12/5/11 - English

We pray for the people of Egypt, where 12 people died and more than 180 were wounded in clashes last Saturday after conservative Muslims attacked a church in the Imbaba area in Cairo. Over the last months, many Christians and Muslims had protested alongside each other and protected each other during prayer times. But in March, 13 people died in sectarian clashes in another neighborhood. We pray that the Egyptian government will work on security for both Christians and Muslims and that both communities will respect each other and peacefully live together, since we are all created in the image of God.

As Israel celebrated Independence Day on Tuesday May 10, and the Palestinians commemorate the Nakba on Sunday May 15, we pray for all the Palestinian refugees around the world who are still longing for their return. We also pray for the Sabeel Nazareth branch, who are organizing a visit for Palestinian internal refugees living in Nazareth to their demolished villages Ferda and Tsfad. The Israeli government, the Knesset, passed a law last year which makes it illegal for Israeli bodies that receive allocations from the government to commemorate the Nakba and to teach about the Nakba in both Jewish-Israeli and Arab-Israeli schools. We thank God for brave Israelis, such as Zochrot in Tel Aviv, who organized a Nakba commemoration in Tel Aviv on Monday evening May 9. 

 

As the Kairos document, which was launched in December 2009, called for Christians around the world to ‘ Come and See’, we are very glad that people around the world are signing up for both the Young Adult Conference in July and the Witness Visit in September. We pray for the Sabeel staff who are organizing the programs and for the participants that they will be encouraged to work for a just peace in Israel and Palestine. 

 

We pray for the programs organized by the Sabeel Nazareth branch in the Galilee this week.  This Friday, young Palestinian Christians in Nazareth gather for a workshop entitled “Living in a Pluralistic Society: how to respect each other and work together”. This workshop will be led by a Palestinian-Israeli Muslim. We pray that this workshop will inspire the young people to approach every human being as a beautiful creation of God, who deserves to be loved and respected.

With the Prayer Cycle of the World Council of Churches, we pray for: Kenya, Tanzania