Category Archives: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

This week, I received a reminder of one way prayer functions.

In response to the kidnapping of a number of school girls in Nigeria on April 14, I joined many people in praying for a specific girl. It makes the horror more manageable and provides a sense of humanity.

A list of names, reportedly those of some of the girls, circulated around the internet. I helped with that circulation.

Some question the use of the girls names. Is the list correct? Was it shared with the permission of the families? Jinna Moore adds questions from a representative of the governor of Borno state: Could the release of the names in some way further endanger the girls? Could it make it easier for those who abducted the girls to identify their parents and extort ransom? Could it place the stigma of rape, whether rape happened or not, over the girl?

I  ponder those questions. And I continue to pray for a specific girl. I use only a first name when I make references and I will not share the list any further.

When I pray for one girl, the web of prayer begins to tremble. And I find myself praying for much more:

for all the girls and their families

for all the people of Nigeria

for all the girls and boys trafficked around the world, in probably every part of the world

for girls and boys, men and women trafficked for sex or for their labor or for their organs

for men, and women, who buy and sell children for sex

for men, and women, who buy and sell children and adults for their labor or their organs

for those who exploit and abuse their brothers and sisters in any way

for those who work to end trafficking, exploitation, and abuse

for those who resort to violence

for those who respond to violence with violence

for those who seek to over come violence with nonviolence.

The list goes on and on and on.

Touch a spider web, set the web a tremble.

Pray for a girl. Pray for the world.

See you along the Trail