Month of Prayer guide for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

In recent years, more media attention has been given to the stories of the many missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. As these stories are told, society and individuals cannot stand by, idly allowing injustice to continue. We invite you to enter into a month of prayer that focuses on the injustices that surround the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. It is our prayer that we can join together, in prayer, to pray for these women and their families, those who committed the offenses and their families, the justice system, and their communities. Let us pray too for healing, justice, and reconciliation for all those involved in each story.

Since Indigenous cultures in Canada often emphasize whole webs of relationships rather than individuals, it is important for us to pray not only for the victim, but also for the family of the victim, the person who committed the offense, their family, the police and justice system, and the whole community. We also are invited to pray for healing, restoration, and reconciliation in the story. Restorative justice practices that aim to restore relationships, rather than focusing solely on punishing those who committed the offense, are common in Indigenous cultures, and for this reason we pray too for the person who committed the offense and their family.