May they all be one- John 17:21

To address issues of corruption, greed and all forms of injustices that bring savage inequalities and divisions in the world, every year, Christians across the world gather in prayer for growth in unity (Ecumenism). Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ prayed for all believers “… that they may be one...” (Jh: 17: 20-21).  Through Ecumenism, Christians join Christ to offer a united prayer in a fractured world to form a united witness for justice and to be a means of Christ’s healing grace for a broken world.

Traditionally the week of prayer is celebrated between 18-25 January, between the feasts of St Peter and St Paul. In the southern hemisphere, where January is a vacation time, churches often find other days to celebrate it, for example around Pentecost, which is also a symbolic date for unity. In order to prepare for the annual celebration, ecumenical partners in a particular region are invited to produce a basic liturgical text on a biblical theme. Then an international editorial team of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Roman Catholic representatives refines this text to ensure that it can be prayed throughout the world, and to link it with the search for the visible unity of the church. The material for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2019 has been prepared by Christians from Indonesia.

The theme for this year’s celebration is from Deuteronomy 16:18-20 “Justice and only Justice you shall pursue”. Informed by Indonesia’s founding principles called Pancalisa, and with the country’s motto Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), Indonesians have lived in solidarity and collaboration. This has meant sharing in all aspects of life, work, grief and festivities, and regarding all Indonesians as brothers and sisters.  Like many countries across the world, this always fragile harmony is today threatened in many ways, such as, competition embedded in capitalism. More critical is the fact that corruption has been experienced in many forms often with devastating consequences to the people and the environment.  Cognizant of threat to justice Christians in Indonesia found the words in Deut 16:18 - 20 speaking powerfully to their situation and needs.

Like the Indonesian situation, in Kenya, issues of injustice are glaringly evident epitomized by the ever widening gap between the haves and the have nots and unemployment especially among the youth and other marginalized groups. More critically, is the high level of impunity reflected in stealing, mismanagement and misappropriation of public resources. 

Just as injustice has widened the divisions in the society, the same is reflected in the Church.  As Christians we are called to advance a Kingdom that is just to all. However, this cannot be realized in a disunited Church. In light of this, the International Ecumenical Movement, Kenya Chapter (IEM-K) joins the Ecumenical Church of Jesus Christ to repent of the injustices that have caused divisions in all spheres and continued to widen the gap between the rich and the poor. 
 
For over twenty years, IEM-K has held ecumenical prayer services between 18-25 January. The prayer service is celebrated in different church denominations every year. For the liturgy, IEM-K adapts the materials jointly published by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the WCC, through the WCC's Commission on Faith and Order. This years service will be held on Saturday 19th January, at the Orthodox Seminary, James Kang’ethe Road in Nairobi County, starting at 3:00 pm. IEM-K members, representatives and leaders from various religious denominations will attend. This will be the first time the prayer service will be held in the Orthodox Church. Other churches where the services have been held are: St. Andrew’s PCEA, St. Paul’s Catholic Chapel, All Saints Cathedral and the Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral.

During the service, participants will be called to reflect on how they might commit to a particular act of justice, mercy, and/or unity.  We implore all Christian groups and Churches organizing activities for the WOPCU to pray among other things for the following:

1. For the church to be a credible prophetic voice for the poor and marginalized and for the leaders to be role models
2. For a transformative work ethic
3. For the church to become pro-poor, not conforming to the materialistic worldly standards
4. For professional leaders of high integrity in public and private sector
5. For justice for the marginalized (poor, orphans, differently abled, displaced, youth, women and girls)
The three arms of Government to fully execute their mandate in handling corruption. And especially for a judicial system that judges fairly without perverting justice or showing partiality