Hi everyone, I am Terry Smith and I “work” at CBM.

When Heather and I lived in France, the month of August was the unofficial ‘mois de congé’ or vacation month. Factories shut down production, workers took the full 4 weeks off, and people flocked to the south of France using crowded highways in order to suntan on crowded beaches and wait for a table at crowded restaurants, just to flee the ‘stress of work’.Unlike the song by Ella Fitzgerald, I love Paris in the springtime, we loved Paris in August. You could park for free, be quickly served in a café. And not wait in long lines.All because the French loved to get away from work in August.

But today, and for the following 2 weeks, we are praying for work, or more specifically, for work, workers, and the workplace. As image-bearers of God, we, his creation, are made for work. In the very first chapter of Genesis, and before the Fall, we read thatGod blessed Adam and Eve and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” So today, we thank God for work, paid and unpaid, from the menial to the most meaningful, for the chance to be part of stewarding his creation.

Please pray:

1. Thank God that around the globe, many of God’s people are invested in caring for and cultivating the earth as farmers and gardeners, growing food which they can share with their families, neighbours and local communities. Pray that the weather and soil conditions would help, and not hinder their labour. 
2. Pray for those you know who are currently without paid work, either unemployed or too ill to work, for those who have been injured on unsafe worksites and for the people who help promote workplace safety. Pray for someone you know today who is looking for work. 
3. Pray for tradespeople in Bolivia, Cuba, India, China, the Philippines and everywhere CBM’s partners are active, that they would earn fair and equitable wages and would see their work as ‘unto the Lord’, as it says in Colossians 3:23. 
4. Pray for the CBM staff, around the world and here in Canada, who can work. God has blessed us with a great gift of work which is life-giving. Pray that we would faithfully steward the gifts he has given us. 
5. Pray for the people in your church and local community who can enjoy a time of vacation rest or sabbath from their work. Pray that they would gain from time away to gain new perspectives on the meaning of work and its expression of faithfulness to God and the world.