Lord, this week, as we take
time to honor World Refugee Day this Thursday, we remember the dignity, courage
and strength of refugees around the world. With 43.7 million refugees and
internally displaced people, our hearts break at the injustice done to so many
globally. We pray in solidarity with them for just governments to work for
provision for temporary needs and for their repatriation. We pray especially
for all the refugees here in the Middle East – for Palestinians still hoping
for the day they can return home to their lands, for Syrian refugees struggling
in camps in neighboring Arab countries, for Eritrean refugees who have
undergone torture in the Sinai peninsula and now face racism within Israel.
Lord, accompany these people in their suffering and bring about solutions
quickly! Lord, in you mercy...
God of peace, equality, and
justice, we bring before you our worry and our grief at the continued racism
that seems to increase week by week within this land. Just this weekend, two Palestinian
women were assaulted by an Israeli man as they attempted to buy tickets for the
Jerusalem light rail. Tuesday brought news of an unexpected attack by
Jewish extremists on the peaceful Arab-Israeli village of Abu Ghosh, during
which extremists painted racist graffiti like “Arabs out!” in the village.
Lord, would you bring an end to this racism and violence! Please bring justice
to the victims of these acts and widespread change to racist currents of
thought within society. Lord, in your mercy...
Lord, as settlements
expand, as new roads connecting settlements are built, and as members of the
Knesset make strong statements about their plans to annex Area C and build upon
more West Bank land, we are desperate for these destructive decisions to end! As
John Kerry visits Israel and Palestine in the coming weeks with intentions of
restarting peace talks, we pray that you would give him the ability to bring
people together in serious negotiations. Would you open the eyes of all the
leaders to see the absolute necessity of building policies of peace and justice
according to international law. Lord, in your mercy...
Here at Sabeel we lift up
this week’s upcoming events: Thursday’s Nazareth youth meeting with Rev. Hatem
Jeries, Friday’s Clergy Wives meeting in Beit Sahour, and the Beit Saida
excavations and tour with Sabeel Nazareth and a visiting group from Australia
on Friday and Saturday. Lord, may we never get caught up in idle programming,
but would you lead us always into work that bears much fruit. We pray this for
these events as well as for the global young adult festival, as final
preparations are made to welcome young adults from all over the world. Lord, in
your mercy...
Finally, we pray alongside
the World Council of Churches for the country of Brazil. Lord, in your
mercy...
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