WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle: Malawi and Zambia

President Joyce Banda

As I wrote about in a post a few months ago, part of my vicarage at Saint Peter's Church this year is is providing a supplemental paragraph about countries in the weekly Ecumenical Prayer Cycle created by the World Council of Churches. We pray for each country listed in the prayer cycle during the Intercessory Prayers at Saint Peter's on Sundays and the paragraph is included in our bulletin insert to provide context for those intercessions.

This week's countries (19 May - 25 May) are Malawi and Zambia. While the paragraph below provides some recent information (with links to related news stories), check out the week's WCC page for additional prayer resources.

We give thanks for great increases in the country of Malawi’s life-expectancy rate in recent years and for the continued service of its president Joyce Banda, who became Africa’s second female post-colonial head of state on 7 April, 2012. We give thanks for the continued advocacy of Zambia’s First Lady Dr. Christine Kaseba against child marriages in that country and around the world. We pray for the release of prominent Zambian human rights activist Paul Kasonkomona was arrested in April and charged with “soliciting for immoral purposes” after arguing for the rights of LGBTQ persons on live television.

God's peace,
Dustin

Dustin currently serves as Vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, having recently completed his second year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.