The Prayer I No Longer Pray as an Immigrant
Why there are fewer Christians in developed countries.
Believe it or not, before embarking on an interstate journey back home, a pastor prays for the whole bus.
This is not considered a nuisance. Not even if we were an hour behind schedule and the journey ahead was bound not to be timely because of bad roads, temperamental tropical weather, vehicular breakdown, being waylaid by the police or worse, besieged by highwaymen.
In fact, for those reasons and more, the man of the cloth prayers are welcomed and receive a resounding Amen from everyone on the bus.
This prayer is in addition to the ones most of the bus occupants already prayed individually, and the prayers by their loved ones before they left home.
It’s been 4 years since I prayed before embarking on a journey, 4 years since I moved to a Western society.
Sat here, I am reminiscing about the prayers I prayed as a child. Some were necessary and prayed at breaking points, and some were very pointless. Like prayers for the erratic power supply to be restored before my favourite TV show finished airing its episode for the day.
Of course, I realised as an adult that half those prayers should have been directed less upwards and…
