Today's post is from the Micah Challenge, a global Christian campaign to achieve the MDGs. Part of their mission is a weekly prayer emailing like the one you see below. You can receive it in your email box every week send a blank email to regine.nagel@micahchallenge.org with the words 'subscribe prayer' in the subject line.
Reflection
‘What is it that makes a song have an effect on a person?’ asks musician Leonardo Alvarez from Chile.
‘It’s presence of life, the comprehensiveness of the content and a deep sense of community are elements that give music a special place within the ecclesial context in Latin America, where people in many places no longer have hearts of music and singing because they have been trained in despair, oppression or violence.’
Leonardo uses David as a biblical example:
‘We can learn something about his character through his song. We know that his spirituality was closely related to his ability to marvel at and contemplate the mysteries of God. Surely the peaceful life of a shepherd prepared him for this. Those who do not have time to stop and contemplate the wonder of the great mysteries of God will end up singing only about what they know.’
Please reflect on Psalm 63, one of David’s great songs.
Prayer
Let us pray:
*That music will be developed and used in our churches for the advancement of the kingdom of God.
*Especially for Latin American musicians - that they can ‘articulate hope but also inspire new steps of community-transforming action. May Latin America Sing!’
*For the Micah Challenge African facilitators meeting in Jos, Nigeria, 22-27 August. Please pray:
+For participants’ final travel arrangements.
+For a deep sense of fellowship and learning from each other.
+That the training sessions will help the campaign facilitators to plan strategically for the next steps for their national campaign.
*Reflecting on the statistic below: it is now more than a quarter of a century since the AIDS epidemic was first recognized but there are still some areas where progress has been slow.
Today we pray particularly that countries will design laws so that the most vulnerable, those most marginalized and those most at risk of HIV can be protected effectively.
Meditate on the Statistics
As you spend time in prayer and reflection, you may like to take a moment to silently understand with your heart the focus statistic we include each week (see below). Our hope is that you will find this series of statistics a useful resource in preparing presentations.
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
‘HIV experts from around the globe highlighted the dramatic negative impact that stigma and the denial of human rights, including gender inequality, continue to have on the effectiveness of HIV treatment and prevention scale up. Fear of violence, discrimination and unwarranted prosecution prevent many people living with or at risk for HIV from seeking testing and treatment, and drive others to place themselves at risk for infection.’Dr Julio Montaner, AIDS 2010 International Chair and IAS President 2008 - 2010
‘There is no way we can address this epidemic without addressing the social, political, jurisprudential nightmare we have created. If I try and engage injecting drug users and a policeman is running behind me trying to put them in goal, it isn’t going to work. If we cannot allow sex workers to protect themselves and from those who are predating on them, we will not be able to protect them and their clients from HIV. The legislation has to address those most vulnerable, those most marginalized and those most at risk of HIV.’
Source: XVII International AIDS Conference, 3-8 August 2008
