Pray 4 Providence: Update

On 30 September our Steadfast Ministry (Catholic Young Adults Ministry) leaders kicked off Pray 4 Providence.

The project was setup in response to the cry of the 13 million people suffering from drought, famine and war in East Africa. Our plan was to raise $50,000 through the Power of Prayer! Not just any prayer, but prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

People were invited to commit to pray for at least one hour a week for providence, peace and openness of people’s hearts to respond to the cries of those who are in need. Though it wasn’t required that we prayed the hour together, we decided to make Friday evenings the ‘Steadfast Hour’ of prayer. We teamed up with Caritas Australia and put all our donations through them.

Providentially, just as we kicked off our ‘Pray 4 Providence’ the Australian Government released their Dollar for Dollar initiative. While we didn’t meet our goal of $50,000 – we were able to provide over $14,000 to East Africa through Caritas in just over 11 weeks of our commitment. It was amazing to see the way God provided for us even to the last hour. 

It has been an amazing experience and we are so grateful to all who caught the vision and jumped onboard. Also to Elizabeth Pappalardo from Caritas Australia, who made organising this so much easier.  

Finally, I am forever grateful to God and I’m sure we were blessed beyond what we could physically see.

Amanda Kalauta