Libya

World News in Prayer – April 2, 2020

Nobel Peace Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, including during the Ebola crisis) writes:

Dear fellow citizens of the world,

… It does not mean that we are on our own, every country for themselves. On the contrary, it is the sign of a communal response, that border closures make a difference. Her letter concludes:
I have full faith in the relentless spirit of the individual, a conviction that leaders emerge in times of crisis at every level of society, and that our religious and communal differences pale in comparison to our collective belief in the power of prayer, and our respective faith in God.

As we all hunker down in the next few weeks, I pray for the health and well-being of our global citizens, and I ask that everyone remember that our humanity now relies on the essential truth that a life well-lived is a life in the service to others.
[Note: you can hear her read part of this letter on https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172x1gdf07d89j from about 05:30 to 09.00. The unedited text (also on the BBC website) includes: ]

Lord, all-seeing, always present, you call us to live in community.

In this year when the community of Oberammergau, Germany would have celebrated their decision to lock down to stop plague spreading, we give thanks for that understanding of community which is about keeping one another safe. We give thanks for visionaries such as the community of Eyam, United Kingdom, the Nobel peace prize winner, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and the Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine.

In our prayers we remember those from whom the eyes of the world have moved:

The people of Yemen starving as many air raids strike Sanaa this week,

The displaced and the dispossessed especially those in refugee camps. We give thanks for those refugees, in groups like Help from Refugees in Switzerland, who put their much-needed skills at the disposal of their new communities.

The rough sleepers with no safe space to obey the rules of lockdown in Lagos, Nigeria, and many cities worldwide.

The migrant workers, especially those in India where a lock-down was imposed at 4 hours notice, and Nepalese are stuck at the border.

The people who are more persecuted than ever because of the perception that no one will notice; especially the Palestinian community of Khirbet Ibziq in the northern Jordan Valley. Their existing community clinic and generator were demolished by the Israeli army and building supplies for an emergency field clinic destroyed or confiscated.

We pray for those who think no one will notice when they pilfer hospital supplies, buy up and hoard goods needed by carers, nurses, doctors, ambulance crews and others. We give thanks that those called to work in all these essential areas still work despite knowing they are unprotected and will probably be taken ill. Remind us that it is not enough to call them heroes but to do what we can to support them. We give thanks for donations of real equipment from film sets, as from the sets of “Casualty” and “Holby City” in England.

We pray for those who are harmed, such as those caught in the shelling in Tripoli, Libya, as warring factions seek to hide the lack of a ceasefire while the eyes of the world turn inward.

For farmers and growers, the world is not standing still, for researchers too. As crops are planted with no knowing if there will be hands to harvest we pray for the springtime and the harvest. As news breaks that a blood test is being developed to determine early signs of cancer we give thanks that people still go about the work despite fear, sadness, and anxiety.

Remind us that while the sound of silence, the sound of bird song, and the sound of the wind and the rain, beguile us in the newly revealed quiet; our environment is still not safe. Birds, wildlife, and plants need our continuing protection and care.

All things praise you, glorious Lord,
great Creator, powerful Word,
omnipresent Spirit, now
at your throne, we humbly bow,
lift our hearts in praise to you:
so we praise you, Lord, anew.
[George William Condor – 1821-1874]

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs. January 16, 2020

Dear Friends in Prayer,

Did you ever have one of those sleepless nights? When, after three hours of perfectly wonderful, refreshing sleep, you are suddenly awake, wide awake, for no apparent reason? And when, despite watching a couple of shows on your Kindle Fire (or whatever you resort to during wakeful hours), your mind is still filled with the fires in Australia…. the opioid crisis… the volcanoes erupting in the Philippines and Mexico…. the families being separated at the border between the U.S. and Mexico…. the refugees being rejected from more countries than we can count…. hungry, homeless people… hard-working families, struggling to pay their monthly bills… people with pre-existing health conditions, unable to pay their medical bills… police and military people and first responders committing suicide because of what they have seen and heard and done… children living day-to-day with food insecurity… wars and threats of war in Libya, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen and other countries… teenagers being bullied by someone who is telling them they are not enough…. people fleeing gang violence in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras… poor women seeking family planning advice and unable to find it because clinics are being closed… preschoolers with no one to read to them because everyone in their family is working so hard just to stay above water, or never had a chance to learn to read themselves… LGBTQ teens being rejected by their families for being who they are… churches whose doors are narrow and their welcome conditional…. extremist religions like the “Christian” sect in Panama that killed seven indigenous persons in a ritual intended to force them to “repent their sins”… the oceans being polluted with our discarded plastics…. the discovery that the million+ common murres (seabirds) that died between 2015 and 2016 probably were killed by a blob of hot water in the Pacific Ocean (what will global warming do to our furred and finned and feathered friends?)…. those who continue to deny climate change, in spite of the increasing evidence and the warnings of environmental scientists… the impeachment trial of U.S. President Donald Trump…. Russian President Vladimir Putin trying to wrest control from the Russian government and turn the country into a dictatorship… the 2020 elections which will determine the paths of our countries for years to come….

Did you ever have one of those nights when every attempt at prayer seems to fall on empty ears…. when God seems far away and you feel very alone? And when you utter the Serenity Prayer for the tenth time, and find that your heart and mind are settling in, and you finally feel bathed in, encompassed by God’s grace, and sleep feels possible once again?

If you have, dear friend, know you are not alone…. That the writer of this week’s prayers, and all who pray them, and many other wayfaring pilgrims have been and are with you in the darkness, holding out a trembling hand to clasp yours, and together, we’ll make it through the night, God-in-flesh for each other.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019

Kindle a flame to lighten the dark and take all fear away.
~ John L Bell and Graham Maule*

When nations are being riven by fear, lies, lack of trust in political, business
and so many seeming to seek leadership positions for their own aggrandisement rather than the common good:

Kindle a flame to lighten the dark and take all fear away, so justice and truth prevails.

When all efforts have been made to cope with natural disasters:

Hurricane Dorian, devastating the Bahamas and threatening east coast states of the USA;
Severe ice cap melting in Greenland, the Antarctic and Arctic – threatening low lying communities and countries throughout the world;
Bird migrants arriving at their usual time in northern countries (e.g. the UK and Scandinavia) to find food sources already flowered and unavailable due to climate change

Kindle a flame to lighten the dark and take all fear away.

When people are exhausted from the struggles against injustice and terror:

1.9 million people facing losing their citizenship in Assam, India;
Those detained, disappeared or tortured in Kashmir;
Starvation, violence, lack of medical care and hopelessness experienced by millions in Yemen, and in stateless camps throughout the Middle East, Libya, Sudan and so many other countries;
The fear of so many in Afghanistan where the US -Taliban deal does nothing to stop bombings and the use of children as suicide bombers;
Increased xenophobic riots in South Africa leading to deaths, injuries and boycotts;
Thousands of economically disadvantaged groups left without education or medical care after Christian and Muslim schools and health centers were seized by the government in Eritrea;
The desperate and often life-threatening experience of refugees in the US, Mexico, Sweden, the European Union, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Australia and so many other countries

Kindle a flame to lighten the dark and take all fear away.

When people seek to care for their fellow human beings in need:

Over 1,000 people in the Central African Republic have become foster parents, like Henriette and Jean-Philippe Idjara. Despite having 4 children, and having lost 5 others through illness, they adopted 2 teenage boys who had seen their father executed by rebels. Alone and in fear of their lives, the boys had fled and walked 150 miles in a week, before being found exhausted and rescued by the Idjaras.
We give thanks for all who open their hearts and homes to brothers and sisters in need of any sort, without checking their balance sheet first. Help us to dare to trust in You, our shield and our defender.
We give thanks and remember all who act as carers (paid or unpaid), ambulance workers, medical staff, police, firefighters, military personnel, ministers and priests of all faiths, and those who keep our communities clean and safe with often little thanks. We pray for their protection and support, praying especially for their mental health dealing with the sights and situations we so often prefer not to see.. Throughout the world, the silent loss of way too many of those helpers of us all, their high rates of suicide and mental and physical illness from so much stress, is a scandal and source of shame..

Kindle a flame to lighten the dark and take all fear away. Bless and strengthen them by your loving spirit and help us provide them with the care and support they need.

When families are changing, new life is being formed and others prepare to leave this earthly life:

Give us all a sense of thankfulness and proportion as to what is real or imaginary;
help us nurture truth rather than deceit;
humility rather than hubris;
tenderness, love and compassion rather than aggression, hatred and division.

Despite all we like to think, we are not in charge. You are.

O God, save us from ourselves, from double standards and divided hearts, and give us light and life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, July 25, 2019

He has shown all you people what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 NIV

Let us pray.

We think of the 45 People beaten by organized thugs in Yuen Long, a far northwest metro station of Hong Kong. There is worry of collusion and payments being made to criminals to actually disrupt public safety as citizens are peacefully protesting. An extradition bill that sparked the civil protest has been suspended. Comfort the families of the injured. We ask that you bring clarity to leaders and especially the police as they sort out right action to address the turmoil. Bring justice where there is violent behavior and help us to show mercy where impoverished people seem to turn toward crime. Oh Lord, we hear of these horrendous things and bow our heads. Help us to walk humbly.

We remember the Paradise fire and morn the loss, loss that killed 85 people and devastated a small city. “Ahead of the Fire,” reported by the Arizona Republic (USA) and USA Today reflects and analyzes the fire and the human risk for people living in the west, and what and where prevention can happen to avert catastrophe. Help us to hear the Good News months later as wild fire specialists and other scientists sort out the over 500 high-risk western US communities like Paradise. We pray for the disabled, the elderly, the poor who may not have cell phones to hear an Amber alert, who live in housing that is substandard and fire prone. Bring compassionate services to them. We remember fires around the world that devastate communities leaving people with nothing. We pray that this report will inform policy and opportunities for just and equable action. Help us to live humbly and work for justice.

We seek courage of voice to declaim abuses in Sudan, as reported by the BBC this week, where the Rapid Support Forces have been accused of a massacre in which more than 120 people were killed and many of the dead dumped in the River Nile in early June. This quasi-ruling power in Sudan, fueled by its gold mining in Darfur, sends its gold to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Sudanese militiamen are now fighting in Yemen with the UAE and “policing” the border to Libya, extracting bribes, ransoms and levies. We shutter at the expanding web of war and the millions suffering in famine in Yemen. Lord, show your mercy; restore our sanity and resolve to take just action. Help us to speak with courage.

And help us to remember that through the work of the UN, 12 million refugees around the world have received essential supplies and 92,400 refugees have been resettled in 2018. Help us to live with thanks.

May we show devotion in all seasons, times of the day and spaces. We take out the garbage, fix a meal, lend a hand, soothe a baby, read to a child, fold the bedding, close a tent flap to shelter from rain, or linger a moment to look at the stars. Eternal One, you are with us in all these moments. May we feel your Holy Spirit even in the darkest of times. May Christ’s words to love infuse our hearts, minds and hands. Help us, indeed, to love mercy and to show mercy.

We close with the words of St. Francis of Assisi, For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

Amen

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, May 9, 2019

Oh God, you who are always listening to us; you who hear the bird singing in the topmost branch against the blue, blue sky; you who know of the sobbing deep in the rubble after a bombing or the utterings of the newly-born. You, who are the heart of compassion, who gave your son Jesus to show us a life of compassion, awaken in us compassion. Forgive us when we are indifferent, blindly ignorant, willfully deceitful and outwardly contentious. Guide us in our trust of one another. Open our hearts in expressing love. Deepen our humility. Help us to show remorse for our wrongdoings. Help us to understand that we are broken and that your love has bound us, and in that binding is the promise of grace and wisdom for rebirth.

Bring your mercy to the peoples of Iowa and Nebraska, U.S., as floodwaters continue to rise in the Missouri River basin. Comfort those impacted by tornadoes and flash floods across the southern U.S. as rescue teams work long hours and emergency shelters are put in place. Sustain those who are called to tend and care and safeguard for hours and days on end.

We abhor the direct attack on an ambulance in Tripoli, Libya, that not only critically injured workers but also took away the vehicle, leaving victims imperiled in this civil conflict. Bring compassion and a sense of rectitude when such humanitarian violations occur. We pray for your mercies on the people of this nation, and wherever war continues to create a hell on earth for so many people throughout the world. Shed truth on the 15 countries in Africa where wars or post-war conflicts continue, especially where resources are extracted for the benefit of the wealthy few, and black- marketing of small arms escalates violence and instability and citizens are forced to flee conflict.

We ask for a unified voice of conscience against the abuse of power and imprisonment of the Vice President of the National Assembly in Venezuela. Bring your mercies to Venezuelan refugees now in Maico, Colombia, and across so many borders. Surround the nearly 50% of refugees that are children with care and reassurance. Reduce their hunger and fear. Sustain their faith. Empower leaders to help resolve this crisis.

Sustain the health care workers as they tend to the Ebola virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where nearly 66% of the cases have ended in death. We give thanks for a vaccine that may protect and shorten this scourge. Wrap in your arms the family and World Health Organization colleagues of the late Dr. Richard Valery Mouzouko Kiboung of Cameroon, shot by assailants in the DRC as he was meeting with frontline health care workers on the outbreak. We grieve this loss and senseless killing.

We pause in silence for all those in mourning…

We lift up joys. There are many even in all the trials and deep concerns. Help us to remember that you would never have us despair, that you are listening and are always there to speak comfort.

We are grateful for emergency responders who evacuated 1.1 million people in Odisha, India, and sheltered them out of harm’s way as Cyclone Fani struck over 15,000 villages.

We celebrate the passage of bills in the state of Washington, U.S., to protect and preserve the Southern resident orca population. You who have made the oceans, their depths and vast watery horizons. and filled them with life, we are grateful for this step in our renewed stewardship of your creation.

May we live in your abundant life, do your will, and know of a peace that passes all understanding.

In your name,
Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, April 25, 2019

Holy One,

Your Name is above all names, it is so high that we cannot attain it, yet still we seek it. And when we cannot find you, when we do not understand what is happening, when our hearts quake with fear and our spirits tremble with unknowing, when we stumble and search and seek after your face, a beloved face that seems so far from us, that is when YOU call us by name. As you did with Mary on Easter, you pierce through the mystery and call us, claim us, love us. As you did on Easter, you reveal that you are not removed from the world, but that you are here, with us, through death and life, in the tomb of decay and the garden of growth, you are with us here in the world.

Reveal yourself to us today.

Where we see violence and destruction in the bombings of churches throughout Sri Lanka, where we watch the aftermath of shootings, as in New Zealand, reveal the wings of your comfort, the shelter of your arms, the balm of your care.

Where we see vigilante militias along the United States border treat refugees and asylum-seekers as criminals, reveal the power of your justice, the commitments of your love, and the renewal of your protection.

Where we see the violence in Libya where hundreds are dying and over one thousand wounded in the battle for control of the capital, Tripoli, reveal your compassion and wisdom to bring these fighting factions to achieve peace for the country’s people.

Where we see the brutality of domestic abuse and the secrets of family pain, as with the family found in the cave in Spain, reveal to us how you grieve the loss of your children, how you rage at the ways we abuse each other or do not to see the abuse of each other, how you call us to commit again to caring for your vulnerable ones.

Where we see political protests in places around the word, like Sudan and Hong Kong, reveal how you lift up the lowly and bring down the mighty from their thrones. We know that not all shouting voices should be given the megaphone, yet we also know that what we think of as power and might, will pass away as grass in your sight.

Where we see the erosion of environment and the increasing anxiety over resources, with loss of rainforests in Brazil and months of drought in Australia, reveal how you have poured your care into every aspect of Creation, and how you demand that we more faithfully steward this world entrusted to us.

Where we see tragedy and death this week from the natural elements in the Philippines from earthquakes, landslides in Columbia and floods and mudslides in South Africa, reveal your consoling arms to surround these victims and their bereaved loved ones in love and strength to endure their loss.

Where we need to see your face, Lord, we pray that you will show up before us and remind us again that nothing, not even death, will separate us from you.

You have called to us before. Call to us now.

Amen sildenafil generique.

World News in Prayer – Thursday 18 April 2019

Holy One,

As Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France burned this week, so many millions of us were bound together in heartbreak. As Notre Dame emerged damaged but not fully destroyed, so many millions were bound together in hope. As we consider Paris and Notre Dame, we pray for fulfilling and fruitful work of healing and rebuilding; we pray that this rebuilding might continue to draw us all together in a community of care.

We realize that such unity is how you hold the world at every moment. You gaze upon us with such sorrow when we destroy the world that you created. You gaze upon us with such delight when we work to save and strengthen the kin-dom you promise . You hold us all in your embrace. We seek to be united as we were this week – but rather than united by bonds of horror-filled helplessness, we pray that we might be united by bonds of awestruck, peaceful rejoicing. Teach us how to care for this world that you loved so deeply that you died for it.