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January 2004, Page 6.
Index of articles:
by subject,
by date.
In this issue:
(January 2004)
Vicar's letter,
United service,
1000 badges,
Prayer works,
Hell?
Development and the divine
“Does prayer work?” asked someone at the Alpha course. This item is reprinted with permission from World Vision's free e-mail newsletter WorldView - www.worldvision.org.uk/church.
What happens when development is stopped by some obstacle? When people block change that will benefit their community? In these cases, is it worth praying?
Twenty years ago Humbo in southern Ethiopia was a sad and desolate place. The country was in the grip of drought and famine. Michael Buerk's harrowing first-hand reports showed it in 1984.
At Humbo, a feeding centre was set up to give desperately hungry people food to keep themselves and their children alive. Many people died. Others moved away from the drought-prone valley in search of more fertile land.
Today, Humbo is very different. During a visit last month I was shown around a farmer's land. Proudly he showed me crops of bananas, maize, sweet potatoes, haricot beans and cotton. Plenty had repalced severe hardship.
What was the key to this transformation? The practical difference is a reliable water supply all year round. That means that farmers can irrigate their crops and water their cattle, and the wider community has safe, clean water to drink.
But the water came from a spring, which, according to local beliefs, was guarded by a 'spirit' who should not be disturbed. 'For a long time the community refused to let us tap the spring,' recalled Abebe Assefa, assistant manager of World Vision's Humbo Area Development Programme. 'They thought that if we did the spirit would cause trouble.'
Argument and discussion got the development team nowhere. But instead of giving up, they prayed. Eventually, the community relented, fully expecting the team to suffer a terrible fate.
In fact the exact opposite has happened. The spring has become a source of blessing to the whole community, and the team rejoices over the change. Now the government is settling families into Humbo rather than moving them out.
Many things brought this change about. The hard work of members of the community. The skill and dedication of the water engineers and agricultural experts. But Abebe believes none of this would have worked without divine intervention in response to prayer.
Prayer may not be in the tool bag for many development agencies. But for Christian agencies like World Vision prayer is a vital component. Without it, brick walls like the one faced by the team in Humbo would prove insurmountable.
Peter Scott