Mexico

World News This Week in Prayer – 30 August 2018

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Psalm 13:1-2 (NRSV)

How long, O Lord?
Our hearts and souls echo the cry of the Psalmist.
Around the world and in our communities, people hurt one another in countless ways.
Clergy, teachers, business leaders, and seemingly countless others abuse their power, resulting in the deep suffering of communities, our fellow humans, and even you, O God.
We pray for all victims of abuse at the hands of clergy and religious leaders.
We pray for the Rohingya of Myanmar who have face what the UN Secretary General called “horrendous persecution.”

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
Psalm 13:3-4 (NRSV)

So much of the news we hear, O God, shakes us to our core. It seems like no matter where we turn we find brokenness, pain, and heartache. We pray for men, women, and children experiencing homelessness, who don’t have many of their basic needs met. We pray for those affected, and the families of those killed, by earthquakes in Venezuela and Iran. We pray for the flora and fauna of our world, as hundreds of sea turtles have been found dead off the coast of Mexico after being caught in an illegal fishing net. We pray for the thousands fleeing flooding after a dam burst in Myanmar.

But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 13:5-6 (NRSV)

God, we lift our hearts and our voices to you.
We give you praise, because in the midst of our fear and brokenness, there are glimpses of your presence and your love:

Cartoon artists who are challenging stereotypes by depicting female superheroes who are also Muslim.
Children who are growing, learning, and finding their voices as they try to create a more just and loving world.

We pray for the government and parents in China, as they debate removing the limits on family size.

Simple acts of kindness, often unnoticed by the crowds, bring light and hope into the world. Let us never forget, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5 NRSV)

Help us, O God, to focus on the light of your love.
Help us to believe Jesus’ promise of abundant life.
And, help us to lift our voices to you in praise, for you have dealt bountifully with us.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 12, 2018

God of Many Names

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear.” Psalm 46:1-2

Holy and Loving God, we come to You from many places, the physical and spiritual. We use different names and descriptions and ideas when we talk about You, or come before You in prayer or to worship. Some call You Wisdom, Father, Judge, Lord, Mother, Creator, the All Merciful, Almighty and the Ground of All Being. Some know you as Omniscient, Omnipresent, Allah, Dios and Triune and others as the all-pervading eternal.

You heard our cries in a million ways and a billion voices. With the miracle of the entire Thai soccer team rescue and their reunion with families the world pauses to gives great thanks. Comfort the family of the diver who sacrificed his life in the rescue. Be with the grieving families who have lost loved ones during a storm that capsized a tourist boat off Phuket, Thailand.

Across every imaginable boundary and dark water we pray for mercy, miracle, intervention and protection. We do not fully understand the mystery of prayer, meditation and vigil, but we are wise enough to say, “Thank you, God”.

Loving God, we offer prayers on behalf of the many known and unknown needs and crises, fears, hurts and deepest sorrows imaginable, the looming conflicts that beg for resolution, a release. Your children and their coach, alone, in a dark cave, with waters rising and air diminishing, their waiting is a reminder of the suffering in this world that longs for comfort, refuge and complete healing. We ask your mercy for the families escaping violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, who seek asylum in the US and for those parents and children separated at US – Mexico border we ask for their swift reunion and healing from the traumas. God have mercy. Renew our faith. For whole villages fleeing war in Syria and Yemen we call upon You God and Your mercy spread out for all people. End these wars. Bring Your peace on earth. For citizens afraid of government, or of other citizens; for neighborhoods under menace of guns, opioids and gangs; for people weakened by disease, those blinded by prejudice and dominated by fear – we pray.

My God, O Lord, it can seem so dark.

And like our Thai soccer youth and coach, we treasure Your presence of light in the persons of doctors, nurses, divers, and soldiers, people of courage and conviction and skill who never lose hope.

Bless those,

whose life is love,

whose love is faith,

whose faith is action,

whose action is of You.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 5, 2018

This week’s prayers are adapted, with permission, from a prayer written for U.S. Independence Day 2018 by Leslie Barnes Scoopmire.

(Inspired by the Preamble to the United States Constitution)

In peace, we pray to You, Lord, God:
from our rising to our resting
we give You thanks and praise for all your blessings.

We give you thanks for the 12 boys and their coach found alive after being trapped in a cave in Thailand by rising waters, for the divers who reached them with food and supplies, for all who are working to rescue them, and for the millions throughout the world who have held them in prayer during the search.
We give you thanks for the breakthrough in-vitro fertilization technique that may save the Northern White Rhino species – now down to two surviving females and no living males– from extinction; for all the gifts of this Earth, and all who work to protect and preserve them.

May we seek to form a more perfect union
with You and with each other,
loving our neighbors as ourselves,
sharing each other’s burdens,
seeking to relieve each other’s wants.

We pray for an end to the posturing and tit-for-tatting in the tariff wars started by U.S. President Donald Trump against Mexico, Canada, China and the European Union. We pray for sanity, caution, compassion and courage among U.S. leaders as Trump threatens to pull out of the World Trade Organization and violate its rules with impunity. We pray for all whose livelihoods are at stake.
We give thanks that all 329 municipalities in Bangladesh have agreed to join the United Nation’s Making Cities Resilient Campaign. Low-lying, densely populated Bangladesh is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, hit every year by cyclones that are becoming more frequent and more intense due to climate change. The UN Campaign will develop local action plans and improve infrastructures to prepare for disasters.

May we establish true justice as our foundation,
justice that builds and creates
rather than subjugates and destroys,
and work for an end to oppression, poverty, and prejudice,
remembering always the many mercies
we ourselves have received.

We pray for those who would want to make national criticism illegal. We pray for Poland, which has reduced the penalties in its controversial law against accusing the Polish nation of complicity in the Holocaust. In response to international pressures, jail time is no longer among the penalties.
We pray for the five people killed in a shooting at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md. (U.S.), and for the courage and commitment of the remaining staff in getting out that day’s newspaper anyway. We pray for the countries where a free press is banned, for those who spread fake news and inflame the public against the media, and for all truth-seekers and truth-tellers everywhere.
We pray for the day when ethics will outweigh profit-making in every business venture. We give thanks that Kenya’s public prosecutor has ordered the arrest of two farm managers and several government officials over a dam which collapsed and killed more than 47 people in May. The dam had been constructed by unqualified staff and also broke environmental laws.
We pray for the day when compassion will universally be valued more highly than conformity. We pray for North Korea, where a high-ranking military officer was executed for giving out extra rice and corn rations to his troops.

May we ensure tranquility
by defending and protecting each other
in compassion and mercy,
that true liberty may be a blessing for all
grounded in our common life together.

We pray for the success of the peace agreement signed this week between South Sudan and rebels, where the past five years of fighting have displaced one in three South Sudanese from their homes. We pray that the promised ceasefire holds, that safe passage is indeed provided through which food, water and medicines can reach those in desperate need.
We pray that Russia, the U.S., and Jordan will use their influence to broker an immediate end to the fighting in southwest Syria – as they did last in persuading the Syrian government and rebels to create a de-escalation zone along the Jordanian border.
We pray for the eventual safe home-coming for the Rohingya people, still trapped in exile in the no-man’s-land between Myanmar and Bangladesh. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited the camps earlier this week, hearing “unimaginable” accounts of atrocities.

May we work for the welfare of all
by giving of ourselves in unity, gentleness, and sacrifice,
rooted in God’s love,
grounded in the call to welcome and protect
those who turn to us for help or refuge,
and protecting the least among us always.

We pray for those whose homelands are no longer a place of safety. We pray for those from Africa trying to reach Europe, for those from South and Central America trying to reach the United States, for the many refugees trying to find someplace – anyplace – where they will be welcome.
We pray for the countries in the European Union that have reached a deal in principle on how to handle African refugees and migrants, but differ sharply on the implementation details, with no country yet willing to set up the “secure migrant processing centers” called for in the agreement.
We pray for the families separated by the U.S. “zero-tolerance” policies against would-be immigrants and asylum seekers. We pray for the children – some as young as toddlers – expected to represent themselves in immigration court.
We pray for all who have settled into new countries, only to find that those, too, are not places of safety. We pray for the 3-year-old refugee in Boise, Idaho (U.S.) who died after a man with an extensive criminal background stabbed her, five other children and three adults at her birthday party. We pray for all migrants who face distrust and anger, and all who harbor suspicion and hatred towards them. We pray for all who want to live together in peace.

May we secure the blessings of life, liberty, and happiness
and free ourselves
from all that chains us-
fear,
want,
suspicion,
jealousy,
division,
injustice-
and fully embrace and celebrate each other
in all our diversity.

Bless us and keep us, O God,
that we may dwell in peace, equality, and security all our days. AMEN

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, June 21, 2018

World Refugee Day was observed on June 20. Let us remember that a person’s dignity, worth, or humanity does not depend on their citizenship. May we be filled with the deep understanding that Jesus calls us to welcome and love the stranger.

Let us pray:

God of compassion, we are torn apart by the cruelty Your people are facing at the United States–Mexico border. We pray for the successful reuniting of families after thousands of children were separated from their parents and sent to “tender age” shelters in the US. We are grateful for the courage of those who are willing to stand up against injustice, like American, Frontier, Southwest, and United Airlines, who are refusing to transport these children away from their families.

God of love, our prayers are with those in Hungary, where parliament passed laws that criminalize offering help to immigrants seeking asylum. We pray that what is legal becomes more like what is just.

God of every Nation, we pray for Italy, as one of its Ministers vows to count and expel thousands of the nomadic Roma minority. And for the more than 600 refugees who risked their lives in search of safety and were turned away in Italy last week. We are thankful that they were accepted into Spain. May all countries be moved toward hospitality.

God of all people, we lift our hearts in prayer for the 20 war orphans in Baghdad, Iraq, who were invited to a restaurant for Eid al-Fitr, their fast breaking from Ramadan, but were rejected at the luxury shopping mall it was inside. May Your love move us to open our arms instead of closing our doors.

God of reconciliation, lead us to a day when we no longer see each other as aliens, as illegal, or as anything other than Your beloved children. May we know that all people are Your people.

We pray for the day when peace fills our hearts, our world, our universe, that these prayers may be made real. This we ask in your many Holy names. Amen.
——
Because of our many Hispanic readers, we are including a Spanish translation of this week’s prayers.

El Día Mundial de los Refugiados se celebró el 20 de junio. Recordemos que la dignidad, el valor o la humanidad de una persona no dependen de su ciudadanía.. Que seamos llenos del profundo entendimiento de que Jesús nos llama a recibir y amar al extraño.
Dejanos rezar:
Dios de compasión, somos destrozados por la crueldad que tu pueblo enfrenta en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México. Oremos por la reunificación exitosa de las familias después de que miles de niños fueron separados de sus padres y enviados a refugios de “tierna edad” en los Estados Unidos.
Estamos agradecidos por la valentía de aquellos que están dispuestos a luchar contra la injusticia, como American, Frontier, Southwest y United Airlines, que se niegan a transportar a estos niños lejos de sus familias.
Dios de amor, nuestras oraciones están con aquellos en Hungría, donde el parlamento aprobó leyes que penalizan a ofrecer ayuda a los inmigrantes que buscan asilo. Oremos para que lo que es legal se vuelva más como lo que es justo.
Dios de cada nación, rezemos por Italia, ya que uno de sus ministros jura contar y expulsar a miles de la minoría romaní nómada. Y para los más de 600 refugiados que arriesgaron sus vidas en busca de seguridad y fueron rechazados en Italia la semana pasada. Estamos agradecidos de que hayan sido aceptados en España. Que todos los países se muevan hacia la hospitalidad.
Dios de todas las personas, elevemos nuestros corazones en oración por los 20 huérfanos de guerra en Bagdad, Iraq, que fueron invitados a un restaurante para Eid al-Fitr, su ayuno del Ramadán, pero fueron rechazados en el centro comercial de lujo que estaba dentro. Que tu amor nos mueva a abrir nuestros brazos en lugar de cerrar nuestras puertas.
Dios de la reconciliación, llévanos un día en el que ya no nos veamos como extraterrestres, como ilegales o como cualquier cosa que no seamos Tus queridos hijos. Que sepamos que todas las personas son tu gente.
Oremos por el día en que la paz llene nuestros corazones, nuestro mundo, nuestro universo, para que estas oraciones se hagan realidad. Esto lo pedimos en sus muchos y santos nombres. Amén.