Throughout Lent, we are gathering from around the globe to pray for the nations. If you’d like to join us, we’ll be sharing these prayer resources weekly here (and you can sign up to get a weekly email with the resources HERE.) We hope you’ll join us to pray, lament, and find hope as we look for where God is at work.

WEEK 1 | February 19 | AFRICA Ubuntu: I Am Because We Are

“My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours. We belong in a bundle of life.” — Archbishop Desmond Tutu

TO BEGIN

Video (from a secular perspective on “Ubuntu”): Specifically 0:39 – 4:29

OPENING PRAYER

God of all peoples, you have made us one human family,
yet we have built walls where you intended bridges.
You created us for connection,
yet we have chosen isolation over solidarity.

Open our eyes to see where we continue to reinforce those walls in ourselves.
Soften our hearts and give us eyes to see all humans as part of us –
that we too have a responsibility toward.
That we too are called to Love as you love.
Bind us together in the bundle of life,
for we are because they are.

Amen.

Song 1 – Ubuntu – One Big Voice Studio Choir:

A MEDITATION ON UBUNTU

To go deeper: See the attached handout “Understanding Africa’s Diversity” for information about Africa’s 54 countries, 2,000+ languages, and 3,000+ ethnic groups.

Africa is a continent of 54 nations, over 3,000 ethnic groups, and more than 2,000 languages. From the Sahara to the Cape, from the Congo Basin to the Horn, Africa holds within it extraordinary diversity: the Hausa and Yoruba, the Oromo and Somali, the Zulu and Akan. Ancient kingdoms and modern nations. Desert and rainforest. Muslims, Christians, and indigenous faiths living side by side.

From the breathtaking landscapes of Victoria Falls to Mount Kilimanjaro, the vibrant rhythms of Afrobeat and gospel choirs, the wisdom of oral traditions passed down through generations, the innovation of mobile banking revolutionizing economies, the art and literature that moves the world, and from the heart of Africa, this Ubuntu philosophy that teaches us what it means to be human.

Yet it is also a continent that has borne, and continues to bear, immense suffering: wars in Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo displacing millions; drought and famine threatening the Horn of Africa; the ongoing violence and political instability that forces families to flee their homes; the AIDS epidemic that has claimed countless lives; the exploitation of resources while communities remain in poverty.

And we who gather from the West must name an uncomfortable truth: much of this suffering has roots in our own history. The transatlantic slave trade that stole millions of lives. The colonialism that carved up the continent with arbitrary borders, extracting wealth while imposing foreign rule. The neo-colonial economic systems that continue to benefit us while impoverishing others. The apathy and amnesia that allow us to forget that these are human beings – made in the image of God – are our our brothers and sisters.

We have stood by. We have looked away. We have benefited from systems of injustice while remaining silent.

We belong to the same bundle of life. Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu – a person is a person through other people. Our humanity rises and falls together.

Worship Song: https://youtu.be/YYZ1mFdSm-M?si=JtkYsCMvOijrgkNH

SOME CURRENT HEADLINES

LAMENT & INTERCESSION

God of beauty and creativity, we praise you for the incredible richness and diversity and joy that flows from the continent of Africa!

We pray now for these 54 nations, over 3,000 ethnic groups, and more than 2,000 language groups. We can’t possibly capture all of their beauty now, but we specifically name the places we have ties, connections, or a heart for tonight.

(Name the countries or people you know or have connection to in Africa)

God of justice and mercy, we come before you with heavy hearts and bowed heads.

We confess: we have been complicit in systems that dehumanize and exploit.
We confess: we have turned away when it was convenient, forgotten when it was comfortable.
We confess: we have consumed the resources of Africa while ignoring the suffering of its people.
We confess: our ancestors’ sins of slavery and colonialism, and our own sins of apathy and indifference.

Forgive us, Lord. Break our hearts for what breaks yours.

We lament the wars that ravage Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and countless other places where violence steals peace and destroys families.

We lament the droughts and famines in Ethiopia, Kenya, and the Horn of Africa, where children go to bed hungry and mothers watch their babies waste away.

We lament the political corruption and instability that robs people of safety, opportunity, and hope.

We lament the diseases -malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis – that claim lives that could be saved.

We lament the displacement of millions who have been forced to flee their homes, becoming refugees in their own land or strangers in foreign countries.

We lament that the richness of Africa – its wisdom, its beauty, its contributions to the world—is so often ignored or diminished.

[Space for specific prayer points based on the week’s news]

Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu — God, may we live this truth: A person is a person through other people.

CLOSING FROM GROUP LEADER

Go now in peace to love and serve the Lord with this blessing:

May you see the face of Christ in every face;
May you know that when one suffers, we all suffer; May the Spirit bind us together across oceans –
For we are because they are.
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.