23/4/2015- English

Along with the rest of the world, we are shocked by the recent brutal IS killings of the 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya.  Many Ethiopians migrate to Libya in search of work or as a stepping stone before risking the dangerous sea crossing to Europe. Lord, we pray for an end to all violence plaguing the Middle East and Africa and for the families there affected by the horrors of war.  Lord in your mercy…

Around 700 people are feared dead in the Mediterranean Sea when their boat sank while trying to make the dangerous voyage from North Africa to southern Europe in search for a better life.  Lord, the impoverished and oppressed people of these lands are desperate; provide them the means to live in their homelands and safe refuge from the economic and political injustices they face.  We also pray that the international community does more to stop this recurring tragedy.  Lord in your mercy… Last week Israel’s high court approved the use of the Absentee Property Law, which allows Israel to take control of Palestinian property in Jerusalem whose owners live in the West Bank or Gaza.  This law, first enacted in 1950, has been used to unjustly seize Palestinian property, including the homes and land of those who fled during the 1948 Nakba and property that fell into Israel’s extended municipal borders for Jerusalem after the 1967 war.  Lord, we pray that this law is nullified and no longer used as a tool to increase Jewish presence on Palestinian land in East Jerusalem.  Lord in your mercy…
 Lord, we pray for our many programs in the coming days, including a joint clergy meeting in Jericho, a young women and youth program at St. Andrew’s Church in Jerusalem, an open forum with Father Jack Nobel Abed, and several international group visits at both our Jerusalem and Nazareth offices.  We also give you thanks for the many people who are participating in this week’s Friends of Sabeel conference in Vancouver, Canada, titled “Seeking the Peace of Jerusalem: Overcoming Christian Zionism in the Quest for Justice.”  Lord in your mercy…
We pray alongside the World Council of Churches for the countries of Djibouti and Somalia.  Lord in your mercy… 
 
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