Pray with Sierra Leone, January 12, 2025
Lectionary Selection: Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22
Prayers for Sierra Leone
Heavenly Father, we come to you with open hearts and minds as we thank you for the blessing of community and all it does to help us, keep us, and grow us. We thank you for the joy the festive season has brought us. It has been a time to enjoy the company of loved ones, reflect on the mountaintops and valleys of the year, and celebrate your son Jesus’ birth.
We also see the ways in which we have fallen short of your desire for our lives and your purpose. We pray that you baptize us in the way only the Holy Spirit can, in the way you told us in Luke 3, God.
We pray that in your divine timing, issues like food security and energy access will start to improve. Under the current government, the import tax on rice alone has risen from 5% to 10%. Give Sierra Leone the resources it needs to see lasting change, and let those in power be good stewards of the responsibility given to them.
This and more is our prayer to you, Lord. We will forever give you glory and thanks for the continuous blessings you have poured into our lives.
Amen.
Mission Moment from Sierra Leone
Music is a universal language that can transcend language and cultures. Through the programs of the Youth Desk at the Council of Churches of Sierra Leone (CCSL), supported by Global Ministries, kids are able to express themselves and the problems they face through music.
In December, two inception meetings were held to carve out opportunities in the fine arts for the youth of Sierra Leone. One program is helping to teach the youth a new instrument of their choice. They are also learning to read music and get the opportunity to perform in bands and choirs at events such as Youth Thanksgiving Church Services. This allows them to not only broaden their knowledge but also use their God-given gifts and talents to perform in God’s house of worship.
The second inception meeting was about how the youth desk and music committee of CCSL can collaborate with an advocacy group from a village outside the province of Makeni, Sierra Leone. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a common practice in Sierra Leone and is often believed to be a spiritual and social practice, but it actually puts women and girls at risk of short-term and long-term health problems. The advocacy group led by Pastor Emmanuel uses their voices and creativity to make songs and short plays about the issue to inform people how horrific and detrimental FGM is to the health of women and girls.
In the coming months, Pastor Emmanuel and the CCSL Youth Desk Music Team will be collaborating to hold conferences in the villages of Sierra Leone to inform people about how FGM affects women, how we can help combat it, and how integral government policies are to combat these issues. With all this work, the kids will be expressing this through the universal language of music—making songs and art to express their needs and desire for the safety of themselves and other women.
Written by KC King, Music Teacher for the Council of Churches of Sierra Leone and Ballanta Academy of Music
Partners in Sierra Leone
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