In church this past Sunday, we did things a little bit differently. During the space usually reserved for the sermon, Manis had everyone split up into groups, and we spent the time praying.
It seems the world is replete with crises of all sorts these days. Haiti–never a stranger to crisis–is once again in political upheaval; no one knows what will happen, or what to expect tomorrow. People are also suffering from economic hardship with the Haitian gourde losing value and the prices of food rising significantly…and projected to keep rising. Our community continues to suffer from famine and lack of water and a diminishing survival buffer due to the longstanding, severe drought. Lemuel is financially gasping, struggling to make payroll.
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1
Living on the edge of constant crisis and endless problems we cannot solve, we lift our eyes up.
Our church services during the month of December will be focused on crying out to the Lord…for the country, for our community, for Lemuel, for our church.
In between prayer on Sunday, Manis once again read from Habakkuk 3:17-19:
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail,
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fields,
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
In a farming community, the sobering reality of these words is not lost. Yet, we pray that our faith and our joy will remain firm like Habakkuk’s, no matter what crisis we face.
Would you pray with us?
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