16/6/11 - English

We remember in prayer all of the people of Gaza as this week marks five years under Israeli siege, especially with the report just released by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) that Gaza continues to hold one of the highest unemployment rates in the world, with over 45.2% of working age people unemployed in the second half of 2010. We pray for an end to this destructive siege on the 1.6 million people of the Gaza Strip. 

As the situation in Syria deteriorates, we pray for all those caught in and fleeing the violence, including the over 7,000 refugees who have crossed into Turkey and the even larger number of people remaining just inside the Syrian border. We continue to hold in prayer all those striving for freedom, including the people of Bahrain, Libya, Palestine and Tunisia.

We pray for all those in Africa who join us each week in the Wave of Prayer. As written by our South African friends, may we continue to “create ‘kairos moments’ in our own contexts,” challenging “anything that seeks to kill and demean humans by using non-violent means to bring about just solutions.”

We pray for Sabeel’s upcoming Community program on Friday, June 17: a Pentecost Picnic in the remains of Imwas, Yalo and Beit Nuba, Palestinian villages whose residents were driven out in 1967 by the Israeli authorities and their land turned into Canada Park. May this be a fruitful time of education, remembrance and fellowship.

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