He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
    and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
    upright and just is he.

- Deuteronomy 32:4

Violence in Mexico

In Mexico a recent military operation killed Nemesio “El Mencho,” leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel. In response, cartel members have launched waves of arson, road blockades, and gunfire that are terrifying residents, tourists, and workers alike and forcing businesses, airports, and tourist services to shut down or shelter in place. 

This violence reflects warped systems of power and control where organized crime and competition for money, territory, and recruits, especially among poor and marginalized youth with few alternatives, fuel cycles of seemingly non-stop retaliation and fear. 

The impacts ripple through everyday life, highlighting that justice isn’t only about stopping crime at the top: it’s about building community resilience to the need to join gangs, alternatives to violence, and systems that provide real safety and real options. 

Oh God, systems of oppression, rampant cycles of poverty and greed, daily lives with few options for flourishing - these realities live in our world, often unnoticed until it affects our travel plans. Give us faith and willingness to support real avenues of peace and change. May we never give up on prayer, sacrificial giving, and working for the inclusion and betterment of all peoples. In the meantime, we pray that you will end the violence, terror, and loss of life in Mexico, and allow peace to re-surface for the sake of the locals and the tourists alike.

Harm in Sierra Leone

A recent article posted on The Conversation titled “Sierra Leone’s harsh new laws to protect women and girls are causing harm in the wrong places,” provides insightful justice awareness for prayer and advocacy. 

Recent laws, aimed at preventing rape, domestic violence, child marriage and early pregnancy in Sierra Leone, are harsh and extreme, borrowing from rigid, punishment-focused models of colonial law. For example, the laws have criminalised consensual youth relationships that authorities categorize as “early pregnacy” offenses,   as well as relationships that cross class lines which are being treated as cases of “child marriage,” even when they do not involve coercion or abuse. This has only served to deepen helplessness and fear, and shifted attention away from community-based care and dialogue about healthy consensual relationships. 

It points to the fact that formal legal frameworks alone cannot heal social harm, especially when it sends messages of rigidity and power. In many Sierra Leonean communities, care, warmth and resilience are already core moral values that are cherished and upheld.  What is needed are not harsh laws reinforcing models of power and control, but rather, education, support, and community engagement,

A society’s top-down and rigid systems risk reproducing the very harms sought to be prevented; it communicates that “power and punishment” implements change, rather than individual education, participation, and agency.

Lord, we pray that we will learn that it is not our laws that you desire, but our hearts.  A heart that loves mercy and embodies the care and concern for your world in real time and in real places.  Strengthen and encourage a commitment to liberate human involvement and autonomous agency, and help us to not seek systems that control in the name of Jesus.

Four Years of Ukraine War  

Four years ago, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launching into a devastating war with no clear end in sight.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed or wounded. The United Nations has confirmed more than 15,000 civilian deaths, including hundreds of children, and millions have been displaced from their homes. Cities have been reduced to rubble, hospitals and energy systems repeatedly attacked, and vast areas of land left unsafe due to mines and unexploded ordnance.

As the war enters its fifth year, the toll is measured in territory, trauma, grief, and generations marked by loss.

God of mercy, we pray for the people of Ukraine. We pray for families living under threat, for the displaced longing for home, and for those mourning their loved ones. Soften the hearts of leaders and strengthen all who work for justice, relief, and reconciliation. May peace take root where destruction has reigned, and may hope rise. 

Becoming (part of) the Answer to our Own Prayers

Beyond the Headlines: Faith, Community and the Stories that Shape Us

Join a new justice education series from Thrive, World Renew, and the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue. This four-part series explores immigration, food justice, climate justice, and gender justice through a biblical lens—equipping participants to recognize harmful narratives, understand root causes, and take meaningful, faith-informed action. Learn more and register today!