A new Prayer of Lament

Yesterday i was invited to attend another prayer vigil at the Clareinch Post Office where a man killed Uyinene Mrwetyana. 

This time it was in my role as a volunteer with the Peace Justice Witnesses which i haven’t done since #FeesMustFall days probably about two years ago.

It turns out we weren’t really needed because nothing out of the ordinary happened, but i felt privileged to be able to be in that spot once again and have a chance to reflect and pray and just be still and remember.

A Beautiful Method

This particular gathering felt quite significant. The Methodist Church from around the country is gathered this week for an annual conference consisting of priests and laity. And they interrupted their conference to bus something like 150 people to hold A Vigil of Prayer and Lament for the memory of Uyinene Mrwetyana and so many more like her who have been raped and killed by men in this country.

There were a lot of words, and i won’t share them all, but a number of them really moved me:

Prayer on behalf of men

How Long o Lord?

The session was opened with a song and then these words, a cry of lament, to set the tone of what was to follow:

We have gathered in this sacred space,

This place of horror.

This place where innocence was brutalised

This place of brokenness and bloodshed

We have gathered in this sacred space,

To not let hate have the final word,

We join the voices of lost innocence and we cry,

How long, oh Lord?

How long?!

Prayers were prayed and songs were sung, in a variety of languages, and then the leader spoke out again:

We gather in this place today

In light of the tragic rape and murder

of the late Uyinene Mrwetyana

In this very branch of the Post Office;

In a supposedly safe City,

In a supposedly safe suburb,

In a supposedly safe government building,

In a supposedly safe hour of the day.

And we lament that in our nation

no woman is safe today,

no child is safe today,

no fellow-African is safe today,

and no place is safe today.

Yet, we gather as the people of God

We gather as a people of faith

We gather as a people of prayer

In sombre, prayerful lament

We join with God, who is on the side of the innocent and the vulnerable,

The people who are brutalised by the abusive systems we create and perpetuate.

[Then a bell rang and for the rest of the gathering time it rang every 30 seconds reminding us of the rapes that happen throughout this time. This was a harrowing reminder of just how messed up our country is and every bell ring was like another punch in the gut and a deep call for us to do better!]

This was followed by four prayer’s prayed by a woman [for the women], a young man [for the children], a young woman [for the African ‘foreigners’ – ‘No African is ever supposed to be a foreigner in Africa and yet they suffer and die’] and finally a man reading the prayer at the top of this post.

prayer vigil clareinch post office

The Prayer of Lament

This prayer of lament followed with response from those gathered in a variety of languages followed by the laying of a wreath and a time of silence where people could call out names of those who have been killed as a result of gender-based violence or xenophobia with the bell ringing after every name; this was followed by a last song and the blessing prayer for Africa…

The Gathering is led in the Prayer of Lament by the Leader:

Hear us, Lord Jesus Christ,

when we cry to You for all the women and girls

who are victims of violence.

Hear us, Lord Jesus Christ,

for they are stripped and beaten as you were stripped and beaten,

they are humiliated and used as you were betrayed and shamed.

For the beaten girls and the battered women,

blamed and bruised by angry men,

We cry out to You: bring Justice!

For the young girls give or sold in marriage,

and for unwilling brides with no way out,

Ons roep uit na U toe: laat geregtigheid kom!

For the women raped as a weapon  of war

and for the children they bear in grief and shame,

ramamus peranti ti:  traça justiça!

For the victims of rape who are killed or take their own lives,

and for the rape survivors who live with its scars,

Re hoeletsa ho uena : tlisa toka

For the girls denied access to education,

told they are stupid or worthless or expendable,

Siyakhala kuwe : Zisa ubulungisa

For the girls and women sold or tricked into the sex trade,

and for sex workers exposed to disease and violence,

Sikhala kuwe : Letha ubulungisa!

For the mothers whose children are taken away by armies,

governments, churches or family members,

Tinochema kwamuri: Unzai kururama

For the girl-children who are unwanted and rejected,

the first to be aborted or abandoned,

the last to be fed:

We cry out to you: bring justice!

For the women bashed in their own homes,

and for their children who see and hear the violence,

Ramamus perante ti : traça justiça!

For the women trapped in destructive relationships,

manipulated, controlled, justifying their abusers,

Re hoeletsa ho uena : tlisa toka

For the women who hide their bruises

and lie about their injuries for fear of the next attack,

Sikhala kuwe : Letha ubulungisa!

For the women bullied in their workplaces,

belittled, underpaid, threatened with losing their job,

Sikhala kuwe : Letha ubulungisa!

For the women in prison, abused and abusing,

beset by poverty, mental illness and addictions,

Tinochema kwamuri: unzai kururama

For the women attacked because of their sexual identity,

targets for physical or spiritual assault,

we cry out to you: bring justice!

For the women and girls denied religious freedom,

forced to submit by custom or law,

Ons roep uit na U toe : laat geregtigheid kom!

For the older women, frail in body or mind,

fearful of violence, manipulation or neglect,

we cry out to you: bring justice!

We cry to you, Lord Jesus Christ,

for our sisters, our daughters, our mothers, ourselves.

Bring justice.

Bring healing.

Bring hope.

Amen.

Last week, the City of Cape Town was brought to a standstill, on Sundays in the majority of churches across the land it was NOT business as usual, yesterday, a denomination paused their meetings to be still and remember, and today the protesting continues with #SandtonShutdown…

The tide continues to rise and fall, let us all hope and pray and act that is will signify real change and a new dawn…