Word as a Wordle - Trinity 20

This week's Gospel reading from Luke 18:1-8, looks straightforwardly about prayer...

Then Jesus^* told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, ‘In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, “Grant me justice against my opponent.” For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.” ’^* And the Lord said, ‘Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’^2345678

The need to persistently pray is the purpose of Jesus telling the parable in the first place and yet the Wordle this week seems to show an other angle to this story that I had not really noticed before...
Three words stand out - God grant justice. Re-reading the passage there is a strong connexion between praying and imploring the God of justice to act, especially in favour of the downtrodden and marginalised...

Need to tease this out more in the light of the 7:7 enquiry and the rescue of Chillean miners and our listening to God discerning our priorities as a church...

Fruits of Justice - Bishop of St ALbans Harvest Appeal

This year as a diocese we are being encouraged to support Tear Fund's work in Uganda by raising money for the Church of England's 'Climate Justice Fund.'

What do we know about Uganda?

Approximately 70% of Ugandans earn their living from farming. Until a few years ago, the predictable rainy seasons provided Uganda's farmers with two good harvests of staple foods. But climate change has hit them hard, bringing hunger and malnutrition - particularly in eastern and northern parts.

In the Teso region of eastern Uganda, the floods in 2007 killed 20,000 people and wiped out crops. Poor rains in 2008 and then drought in 2009 meant thousands of people had to survive on food aid and wild fruits and leaves.

Uganda is among the world's 50 poorest countries; the country has one of the lowest life expectancies at just 43. 30% of Uganda's 30 million people live on less than $1 per day. A significant proportion of child deaths are due to malnutrition...

The statistics are one thing, but the stories of the people of Uganda are quite another. I was moved by Winnie's story...

Winnie's family lost everything when floods hit eastern Uganda in 2007. For months, the family survived on food aid and wild leaves. Winnie (now 5) and her sister Merab (7) were often sick. Then drought set in.

'It was very hard', says Winnie's foster dad Stanley. 'I felt terrible that I could not feed my wife and children. Merab has sickle cell anaemia and the lack of food made it worse. He joints were swollen and she was in terrible pain.'

'I prayed to God that he would give us the strength to get through. And God answered my prayers. He brought the Church to us.'

With help from the Anglican Church of Uganda's development team, Stanley and his neighbours in Odort parish, Katakwi District, have set up a farming group. They've received tools, equipment and training to grow drought-resistant crops such as watermelons and sunflowers. Stanley (32), the group chairman, has also been given a kick-start with poultry farming - and he now has 210 chickens in the small yard of his self-built home!

'We have benefited a lot' he said with a smile from ear to ear. 'The girls and our two younger sons are all able to eat three times a day. It has been two months since Merab was sick. Merab and Winnie are able to go to school.'

Half the world's population lives in desperate poverty on less than $1 a day. Stanley is one of them. For basic survival, and nothing else, Ugandan farmers need to earn 1 million Ugandan shillings a year (£320). Last year, Stanley earned just 600,000 shillings (£192) - from a small harvest of watermelons and from finding additional work as a brick-maker.

Now, Stanley's watermelons and sunflowers are established, so the harvests should provide a much larger income - as long as the rains come. And his 200 chickens act as insurance for a non-rainy day.

Please give generously to this appeal. £10 will buy enough drought resistant seed for one family for one year. Please give as generously as you can via the JustGiving site.