For those of a praying persuasion
Not everyone involved in the Street Child World Cup would say they have a faith.
But some do. For those who do call to heaven from earth, here are a few pointers for prayers we’d love you to join us in:
- for people of good will in the offices we’ll be accessing to get the children passports, visas, travel permissions, etc. May they enable those wheels to turn more easily than we could imagine possible!
- for funding to turn up in the right places and at the right times. May we be able to do all we need to do to make this project effective.
- for people – in governments, in sporting organisations, in society - who look on street children as a “problem”. May they have their eyes touched and their perspective changed, to see street children as valuable people.
- for the children who will be involved in this project – and for those that will only be involved indirectly. May they, too, see themselves as valuable people.
Update 17 July 2009:
A prayer of two halves, written for the Street Child World Cup.
First Half: 100,000,000 children have to survive on our worlds streets Abused, neglected and unloved In Durban 90% have been sexually abused- HIV/ AIDS and STD’s are rampant, Solvent abuse, stabbings, rape, child trafficking Street life – Is that the only life they’ll know? One child having to survive on the streets is a tragedy 100,000,000 street children becomes a statistic Yet each one’s name is engraved on Your hands Jaun, Sipho, Flavio, Diwata, Aneta, Micky, An Ly, Fateh Each one created in the image of a loving God Each one valued beyond price. God of the favella, the shanty town, and the barrio, God of the Ghetto, the squatter camp, and the rubbish dump The God present where least expected We beg that new answers be found to the desperate poverty that drives so many children onto the streets We plead for sanitation, health care and education We ask for a new future for these children We ask that they may come to know life, in all of its fullness God of Surbiton, Morningside and Grantchester God of Alsager, Tynemouth and Cardiff Bay The God present in our everyday lives May we remember that no child should have to sleep on the streets May we remember that one street child is one street child too many And 100,000,000 is an injustice, made by humans, that we can address As we provide care and support for such children May we initiate the structural changes needed for long term change May we campaign so that the rights to which these children are entitled are realised May we recognise their vast untapped potential May we recognise how much fuller our lives will be, if this injustice ends Second Half: God of the half volley, the last minute equaliser, and the crunching tackle God of the half time talk, the tactics board, and the shortsighted ref The God who covers every blade of grass May the game that street children around the world love, Be a game that allows them to be seen As ‘People like us, and that we are people like them’ May this game that excites and exasperates us be used to demonstrate these children’s worth and their tremendous potential We pray for the Street Child World Cup We pray for the organisers and the numerous challenges they face We pray for the projects taking parts We pray for the children, whose lives will be transformed by this experience, We pray for the preparation work and follow on support they will need We pray for the artists and football coaches preparing for the event We pray for the teams of volunteers We pray for people of good will to open the right doors We pray for administrators providing Id’s and visas We pray for the television and media coverage, the web traffic and PR machine We pray for people with deep pockets to back the project We pray for 130 airfares We pray for the campaigners who will drive the message forward We pray for change in each of the countries taking part W pray for changes in allocation and funding within the UK toward street children We pray for commitment to a long term process that will lead to change God of the forgotten, the unloved and the abused God of the raucous laugh, the cheeky grin, and grimy clothes We ask for your blessing on the Street Child World Cup CR 17.6.09
2 Comments Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
1.
Ben Van Nes | 6 July 2009 at 9:45 am
Hi Jenny and friends.
I am involved with supporting street children in Africa, mostly in Zambia and Cameroon, by sending football kit and through financial aid for food and housing and counselling / educational assistance. I support my friends there who run football academies for these underprivileged young people and it is making such a positive impact in their communities. How can we get them involved with this street children world cup ?
A lot of these kids go on to play for local football teams and some go on to play at higher level. Hoping to start a football academy in India this autumn too. Hope to hear from you soon.
Kind regards,
Ben
2.
streetchildworldcup | 7 July 2009 at 3:31 pm
Hi Ben
Thanks for this. Sounds as though you and your friends are doing brilliant things with football too… It’d be great if we could find a way of strengthening one another/working together. Are you thinking of Zambian/Cameroonian teams, or something else?
Maybe you could drop me a line at info@streetchildworldcup.org so we can chat further?
thanks
jenny