reigns, God cares, God is with us. Although the way of the cross feels very difficult, we must endure to stand by Him, true in faith, hope, and love.

Covid is not just a story about human fragility. Covid also tells about the divine power of God that is conferred so that we hold the promise of hope that He is with us. Even for those who die with Covid, their body is again united with the ground, lying in the everlasting light of God, in the promise of the inclusion of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. ***

Rev Dr Mery Kolimon, Moderator, Evangelical Christian Church of Timor
Kupang, July 2021

P.S. Thanks to my husband and children as the first readers of this paper and for making corrections. A number of friends have read and given some important feedback. I am responsible for the content of this paper.

 

A prayer of the people of West Timor and Indonesia

By Rev Dr Apwee Ting, UCA Assembly National Consultant

Lord

I kneel before you

carrying an immeasurable burden

my body is very weak

my heart is bleeding

from Covid-19

 

I am no longer embracing the bravery

fragility is what I know

I’m not chasing eternity anymore

day by day is in my sight

 

Laughter and crying

joyfulness and suffering

inseparable

 

Lord

come in my dream

presence in my suffering

be real in my loneliness

 

God

is not there

is here

in the midst of pandemic

giving Indonesia

hope and healing

 

I am no longer afraid of

paralysis

vulnerability

death

because

God is walking with me

Restoration is with me

 

 

Doaku buat Indonesia

Tuhan

pada Mu kubersimpuh

membawa beban tak terkira

tubuh terkulai

batin terkapar

oleh Covid-19

 

Kini kusadar

bukan lagi kegagahan kurengkuh

kerapuhanlah yang kudekap

bukan lagi kekekalan kukejar

keseharianlah yang kutatap

 

Tawa dan tangis

senang dan susah

tak terpisahkan

 

Tuhan

hadir dalam mimpi ku

datang dalam derita ku

nyata dalam kesendirianku

 

Tuhan

tidak lagi disana

Tuhan disini

ditengah pandemi

memberi Indonesia

harapan dan kesembuhan

 

Kelumpuhan

kerantanan

kematian

tidak lagi menakutkan

karena

Tuhan berjalan bersama ku

pemulihan ada pada ku

 

 

India’s COVID-19 surge has overloaded its struggling heath system and is causing thousands of deaths per day.

Our Uniting Church partners, the Church of North India (CNI), are not immune. Battling to keep people fed as a second lockdown wreaks havoc, and spreading critical health information to help beat the spread of the disease, they’re on the frontline of the response in their communities.

“The ‘Corona ‘Tsunami’, if one could say that, has left all of us paralysed,” Bishop Khimla of the Diocese of Durgapur told UnitingWorld.  “There is immense suffering as the medical and social infrastructure struggles to cope with the pandemic. The Church has also lost many ministers, both Pastors and Bishops.”

Project Officer Sanjay Khaling was recently hospitalised after contrating COVID-19, while several staff of the Durgapur Education and Social Empowerment project have contracted COVID-19 along with family and friends.

Despite the dangers, the church continues to serve the community as best they’re able. Bishop Samantaroy of the Amritsar Diocese said the church is working on immediate interventions including free distribution of cooked food, dry rations and hygiene products like masks, sanitiser and soap.

Schools have been closed across the area, so girls attending the hostel project in Amritsar have gone home to their villages for at least a month and possibly two. At the Amritsar Social Empowerment and Education project, study centers will continue in each village and the team are doing what they can to support people remotely.

“There has been a drastic rise in cases every day here in Punjab,” Project Coordinator OP Prakash said this week.  “In some [rural] villages people have tested positive but the situation seems under control.”

While this team has experience from last year’s lengthy lockdown, the pandemic is reaching new heights in other areas.

The Eastern Himalayas Education project has had to close the school and move all activities online. Teachers are navigating the difficult task of teaching online while resourcing children who have little or no access to internet or devices.

“We are assured that UnitingWorld continues to be with us in spirit and prayers and believe that this too shall pass,” Bishop Khimla said yesterday. “We very much appreciate your prayers.”

UnitingWorld is supporting our partners to divert project funds to their COVID-19 responses where needed. Donations will be very gratefully received to support their work.

Click here to donate online.

Devastating flash floods and landslides have killed at least 113 people in Timor-Leste (East Timor), West Timor and Flores since the Easter weekend. Officials expect the death toll to rise as there are still dozens of people missing. Our partners are responding.

Can you help? Please click here to donate to our emergency appeal today.

This GMIT church in Kupang is one of the many churches providing shelter for people impacted by the floods.

Across Timor-Leste and West Timor, home to some of the poorest communities in our region, storms and heavy rains sent torrents of water through towns and villages, turning streets into canals and destroying homes and businesses. 30,000 people have been affected and thousands are now taking refuge.

We are still gathering information, but our partners in Timor-Leste, IPTL, have reported being badly impacted. They are reeling from severe flooding and now facing the challenge of communities being cut off from food, water and electricity.

Our partners in West Timor, GMIT, have also been hit hard. Several people have died and a project we support on Rote Island has been devastated. Partner staff have flooded homes and their headquarters in Kupang is badly damaged (see header image). GMIT church buildings have been opened for use as emergency shelters (see image right).

This crisis, of course, is unfolding during a global pandemic among communities who were already highly vulnerable to it’s impacts. Thousands of people have had to access temporary refugee centres, where there is the danger of COVID-19 transmission and experts fear it could cause the number of cases in the region soaring.

Our partners in West Timor have asked for prayer:

Greetings from Us here in Kupang, we hope that everyone is fine in the midst of Covid-19 Pandemic.

In the joy of welcoming Easter 2021, we had to face The Seroja Tropical Cyclone which took place on April 5 at 11.00 WITA and ended on the 6th, at 9.30 AM. This storm is really a tough test for us in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic because it has brought the impact of hydrometeorological disasters ranging from heavy rain, flash floods, and strong winds. The areas affected by this disaster were the City of Kupang, Kupang Regency, TTS, Belu, the islands of Flores, Alor, Rote, Sabu and East Sumba.

The congregation who lives in the coastal areas and its surroundings have moved to GMIT churches because their houses were flooded/damaged by storms … the electricity went out since last night until now because the electricity cable was hit by a fallen tree, we do not have internet access except in certain places .. but Praise God that after the storm God gave us sunny weather so that the cleaning/evacuation process can run well today and the situation has started to be conducive, Thank GOD!

The recent number of victims due to the Seroja Tropical Cyclone reached 2,655 households due to damaged infrastructure, 68 people died, 15 people were injured, 70 people were missing (data as of today and will be updated).

We ask for your prayers and support so that we are strong and able to get through this situation, and can even support one another.

Once again Happy Easter, May God’s love surround us in any situation.

With Love,

TLM Foundation

 

Help us support our partners in Timor-Leste and West Timor

We have launched an appeal to support the emergency relief work of our partners. Funds raised will help provide displaced and vulnerable people with immediate needs of food, shelter and health care. In the longer term, it will support rebuilding, rehabilitation and the re-establishment of people’s livelihoods. Your support will make a huge difference and will be a powerful gesture of solidarity with our close neighbours dealing with the double crisis of floods and COVID-19. Please give generously.

Click here to donate now.

 

Prayer

Uniting Church in Australia Assembly National Consultant Rev Dr Apwee Ting has written a prayer for those in the affected areas.

Doa buat Nusa Tenggara Timur

 

Tatkala angin menyampaikan pesan nya dengan topan

Tatkala gerimis menyampaikan kesan nya melalui badai

Air mengalir tidak lagi bersahabat

Angin bergeliat tidak lagi berdesah

Manusia terhenyak

Kita tersentak

Tertunduk

Terkapar

Terkoyak

 

Tangis sedih mengiringi duka yang dalam

Luka dalam menetes darah

Berpisah tanpa kata kata

 

Nusa Tenggara Timur

Ku peluk dalam doa dan duka

Ku sebut nama mu

Ku jemput

dengan kepedulian

 

Nusa Tenggara Timur

Tidak sendirian dalam penderitaan

Ibu Pertiwi memeluk mu

Anak anak nusantara menopang mu

Tuhan pun ada  bersama mu

Prayer for Nusa Tenggara Timur

 

When the wind conveyed its message with a hurricane

When the drizzle conveyed its impression through the storm

Running water is no longer friendly

The wriggling wind was no longer sighing

Human gasped

We gasped

Bowed

Sprawling

Ripped apart

 

Sad tears accompany deep grief

The wound is dripping with blood

Parting without words

 

East Nusa Tenggara

I embrace in prayer and sorrow

I say your name

I’ll pick you up

with care

 

East Nusa Tenggara

Not alone in suffering

Mother Earth hugs you

The children of the archipelago support you

God is with you too

 

Header image: Our partner TLM’s headquarters in Kupang, West Timor after the storm. TLM is the development agency of our church partner GMIT.

The West Papua Council of Churches (which includes our partner, GKI-TP) has sent a Pastoral Letter for Easter condemning the increasing militarisation of the Papuan provinces and ongoing human rights violations by security forces. The letter also highlights serious environmental and land rights concerns.

In response to these issues, Papuan church leaders have reiterated a long-standing call for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to carry out an investigation into the human rights situation in West Papua, and for an independent third party to provide for the needs of people living in areas affected by recent military operations in the highlands.

The Papuan church leaders also call for “prayer and fasting support from people and church leaders in the Pacific.”

Read the full Pastoral Letter

“Prayer is a vital discipline for me. It is talking to our father for wisdom and strength. It’s a place to take refuge.” -Pastor Dorothy Jimmy, Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union, Vanuatu.


The World Day of Prayer
is a global ecumenical movement led by Christian women who welcome you to join in prayer and action for peace and justice. It is run under the motto “Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action,” and is celebrated annually in over 170 countries on the first Friday in March. The movement aims to bring together people of various races, cultures and traditions in a yearly common Day of Prayer, as well as in closer fellowship, understanding and action throughout the year.

 Here are three prayer requests from our partners in Vanuatu:

 

    1. Pray for those most affected by the COVID-19 crisis

Cindy Vanuaroro, General Secretary of the Presbyterian Women’s Mission Union in Vanuatu and Chair of the World Day of Prayer Committee has asked the Australian Church to pray in solidarity with the people of Vanuatu struggling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic:

“While we are thankful for achieving zero cases of COVID-19 in Vanuatu, the economic impact of the pandemic has been huge here. Thousands of people have lost jobs in Vanuatu, particularly in the travel and tourism sectors. People are living day-to-day to provide for their families. I often see newly unemployed people are walking the streets not knowing what to do.”

 

  1. Pray for women and men in Vanuatu working to end violence and build equality in their communities.

Cindy has also asked us to pray for the work of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu to help people and communities understand God’s plan of equality between women and men.

Currently, 72% of women in Vanuatu will suffer violence at the hands of men in their lifetime (double the global average), so the work of the Church is critical in creating advocates for anti-violence and equality, using he Bible to speak powerfully to hearts and minds.

Here’s a great story of change showing their work in action:

 

  1. Pray for the next generation in Vanuatu: the children of today and leaders of tomorrow

Pastor Dorothy Jimmy, the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu Women’s Missionary Union asked us to pray with the PCV for wisdom in help guide their youth during so many modern social changes and uncertainties, and that they hold onto what is special and unique about their traditional cultures.

“I would like the church in Australia to pray for the church in Vanuatu as we lead our youth to uphold cultures and traditions that are important to us. The importance of family, social connectedness and all the things that unite us as a people. May we hold onto it and continue to pass it on to the next generations.”

Thank you for joining us in prayer in solidarity with our partners and neighbours in Vanuatu.

You can find resources on the official World Day of Prayer website: www.worlddayofprayeraustralia.org

Download the above as a PowerPoint