Lent Devotional: RestoreSample

Restore: Light in dark places

Jesus challenged the people, systems and structures that created the injustices of his day. Our faith is a response to good news and it demands a response to injustice. In our fragmented world, we’re still called to proclaim this good news and that includes challenging the systems that keep people in poverty.

Having access to electricity enables people living in poverty to unlock their God given potential. It means women can give birth safely at night, children can study in the evening, and farmers can pump water to grow food for their families. Yet, one in seven people still don’t have access to electricity.

The quickest and cheapest way to improve access to energy for people living in poverty is through sources like solar power, which is local, clean and renewable. This will bring light to dark places, without damaging God’s creation and contributing to climate change.

The World Bank aims to end extreme poverty by 2030. But only three per cent of the World Bank’s energy funding goes on local renewable energy, while billions are spent on polluting fossil fuels.

Lord, Thank you that you are light and in you we find truth. Help me to be a light bearer for you today in my life, and in my relationships with people and creation. Thank you that you know the ins and outs of the complexities of poverty. I pray that you bless the World Bank campaign so that we can see communities brought out of the darkness and able to flourish. Amen.

Kit Powney, Tearfund

Learn more about how Tearfund hopes to provide local, clean renewable energy .