Beloved siblings in Christ,
The earth has once again trembled. Recent earthquakes have struck Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and other nations across Latin America, shaking homes, displacing families, and leaving communities in fear and grief. As the ground continues to shift, our siblings in Christ face the long, difficult road of recovery.
As a communion, we hold in prayer all those displaced, harmed, lost, and grieving in the wake of this tragedy. We join together in prayer with our member churches in this region. May they be reminded of God’s presence with them.
A Prayer for Those Who Suffer
Gracious and merciful God,
You are the rock that is higher than we are, the foundation that cannot be shaken. In your hands the depths of the earth are held, and the mountains are established by your power. Yet we confess that your creation groans, and so we cry out to you.
We lift before you our siblings in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and across Latin America. Those who have lost homes and livelihoods. Those who have lost loved ones, mothers, fathers, children, neighbours. Those who lie injured or trapped. Those who are afraid, wondering when the next tremor will come.
Be their refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
We pray especially for our WCRC member churches in these countries, the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, the Presbyterian Church of Colombia/Reformed Sinod, the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela, and all our partner churches throughout the region. Strengthen their hands as they minister in the midst of chaos. Give them wisdom to comfort the grieving, feed the hungry, and shelter the displaced. Use them as instruments of your healing and hope.
Where there is despair, let them bring hope. Where there is scarcity, let them share abundance. Where there is isolation, let them offer the communion of saints.
God of all mercy, we do not pray that the earth would never tremble, for we know that this world is still in labour. But we pray that your people would not tremble alone. Unite us across borders and languages, that we might be one body in Christ, responding to suffering with the love you have first shown us.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, the one who stilled the storm and calmed the waves, and who is with us even when the ground beneath us gives way.
Amen.
