Prayer of Confession for the Famine in Eastern Africa

If your congregation is looking for ways to remember the famine victims in Somalia and other regions of Eastern Africa, here’s a prayer of confession you might use.  I wrote it for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, a non-profit partnership of 15 Canadian churches and church-based agencies working to end hunger in developing countries.  You can find other prayers for Somalia on their website.

Generous God,

In Your goodness, You created a world of abundance—

more than enough to sustain all of creation. 

Yet all around this world people are dying of hunger. 

We confess that, in our ignorance and greed,

we have not recognized how our lifestyle choices have impacted

the availability of food in other countries.

Forgive us for the part we have played—

knowingly or unknowingly—

in the desperate food shortages now facing

our brothers and sisters in Eastern Africa. 

Help us not to turn away from their suffering, but to get involved—

to pray, to work, to advocate, to give—

so that they too may experience the abundant goodness You intend

for all of Your creation. Amen.

— Christine Longhurst/CFGB