Daily Devotion 11 August 2025

St Mark 7:24-30 
 
From there Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice,  but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.  Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’  But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’  Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’  So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
 
Reflection
 
I’m sure in your life you have gone into a community or situation with preconceived ideas, and as you have begun to enter into conversations and build relationships you have discovered that perhaps what you had been told isn’t the case, your understanding of things being transformed, possibly even promoting you to some kind of action. 
 
Ann Morisy in her book ‘Beyond the Good Samaritan’ talks of this approach as being not only something that is central to community development, but also community ministry.  It is something that we see in Jesus’ encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman;  her reply to his question brought reflection and a change to his understanding. The use of story and questions is a technique that we see Jesus use in his ministry to help people reflect, and understand how things can be different.  Dialogue is an empowering way to help challenge us to promote justice and concern for others. 
 
What prompts our conversations to bring about this change of understanding can vary and will be relevant to the community in that time and place. These discussions can come about from a news story, a piece of music or a picture…the list could go on. It is these discussions that can bring about questions and reflection for people and communities, enabling us to change our understanding, but they can also empower communities into action to bring about change for both the development worker and community.
 
During my time in post,  I have learnt through conversations how important the Church building is to the community.  It is one of the few places that exist for groups and events; the community does not want to lose it. Discussions with both the congregation and our partners have resulted in making the church garden a place the community can come together and enjoy again.  It maintains the building as a safe place, empowering the church to keep the building safe and open and, in turn, to hopefully empower the community to transformation.
 
Prayer
 
Lord, when we are out engaging with our communities 
enable us to listen to what is being said,
using this to: 
unite people 
empower them 
bring change 
and to transform our communities’ lives for the better.
 
Let these conversations also challenge us 
to see ourselves as people needing answers, 
to hear what is needed 
and to find, through mutual working
ways to bring change.  Amen.