Pray for Angola on Sunday, February 1, 2009

Pray for Angola on Sunday, February 1, 2009

Lectionary Text and Prayers for Angola:  Mark 1:21-28 

Gracious God, we thank you for sending to us Jesus the Christ to cast out evil in our spirits and in our world, to speak your Word of Truth and Justice, with power and authority.

For far too long, the evils of war and want ravaged Angola and your people cried out for peace and justice. Peace has come to the land and we pray that your Church in Angola will continue to be a force that works for peace with justice for all.

We pray that You will guide and bless the efforts of the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola as it seeks to be a voice for the voiceless and a source of empowerment for the disenfranchised:

  • Help your Church to continue its ministry of reconciliation, reaching out to people still captive by the wounds of civil strife.
  • Enable community development programs to improve the current circumstances and life prospects of poor people in rural areas.
  • Guide the staff of IECA’s schools to prepare young people for participation and leadership in a free and open society.

And, help your Church all around the world to stand in prayerful solidarity and active partnership with our brothers and sisters in Angola, for we are One through You. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

(Prayer by Donna Dudley)

Global Ministries International Partners in Angola:

  • Council of Christian Churches in Angola: CICA, is an ecumenical institution founded in 1977 with the purpose of being the Angolan’s faith community’s guiding institution in the country, as well as the prophetic voice of its member institutions towards local and international governments.  CICA began with 7 member communions, and today has 22 member communions and related organizations.  CICA is based in Luanda, yet supports activities and ecumenical relations in all 18 provinces of Angola.  The Department of Justice, Ecumenism, Reconciliation and Cooperation was created as an organ responsible to respond to the various needs in peace building and conflict transformation in order to promoted a culture of peaceful coexistence, relationship building  throughout Angolan society.  http://www.edicisa.org.zw/FOCCISA/angola/index.html
  • Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola: The Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola (IECA) is a longstanding partner of Global Ministries.  The entity now known as IECA was founded in 1880 on the Angolan central plain by missionaries from the United Church of Canada and the American Committee of the Missions (USA), a forerunner of the United Church of Christ. The Church expanded in the central plateau through the creation of missions. During the long civil war (1976 – 2002), most church institutions were destroyed and members were dispersed throughout Angola, but the Church continued to expand, and currently has over 900,000 members and more than 3,000 congregations. IECA’s Department of Social Assistance, Studies and Projects (DASEP) was created in 1991, to improve the general well being of the Angolan people by implementing projects in the areas of: Justice, Peace and Reconciliation; Gender, Women and Children; Health and HIV AIDS; Education and Training; Institutional Strengthening; and Sustainable Community Development. The current peace in Angola allows DASEP to be an agent of social transformation in implementing the Church’s vision: To create a more just Angolan society, founded on ethical-moral and biblical principles, leading to a better world for all. http://warc.jalb.de/warcajsp/church.jsp?news_id=19&navi=9&church=127

Global Ministries Missionary in Angola:

Donna Dudley is a missionary with the Evangelical Congregational Church of Angola.  She is assigned to their Department of Social Assistance, Studies and Projects and assists with development projects, staff leadership training, and strengthening church-related and other international partnerships.