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Jubilee Debt Campaign 2008:

Prayers for the Debt Fast - Angola 25 April - and the Journey to Justice 18 May

25 April: Angola

Collects

Creator God,
We remember today those who live,
those who have died, and
those who work to change your world.
May we, like them, be spokespeople for your justice
that we may walk in your way of life, liberty, and truth.
In Jesus’ name. Amen

Loving God,
We join to celebrate what we have achieved.
We join to remember what we have done.
We join to demand what next needs to be done.
To change your world,
To change lives,
To end debts,
To make your kingdom real.
Amen

Prayers of Commitment / Recommitment

I will speak out for those who have no voices

I will stand up for the rights of all the oppressed

I will speak truth and justice

I will defend the poor and needy

I will lift up the weak in Jesus’ name.

I will speak out for those who have no choices

I will cry out for those who live without love

I will show God’s compassion to the crushed and broken in spirit

I will lift up the weak in Jesus name 

(MU Jubilee summit watch June 2002)

Christ our partner,
you invite us to bear your yoke,
so that in sharing your work,
we may find our real selves in relationship with you
and with our brother and sisters in Angola and Mozambique.

Prayer for Debt Cancellation

Creator God, who made this beautiful earth,
thank you that you have given us the opportunity
to share in your work.
Help us as we strive towards a world
where unjust debts are cancelled -
for with you nothing is impossible.

Dear Lord Jesus, who taught us that we are
all neighbours to each other, show us how
to put this principle into action
as we negotiate for debt cancellation.

Holy Spirit, you help us to know the reality
of cancelled sin through Christ's cross.
Give us determined energy to see debts cancelled
and our brothers and sisters stepping freely
into more abundant life. Amen.

Prayer of Penitence

Loving God, It’s been ten years since we formed a chain.

In that time we have had:
3,652 days
87,600 hours
5,256,000 seconds
to work at getting rid of debts.
In that time 1,752,000 children and babies have died needlessly.
Each of us has eaten, slept, laughed, cried, lived, and yes, some have even died.

The debts still mount, and children still die.

Loving God, forgive.

It’s been ten years since we formed a chain.

In that time, some debts have been cancelled and some reduced; lives have been saved, and many others transformed.
But still today: harvests pay bank loans, families live without adequate food, water supplies still do not come with clean and sanitary provision, there is no time or money for education, and children work long hours, in appalling conditions, whilst still we watch and wait for governments to calculate the value of one life.

Loving God, forgive.

It’s been ten years since we formed a chain.

Chains come in different shapes and sizes. The fragile daisy chain of colour, shape and beauty; the safety chains which anchor boats and ships, aiding trade worldwide; the chains of precious metals which adorn, and decorate – and the invisible chains of hardship which tie and bind, destroying lives, taking away livelihoods, shackling the poor, and silencing the weak.

For the times when we see only beauty, our safety, our own needs -

Loving God, forgive.

It’s been ten years since we formed a chain.

Loving God, what is the value of one life?
Can it be true that a baby born thousands of miles away is of less worth to us, to you? When on every soul there is your fingerprint, indelibly claiming each as your own? What is the value of a life when money to feed, clothe or provide water for a child is of less importance than the interest rate?
When we speak of loan sharks, and the impossibility of taxing the poor, which of us is willing to say: no, God; not me, not us, any more?

Loving God, for our own unwillingness to break the chains, our own acceptance of others’ suffering; for our negligence in the face of those children’s deaths -

Loving God, forgive.

It’s been ten years since we formed a chain.

We pray for those who gathered then,
for those who gather now,
for those whose lives have been changed,
and all those whose lives should and could be changed.
We pray for each and every life that you gave birth to.

In Jesus’ name.

Amen

ALMA Partnership Prayer

God our Father, the source of all gifts,
give us humility to receive,
honesty to ask and generosity to give,
in order to bring each other up
to your honour and glory.
We ask this through the merits of
Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

(Bishop Dinis Sengulane)


Collects & Prayer of Penitence for Journey to Justice 2008, with kind permission of Revd Elaine Russell.
Prayer for Debt Cancellation with kind permission of Elizabeth Leicester  www.jublieedebtcampaign.org.uk
These materials may be freely copied or used in other documents, as long as the source is credited.