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Week of Oct 19th

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13/10/2025(1 event)

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction


13/10/2025

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction 

A 43 second intro to this topic:

10 Things You Should Know:

A PRAYER FOR TODAY  (available here as 1:30 video)

Loving God, we pray for all who have suffered because of natural disasters:

for those who have lost their lives so suddenly;

for families changed forever by the loss of loved ones.

Lord, who wept at the death of your friend, Lazarus,

give them consolation and comfort.

Give them strength and courage to face the challenges ahead.

 

Lord who walked the way of the cross,

walk with those who have survived,

carry their burden with them and heal traumatic memories. 

 

Lord who fed the 5000,

we ask your provision for those who have lost:

their homes, livelihoods, security and hope.

 

Give relief agencies, decision makers and all supporting them

both wisdom and timely access to the resources needed.

 

Help us to respond generously in prayer and practical help.

We pray this in your Holy Name.  AMEN
14/10/2025
15/10/2025(1 event)

International Day of Rural Women


15/10/2025

International Day of Rural Women

This day recognizes the role of rural women, including indigenous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.

Rural women and girls play a significant role in agriculture, food security and nutrition, land and natural resource management and unpaid and domestic care work.

Women also collect firewood, process foodstuffs by hand, and collect water; 80% of households without piped water rely on women and girls for water collection. Rural women are at the front of the battle lines when natural resources and agriculture are threatened.

 

Just imagine not being able to go to school because you have to walk 5 miles to collect water for your family.

Just imagine being late every day for school because you have to scavenge for firewood in increasingly far distant places.

Just imagine not being able to do your homework because there is no lighting in your village.

Just imagine facing the prospect as a young girl of being denied education because you have to marry someone much older than you.

 

AN INVITATION TO PRAYER

You are invited to pray:

for rural women and girls - that helpful technology and infrastructure will help them in the daily tasks they undertake for their families;

for access to education where this is denied for whatever reason;

for attitudes towards equality to spread and develop that all people might benefit from the riches of this world.

 

We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN

St. Julie: pray for us, protect us and bless us.

 
16/10/2025(1 event)

World Food Day


16/10/2025

World Food Day

Food - the very stuff of life!  Give us this day our daily bread!  You are what you eat!

 

Here's what the Pope tweeted on 16th October 2019!

It's World Food Day and it's always uncomfortable to be reminded that children will go to sleep hungry to night!

Here are just a few statistics from the Food Aid Foundation:

  • Some 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life.
  • The vast majority of the world's hungry people live in developing countries, where 12.9 percent of the population is undernourished.
  • Asia is the continent with the most hungry people - two thirds of the total. The percentage in southern Asia has fallen in recent years but in western Asia it has increased slightly.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest prevalence (percentage of population) of hunger. One person in four there is undernourished.
  • Poor nutrition causes nearly half (45%) of deaths in children under five - 3.1 million children each year.
  • One out of six children -- roughly 100 million -- in developing countries is underweight.
  •  One in four of the world's children are stunted. In developing countries the proportion can rise to one in three.
  •  If women farmers had the same access to resources as men, the number of hungry in the world could be reduced by up to 150 million.
  • 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone.

Have a look at this 30 second clip:

It seems so big but we can do stuff.  We can contribute to charities that work overseas.  CAFOD springs to mind.

  • Maybe, we could consider buying one of their World Gifts for someone this year - https://worldgifts.cafod.org.uk/
  • Maybe we need to consider how much food we waste and re-align our behaviour.
  • Maybe we could eat more healthily ourselves in appreciation of how fortunate we are.

 

Don't forget too that we can contribute to the local Micah Foodbank for our local people who go hungry - often unnoticed.   You might think it's all too big a  problem to make a difference but change starts with the individual and it's never a bad time to do a good thing!!!

God bless!

 

HERE'S A PRAYER VIDEO (1:15) FOR TODAY

Creator God,

We give thanks today for all who produce, prepare and serve food. 

We give thanks for their diligence in ensuring that what we eat is safe to eat.

May they be rewarded fairly and feel appreciated for their efforts and expertise.

 

Guide us all in our food choices. 

Help us to consider sustainability, animal welfare and the elimination of wasteful practices.

 

God who provided manna from heaven,

where there are hunger emergencies help us respond generously;

guide decision-makers in leading just and compassionate societies where all are looked after and no-one goes hungry.

We ask this in your Holy Name. AMEN

 

 
17/10/2025(1 event)
18/10/2025
19/10/2025