Bread for the World believes prayer is central to the work of ending hunger by 2030. Hunger happens in every corner of the world. In this blog series, we will provide a prayer for a different group of countries each week and their efforts to end hunger.
This prayer series will follow the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, a list compiled by the World Council of Churches that enables Christians around the world to journey in prayer through every region of the world, affirming our solidarity with Christians all over the world, brothers and sisters living in diverse situations, experiencing their challenges and sharing their gifts.
We will especially be lifting up in prayer the challenges related to hunger and poverty that the people of each week’s countries face. In prayer, God’s story and our own story connect—and we and the world are transformed. In a prayer common to all of us—the Lord’s Prayer/the Our Father—we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” This line from this prayer can also be a prayer for the end of hunger.
We invite you to join Bread in our prayers for the world’s countries to end hunger. And we encourage you to share with us your prayers for the featured countries of the week or for the end of hunger in general.
For the week of March 27 – April 2: China, Hong Kong, and Macau
As they face this day, O God,
find those who are lost,
separated from those they love,
crossing unknown borders,
without a country or home,
not knowing where to turn:
Find them, God, who always seek for the lost,
and cover them safely as a hen covers her chickens.
As they face this day, O God,
stand among the ones in refugee camps around the world,
in the hunger and despair,
in the crowds and the emptiness,
in the wet and the thirstiness:
Be their hope and their strength
in the crying out for justice
and open the ears of the world to hear their cries.
As they face this day, O God,
may those who live with us,
uprooted from their homelands,
find a new home
where their history is respected,
their gifts and graces celebrated
and their fear departed from them.
May we be their home,
may we be the ones who open our hearts in welcome.
As we face this day, O God,
sing to us your song of encouragement,
paint for us your bright pictures of a new world
where people need not flee from wars and oppression,
where no one lacks a country or a home,
and where we are all part of your new creation.
For we long to be your people, in spirit and in truth.
We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ,
who knew the life of a refugee.
(© Christian Conference of Asia, Hong Kong
SAR, China. WIC pp.219-20)
Percentage of the population of these countries living below the national poverty line:
China: 6.1
Hong Kong: 19.6
Macau: Not available
Source: CIA World Factbook
Prayer is a central part of Bread for the World’s work. Learn more about how you can get involved with prayer at Bread.
