We Pray For....

One of my favorite things to do for spirituality nights is to re-write prayers. I always love what comes out of it and I love putting prayers into our own words. Tonight, as a group, we wrote this prayer based off of “We pray for the Children…” This is what we came up with and can give glimpses of what we love and struggle with being volunteers in Chuuk and what prayers we hold for the people we serve and people serving in other places.

We pray for Chuukese
Who have hidden passions,
Who are victims of violence,
Who dip fingers in kool-aid and ramen.

We pray for volunteers
Who could leave at any time,
Who question their purposes,
Who want to feel more part of the culture,
Who put ideas into action,
Who are just learning,
Who miss their families and friends.

We pray for Chuukese
Who shake it at track and field events,
Who have the capacity to make this a better state.

We pray for volunteers
Who are burdened by expectations,
Who forget to have dance parties,
Who build relationships with those they serve,
Whose vision is often blurred,
Who think they are going crazy,
Who need to be reminded to watch the sunset,
Who make mistakes.

We pray for Chuukese
Who sing their hearts out,
Who leave their notebooks in the other classroom,
Who turn the other cheek,
Who don’t see the virtue of education,
Who share everything,
Who sweep water out of their yards,
Who work in markets,
Who have been robbed of their cultural identities (by a bureaucratic nightmare),
Who shout waioooo and mwasamwas,
Who are victims of substance abuse.

We pray for volunteers
Who stare at calendars,
Who miss smelling good and feeling clean,
Who haven’t had a solid shit in 6 months,
Who are changed beyond their ability to effect change,
Who are all over the world.

We pray for Chuukese
Who chew betel nut,
Who search for hope,
Who enjoy laying down anywhere,
Who need role models,
Who stay in Chuuk.

May our hands join together as instruments of change in Jesus’s name. Amen.

I hope you enjoyed.
Love,
Jessica