by Ciona D. Rouse, Author
A beautiful book on so many levels – – pictures, words, prayers, theology. Pages filled with passion and desperation, injustice and insensitivity, death – – and hope. The author of liturgies found in the Africana Worship series responded to the advice of an expatriate from Mali who told her, “If you want to learn to pray, go to Africa.” She did, and she learned much. The prayers, she writes, “that fuel our hearts – – our very survival – – run deep n the soul of Africa.” Not simply petitions to God for the latest iGadget or “to beg for a quick fix to a real problem,” it is “a life force, like breath and water . . . one way to know that we are alive.” Every prayer or prayer request she heard in Africa uncovered a story that revealed the hearts of the people and “I was no longer a stranger who shook their hands and walked away; I was invited into a vulnerable part of their story. To read this book is to begin to see the world with different eyes. (Upper Room Books)
