Greetings,

Uniting in Prayer 2024 runs for 35 days during May and June and is an opportunity for the whole of the Uniting Church to come before God as we discern out future together.  One way to participate is through the daily shared prayer.  These prayers are drawn from people across the breadth of the Uniting Church and our faith tradition.

I’d like to share a prayer that is a piece of art from Jessie Injamad.  Jessie learnt to weave from her grandmother. She fondly remembers the hours she spent as a young girl learning this traditional craft. It was always a special time of learning, sharing and storytelling as large groups of women of all ages would spend days working together to make large sitting mats and baskets. Jessie also recounts that this was also a special time to share Bible stories and talk about faith.

Faith Mat – Pandanas and natural dyes – by Jessie Injamad, Warruwi 2021

Weaving takes a long time- you have to collect the pandanus and then strip it for weaving. Then you have to collect all the different colours for dying the pandanus. After the pandanus is dyed and dried then it takes a long time to make the mat.

Life as a Christian is a bit the same: You start very small in the middle and it keeps growing. All the colours are like different seasons in your life. Faith keeps growing as you keep learning. Sometimes I get it wrong and I need to think about my mother or grandmother and the way they taught me. Sometimes I need to get help from other people. It takes a long time and it is slow work but it makes me really happy.

Blessings – Heather (she/her).