Africa Team Commissioning Litany

For 3 consecutive Sundays we have included a commissioning for various mission teams that have gone out or are about to go out from the fellowship that I serve. Yesterday morning we commissioned the team that will be going to the village of Karima in Kenya. Sometimes I find it hard to find good litanies for mission team commissioning. I also find it even harder to write them ... usually.

I wrote the litanies we used the past three Sundays. Yesterday's litany, I think, worked well for us. I felt that our people connected with it and that it connected us with what is really going on as we send out mission teams. I post it here for anyone who desires to use it as is or adapt it to your particular situation.

Commissioning for Kenya Mission Team

P: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
C: "He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
P: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink …'”
C: “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?’ …”
P: “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ (from Matthew 25:31-40, NIV)
C: We have seen the pictures from the village of Karima in Kenya. We know that there are people struggling to survive without adequate clean water.
P: If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (James 3:17-18)
MT: Because we love God, we are compelled to go and to do what we can to provide water … so that these people may know that God loves them.
All: O God, we pray for this team we are sending to the people of Karima. Use them to display Your love. We pray also for the people of Karima. May the water they receive for their physical needs lead them to understand that there is living water for their souls through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.