August 15, 2007

And their families

Memories continue to flood my mind in the aftermath of our recent mission immersion trips to Vanuatu this summer. One of the most enduring (and endearing) is the great prayer by Pastor Allen Nafuti of Pakaroa Church in Port Vila.

As so often happens in Vanuatu, a simple request resulted in something wonderful. As the Assembly Clerk was out of the country, I asked Pastor Allen, an old friend, if our group might meet with him for an hour or so in order for the group to get a better understanding of the life of a pastor in Vanuatu. Well, that turned into an invitation for dinner. He invited all the elders from the church and made sure to include many of my friends and former students. If you ever want to feel really special, take a trip to the South Pacific, there is nothing like the hospitality there.

During the great prayer (we had a small worship service before dinner), he prayed for their government, the people of Iraq, America, all the standard people that are included in such prayers. He even included our enemies on the list. But what set this prayer apart from what I mostly hear here in the United States was that he added the phrase “and their families” after each group that he prayed for.

Those three words made all the difference. How is it that we pray for, say, our elected representatives yet fail to include their families? How can we pray for the soldiers in Iraq and forget their families back here? The inclusion of “and their families” in the prayers of the ni-Vanuatu is as natural as breathing, yet here we need to be intentional about it. I know I harp on this a lot, but this underscores yet again the difference between the community-based culture in Vanuatu and our culture, which revolves around the individual. Does this mean that we are any less caring than our friends in Vanuatu? Certainly not, but it does underscore our priorities and our worldview and what comes naturally to us.

There is another prayerful phenomenon that I want to share with you. At the time during worship when we would engage in silent prayer, the people in Vanuatu often give voice to their prayers. The first time I experienced this was at a service during a General Assembly. There were perhaps 400 people in that church and the noise was deafening. Who knows how many different languages were being spoken (Vanuatu has 105 different ones). It was like Babel! While this all seems very strange and wonderful, it did remind me that during our silent prayers my mind occasionally wonders or I finish before the silence has ended, making me feel somewhat sheepish. If all are praying out loud, then there is no question about what you are doing (not thinking about the afternoon football game or some such).

So I encourage you to continue to pray and also to begin to include “and their families” in your prayers. None of us are alone. We all have families, and we all need to be held in prayer. I will hold you, and your families in my prayers.

David Walter

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 105