will YOU pray???

As I sit to write this I am in a garden near the source of the Nile River. The grass is green and finely cut, orange dragon-like flowers poke out above the other colorful pinks and purples and blues, and birds zip this way and that fluttering around the flowers and honeysuckle. This is a world at peace - with the exception of the wild children running this way and that, but I suppose that they are really at peace in a way each of us wishes we could return to - that peace of childhood before the world knocked too much seriousness into us.
But to put it quite bluntly - the world is not at peace and I suspect neither are we. We see too much sorrow, too much brokenness to think otherwise. And yet, we are called to speak peace into the madness that is around us. We are called to speak peace and that peace has a name - Jesus.
I have been in Uganda for around three weeks now taking a break before the work begins again. I will be returning to the DR Congo again soon and the task before me is a big one. We (myself, Kate and Kato) will be taking relief supplies to people who have been attacked or displaced by the Lord's Resistance Army(LRA). This is not a big task because of the logistics of it, or even because we have a lot to manage, but it is a big task because of the spiritual battle we are entering. If you don't know much about the LRA I would encourage you to look them up...and then PRAY. We are taking in physical help to these people but more than that we want to take in hope in Jesus name. John talked about Jesus light shining in the darkness and it is our hope that we would carry that light with us.
So, what am I asking from you?? PRAY, PRAY, PRAY...and then pray some more. Pray not only for the work we do but also for the daily heartache of facing suffering head-on. Pray that we will have courage to speak Jesus peace into the world we live in...and pray that you will do the same in the world you are in too.