The Earth is the Lord's!

 I love liturgies -- prayers that others have written have encouraged and prompted prayer and worship in my own time with the Lord. I read this liturgy over my teams at the end of our packing party as a prayer, encouragement and blessing. 

It is titled  A Liturgy Before Meeting People from Other Cultures written by Mark Meynell.

O Father, Creator, and Lord of All Peoples, 
We praise you for creating all humanity in your image.
We praise you for making everything beautiful in its time.
We praise you for placing eternity in all our hearts.
We praise you for so loving the world that you sent your Son to die for it.
The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

As we prepare now to meet those from a different part of the world, we give you great thanks, O Lord, for the privilege of new encounters, for the wonder of our common creation, for the fresh perspectives others bring to our lives, for the joy of friendship that crosses boundaries. 

The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

O Lord, forgive our self-centeredness, for times in the past when we have not loved out neighbors as ourselves, or have been inpatient with outsiders, or have assumed the worst of strangers, or have not attended to the stories of those different from us. 

You, O Lord, are a watchman over the foreigner, a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows.

Grant us now the humility, O Lord, to listen without pretext, to love without prejudice, to learn without presumption, and to serve without pride.

As we interact with those whose outlooks are different from our own, may we lean on your trustworthiness, our Father, so that we are not anxious when we feel out of out depth, so that we have wisdom when we are confused, and so that we have a gracious perseverance to overcome inevitable misunderstandings.

When we were still far off, you met us in your Son; You prepared a feast to celebrate the lost now found. 

May our hearts be as hospitable as yours.

May we display the gentleness of Christ so that we lay aside any unhelpful assumptions of our own culture, we make deep connections to members of our global family, and we live as ambassadors of the gospel of reconciliation.

May we follow your Spirit's leading so that we are open to all that your people have to teach us, we participate in the worked you are already doing, and we are given apt words when we fear causing offense.

As those who have been deeply loved, may we live lives of love.

As those drenched in your grace, may we pour out your grace to others.

As those grateful for your immense patience, may we share this patience.

As those who found in you a place to belong, may we offer rest and security.

When we encounter those who are lost, may we be a safe refuge, and staging-posts to a heavenly refuge. 

When we encounter those who are traumatized, may we show compassion ans point to the Lord of compassion.

When we encounter those who thirst, may we offer both water and the water welling up to eternal life.

When we encounter those who hunger, may we offer both bread and the true bread from heaven.

Thank you that across the world, you are at work, O Father.

In Christ, you call people from every nation, tribe, and language. 

In Christ, you form one body from our many diverse parts,

In Christ, you remake us by the renewing of your Spirit.

In Christ, we are neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female. 

Your Spirit is at work, reconciling your people to one another.

The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. 

Amen

These beautiful ladies were up in the wee hours of the morning! 

Their second flight to Munich took off an hour ago!

Since Aimee & I are staying both weeks, we had a different flight itinerary and we are about 4 hours behind them. We are about to board as well!

Please pray that all of us can sleep on the flight so we can more easily shift to a new time zone!