A Lenten Invitation: Joining Hands in Prayer
Recycling Lives in India
Joining Hands in Prayer is a collection of eight prayer and educational posters that illuminate the work of the nine networks abroad and the 11 presbytery networks who compose the Joining Hands community worldwide.
The posters are downloadable and are 11"x17" in size.
Bolivia  — Easter
Prayer
Cameroon
Egypt
India
Lesotho
Palestine
Peru
South Africa
A Dalit woman holds her child at a Chethana gathering. Photo by Lionel Derenoncourt, coordinator of the Joining Hands Initiative. All of her life, Rukumni has known she is considered
to be disposable in Indian society. A mother of two daughters, she was abandoned
by her husband. A Dalit, she is treated as an outcast, as untouchable. In India’s
caste system, Dalits aren’t even a part of the strict Hindu social ladder.
She is triply oppressed. She is poor, female and Dalit. And therefore, disposable.
Rukumni’s only employable skill is that of a farm laborer and those jobs
are in short supply since big agri-businesses are putting small farmers out of
production.
Desperate to earn money to feed her family, Rukumni found her way to Chethana, a network of organizations and people’s movements in southern India that is linked with the Joining Hands Initiative of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Chethana came into existence as a collective in 2000. It organized to find ways for India’s marginalized poor to break into the market and out of centuries of poverty. One of those ways is economic development for Dalit women: Small collectives of women are organizing to create alternate ways to support themselves and their children. One such program is to collect garbage and recycle the bio-degradable items for alternative uses, like compost for organic cultivation of land or gas for cooking. It is a salvage effort that not only cares for the earth, but for the lives of women who have no access to other jobs. The women recycle newspapers to produce environmentally friendly bags for use by companies, hotels and other businesses to reduce reliance on non-degradable plastics. They are also weighing other opportunities, such as leasing land and cultivating organic crops.
This program began in 2007, with its focus on empowering women, alternative markets and preserving the earth. Each member of a group recieves a $22 loan to generate income. By 2010, the organization hopes to expand its work in four states and to create an alternative marketing chain.
For women like Rukumni, the campaign not
only puts food on the table, but resists a centuries-old notion that some people
are disposable, that their lives do not matter. Rukumni wants her daughters to
know that dignity is possible. Mothers like Rukumni — and their children — are
asking that you pray with them on Palm Sunday as they raise their voices in hosannas
of hope:
God of power and mercy,
We continue to worship you and thank you
for the gift of this day, the day when we are reminded of the little children
greeting your Son with shouts of Hosanna in Jerusalem. The simple laughter and
spontaneous jubilation of these children and other children in our midst make
us aware of your gift of life itself. Help us to be good stewards of the world
you have created so that these and all other children may grow in a world where
peace and harmony and justice reign …
Our thoughts and prayers are for all the people here and everywhere who struggle for the values of your kingdom …
There are Dalits who are crushed by the system of caste discrimination and violence. There are women who are deprived of
their humanity by age-old patriarchy. We continue to ask how long do they have to suffer?
Yet we remember with gratitude all those who fight with great determination to preserve their dignity and rights. We marvel
at their courage and our hearts go out to them. In solidarity with all who suffer, they derive new life and power. You are a God who makes all things new. The Church universal is your creation. And you do raise up men and women in every religion and in social movements
to be the sign and instrument of your kingdom. Tomorrow is in your hands. You have given us today to work and to celebrate.
Let there be greater peace and justice in this world of yours.
Amen.
(Prayer by the Rev. Dr. K.C. Abraham, a presbyter of the Church of South India and a leading Third World theologian;
Material supplied by the Rev. Thomas John, PC(USA) Mission Personnel and Joining Hands facilitator in India)
The Joining Hands Initiative of the Presbyterian
Hunger Program connects U.S. presbyteries and congregations with networks in
nine countries around the world, working together to end hunger and to change
the root problems that keep people poor. Groups of churches in 11 U.S. presbyteries
are linked to networks in nine countries. Sacramento Presbytery is linked to
the Joining Hands for Justice Network of India.
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