Pray for East Timor on Sunday, October 23, 2016
Lectionary Selection: Luke 18:9-14
Prayers for East Timor:
This is a prayer in the time of transitions.
God, be with us as we walk through this world, doing the best we can, wherever we are. Help us to see ourselves for who we are. Help us to take off the blinders we wear that keep us from seeing our arrogance, our insensitivity, our self-righteousness. Help us to see ourselves in the way that YOU see us: with compassionate eyes. Remind us not to be ashamed of who we are, ever.
For our partners in the Protestant Church of East Timor, in a time of transition, we pray for the synod, for guidance in leading the Church forward. For Fusona, the Church’s mission branch, we pray for good leadership. And for us, help us to always be compassionate and humble as we accompany our partners in the daily walk of life. God, hear our prayers.
Mission Stewardship Moment from East Timor:
Our family has now spent 3 months in East Timor after years back in Minnesota. Arriving here, living amidst our colleagues in the Protestant Church of East Timor, who live with no consistently running water, no AC in the hot tropics, no cars, no bank accounts, we are humbled. Every day in Lospalos, we try to eat simply, knowing that “simple” for us is extravagant for most people here.
What are we, Tom and Monica Liddle, doing here? We have made a choice to walk along with our partners here for some more years. We bring our skills in pastoral care and medical care, indeed. We reach out every day to people in need in the Church, and to people who come to the clinic looking for compassionate care for their health concerns, be they simple or complex. But maybe what’s just as important is just being here, as a family, with our children Hannah and Simon. It brings recognition to the realities of our partners, many realities most of us cannot imagine. Just being here, sharing in the struggle of life as it is in East Timor, means that we care. And not just “we” as in Monica and Tom Liddle, but WE, as in all those who have sent us.
So far, the transition has been far from easy. But, with faith, together we will keep walking forward.
(Prayer and Mission Moment by Monica Liddle)
Mission Partner in East Timor:
More information on East Timor: http://www.globalministries.org/east_timor
Global Ministries Missionary in East Timor:
Monica Liddle serves as a missionary with the Protestant Churches of East Timor (IPTL). Her appointment is supported by One Great Hour of Sharing, Our Church’s Wider Mission, Disciples Mission Fund and your special gifts.