Somalia

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, July 2, 2020

The World in Prayer team member who wrote this week’s prayers has spent the past 6 weeks catching, taming, and finding homes for a litter of feral kittens. It has, she says, definitely affected how she understands God, and how she prays for the world. “You’ll have to forgive me,” she writes, “if these prayers are rather – well – kitten-shaped.”

I. Courtship. They appeared in my yard, the terrified but oh-so-proud young mama cat, and her four just-starting-to-explore adorable kittens. Me, I spent long hours sitting absolutely still. Marveling. Waiting. For them to get used to my scent. For them to get used to my presence. For them to get used to my voice.

And I thought with awe – and wonder – and thanksgiving – about God. Our God, who loves us with such patient adoration. Waiting, for us to notice God with us. Waiting for us to abandon fear, for curiosity. Waiting for us to dare to approach. Waiting for us to dare to be loved.

Holy and loving God, we adore you and we praise you, because you love with infinite patience even those that the world despises, ignores, or rejects:

The Oromo – the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, where unrest has spread after the death and funeral of 34-year-old singer Hachalu Hundessa. His songs advocating their rights have become anthems in a wave of protests in that country.
More than 40,000 impoverished people have been evicted from their homes since March in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, primarily in communities already displaced by violence, droughts, or floods.
Strawberry pickers brought from Morocco to Spain are not considered essential workers, and are not being provided even the most basic hygiene needed to protect them against the new coronavirus.
Sex workers in Thailand (more than 125,000 of them, from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam), as well as in Bangladesh (an estimated 100,000) – have been jobless and facing abuse from their dissatisfied brokers since the coronavirus pandemic forced bars and other entertainment venues to close. For many, this illegal work is the only way they can survive and provide for their children.
According to the United Nations, the pandemic is reversing progress on ending child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). An additional 13 million girls could be married off and 2 million more could undergo FGM in the next decade, beyond what would have been expected.
Indigenous Amazon communities in Brazil, who have no immunity to external diseases and whose communal lifestyle rules out social distancing – and who are not receiving adequate help during the pandemic from the Brazilian government.

II. Trapping. I put out food. Each day, moving a little bit closer. Each day, with breath held, waiting for them to come eat. Then the food went into the cat carrier, and if they wanted it, they had to go inside. And then one day, while they were eating, I gently shut the door, and brought them inside my house.

And I prayed…for all who don’t know if a sweet enticement will turn out to be a trap or an opening to a world of joy. For all who are trapped. For all who are being freed. For all who hold open doors to new life.

Holy and gracious God, whose will it is always to bless, stretch out your protecting arms over:

Hong Kong, as China’s new “national security law” for Hong Kong takes effect, criminalizing what had been protected speech (i.e., the right to criticize the Chinese government), and allowing mainland Chinese security personnel to legally operate in Hong Kong with impunity.
The dead, the missing, and the grieving after a landslide at a jade mining site in northern Myanmar killed at least 162.
The United States, where there are way too many people who believe their right not to wear masks or take other public health precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 is more important than protecting one another; and many others who cannot understand that the best way to have a healthy economy is to have healthy population.
Scientists in Canada, South Africa, and Zimbabwe who are helping Botswana try to determine the cause of the “completely unprecedented” deaths of more than 350 elephants since May

III. Delight. As I had known they would, the kittens came to trust. They learned to play, to pounce, to wrestle. They discovered that being petted was Very Good, Very Very Good. The legs grew longer, and the purrs grew stronger, and my arms or my lap were usually filled with a cuddle puddle. They learned to ask – often way too loudly, and way too early in the morning – for the food and loving they craved.

And I heard God’s prayer for us: What would this world be like, if we could hold each other in patient love? If we could trust, without pushing, that just loving and waiting in love were enough to transform the world? What if we could love enough to truly hear one another, and to answer – even if it’s momentarily inconvenient – with infinitely deep love?

Holy and delighted God, smile with us in pleasure, as the restorative power of the Black Lives Matter movement spreads across the world:

In France, where the global anti-racism protests led the armed forces ministry to provide local authorities with a guide to 100 Africans who fought for France in World War II, so that streets may be named after them. Presenting the list, Junior Defense Minister Genevieve Darrieussecq said, “the names, faces, lives of these African heroes must become part of our lives as free citizens, because without them we would not be free.”
In the United Kingdom,where the Lloyd’s of London insurance market apologized for its “shameful” role in the 18th and 19th Century Atlantic slave trade, and pledged to fund opportunities for Black and ethnic minority people.
In Nigeria, where leaders of the Igbo people hope the BLM movement will inspire similar change for their people, many of whom are the descendants of slaves and still face significant discrimination.

IV. Setting free. The time came. I wish I could have kept them all. I wish I could have kept that wild, but maybe-just-beginning-to-trust mama cat, and taught her how to be loved. I fell in love with the kittens, and wished they could have stayed with me forever. But they were ready. Feral mama, still very wary, was spayed and went to live on a friend’s ranch, where she will be cherished and invited into as much love as she can accept. The kittens were chosen with love, and this weekend will be on their way to wonderful families.

And I heard again God’s prayer for us: that incredible, deep, wanting all to be well with us. With every single one of us. With every single fiber of this planet, of this universe. With every single nation. Filling us with love…and then sending us forth, in love, to be love.

Holy and amazing God, rejoice with us at every tiny sign that your love is at work in the world, that the Kingdom of God is indeed at hand:

From Kenya to Tanzania, Ethiopia to Malawi, Liberia to South Africa, tens of thousands of ordinary African women battle Covid-19 in their communities. Recruited and trained by governments and charities, the unsung army of mostly female and mostly unpaid community health workers are going door to door in remote villages and urban slums, talking about the virus, showing residents how to wash hands or don a mask, patiently answering their questions. Regardless of the risk to themselves. They do it in love.

And God said, go forth in love, to be love.
Amen.

World News in Prayer – Thursday, May 7, 2020

Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer,
we come to you in prayer today,
longing to see and sense your presence in these uncertain times.
We pray for your world,
as we seek to understand
and find a way to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Bring comfort to those who grieve,
remembering especially those in India who died
or are suffering due to the Styrene gas leak;
peace to those who are anxious,
caution to those who needlessly risk their health,
hope for all who are struggling
economically,
socially,
mentally,
physically,
and in any manner
because of this pandemic.

Lord of Lords, even as countries like
Peru, the US, and the UK
see a continued rise in cases,
other countries like
Germany, New Zealand and Australia
are lessening the restrictions on their residents.

Guide the leaders in government
and health officials
as they make exceedingly difficult decisions
in the days and weeks to come.

We give you thanks for the blessings we have seen,
for the rapid response of a lighting manufacturer
to create personal protective hoods for medical staff in Southampton, UK,
and offering the design free of charge online;
for time with family,
for the opportunity to reevaluate our choices
and how we allocate the precious resource of time.

We pray for the farmers and people of Africa, Healer of the World,
as they are experiencing a second,
larger surge of locusts.
As the insects rise to plague levels,
they are causing widespread destruction in
Kenya,
Yemen,
Somalia,
Ethiopia,
and other nearby countries.

In the United States we pray for justice
following the killing of Ahmaud Arbery,
a 25 year-old black man out for a run in his neighborhood.
May this tragedy bring a swift end
to the racism and discrimination
which plagues us all in every country of your world.

Also in the United States,
this weekend is a celebration of mothers
and mothering figures in our lives;
many students are completing their studies
under strange circumstances.

Therefore, O God, we offer these prayers:

We come to you today, O God,
honoring the mothers in our lives:
those who give us life,
who nurture us, care for us, love us and guide us.

We pray, Holy One, for women who can not,
or choose not to have children of their own,
women for whom this remembrance sparks pain, grief, and loss.

Comforter of the hurting, we pray for children
who have not known the love of a mother,
the nurture of a loving parent,
and women who have struggled to provide the care their children need.

God of the loving heart, we know
the care and love of mothering
extends beyond the boundaries of blood;
beyond the boundaries of biology;
beyond the boundaries of age;
beyond the boundaries of gender.

Your care and love, Eternal Giver of Life,
extends beyond the boundaries of space and time;
beyond the boundaries of creed and doctrine;
beyond all boundaries the human mind can imagine.

We join our hearts and minds in prayer,
Comfort of sufferers and Companion of the lonely,
seeking your peace and mercy,
your presence and comfort,
for those of us who grieve;
for the sick and hurting
and those who care for them;
for the poor and the oppressed,
and for the advocates who speak for them.

We celebrate with those who have recently or will soon graduate
from high-school, college, and all schools;
that they might feel you at work in their lives;
that they might stay safe
during this time of celebration;
that they might find joy in their future.

We pray for those for whom schooling is difficult,
who are working toward their GED or other exams;
who are struggling with trouble at home;
who must join the work-force too early just to survive.

Guide us, we pray, so that we may do your will,
today and every day.

Form us into a healthy, vital, growing followers of Jesus,
joined in purpose and vision;
united in our search for a deeper relationship with you,
Mighty God,
empowered by our salvation through Christ,
and guided by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

AMEN

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, February 6, 2020

Will you love the “you” you hide if I but call your name? —Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around, through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?
“The Summons” (Traditional Scottish song, words by John Bell)

Oh Lord, you are speaking to us, calling us through the ages, beyond time itself. We hear your voice through prophets and burning bushes, in the questions of young adults, the roar of wind and singing forest. Help us to listen. Guide us from fear to action. It is such a leap. It doesn’t feel possible. We lose our way so quickly. We worship you in a world that worships things, walls, winning and hoarding, fame and notoriety. How do we reconcile famine, epidemics, resistance by leaders, poverty and the turning away of great need? Still you call us. We are listening in this moment.

(silence)

We hold in prayer the East African peoples of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia where heavy rains in October and November (300% above average) have tipped the scales allowing for swarms of desert locusts to annihilate crops and pastures and farmer’s livelihoods. We pray for the people of Uganda where floods are washing away homes and families. We pray for Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate who is speaking out against racism, suppression and the invisibility in the news of Africa’s climate disruption. Strengthen her resolve and voice. We are listening.

(silence)

We pray for the peoples of Puerto Rico who devastated by hurricanes, lack of federal support for the restoration of so much infrastructure, and who now suffer through reoccurring earthquakes and aftershocks that are frightening and destructive. We pray for resources to be brought to bear to improve roads, bridges, homes, schools and water systems. We are listening.

(silence)

We pray for governments around the world and, particularly in the United States, where divisiveness is at a high. We pray that your peace and justice would lead the way for those governing all your people. We are listening.

(silence)

Mysterious is your work in us — perhaps we don’t have to understand, but just hold on to being grateful. Guide us then in each holy moment, clearing our vision, enlivening our touch, awakening our voices.

We are the young our lives are a mystery,
we are the old who yearn for your face,
We have been sung throughout all of history,
Called to be light in the whole human race.
Gather us in the rich and the haughty,
Gather us in the proud and the strong;
Give us a heart so meek and so lowly,
Give us the courage to enter the song.*

Amen. Alleluia.

*Excerpt from Gather Us In (Marty Haugen)

World News This Week in Prayer – January 2, 2020

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
James 1:17

Oh Lord, there are many things that concern us and call us to prayer.

We open our hearts to you in gratitude and wonder.

We pray for those who rage and are quick to anger, for those who seem to be eaten up by intolerance. We pray for those who express their contempt and fury in violence to themselves and others. We grieve at those who have lost their lives to aggression due to fighting, war, criminal violence, and terrorism. We call out the names of nations so rife with conflict, so often in the news — Afghanistan, Mexico, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, South Sudan, India, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Pakistan, and the Philippines. We call out the nations that make the weapons of war that fuel decades-long conflict and destruction: US, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, China, the United Kingdom, Israel, Italy, and the Netherlands and many more. Help us to see beyond the headlines to stand up for the women and children, the families, the victims, those starving and displaced. We call out for your mercy. Safeguard the journalists who bring the news, relate the stories of the imprisoned, the refugee, those made invisible by war, bigotry, and hatred. Safeguard the whistleblowers. Sustain us as we examine our own hearts, shed our own contempt and learn the practice of peacemaking in our homes and communities.

This season can be a time of anxiety as well as anticipation. We can sense tension and disharmony instead of peace. Many feel depression and despair instead of wellbeing and belonging. Help us to understand and accept those who suffer in mind, body, and spirit. They may be close or far away. Help us to learn compassion and to practice generosity, consideration, kindness and mutual regard. We pray for those who are without homes, who are estranged from their families who feel alone and isolated. May we grow in our practice of charity and give beyond counting. Guide each of us to do the right thing in our own special way for the need is great.

As the past year turns into this new decade in the tumultuous millennium help us to shed despair and the sense of heaviness that the need is unending and insurmountable. Sustain us with the words of healing. May we be reminded that around the world literacy is increasing, childhood deaths are declining and people are being lifted out of deep poverty as never before known.

May the hope born in Advent light the way through the minutes, hours, days and months to come.

May your love-come-down-among-us strengthen and steady our steps, telling us that we are not alone.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, June 20, 2019

Holy One,
Our hands reach out, our voices call forth, our hearts lift up, and in the act of praying, once again, we discover you. Our words are but a small measure of the world’s great need, yet as we draw close to you, you draw close to us.
We pray to you, O Lord.

Comforting One,
We hold up those in Yemen, Venezuela, and Somalia, those whose lives leave them trembling in the dark, whose situations leave them hungry in the day. We pray for the 70 million displaced people worldwide, two-thirds of which come from the countries of Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Somalia. Hold these, your children. Nurture them, shelter them, love them. We give thanks for those who are doing the work of resettling them. No matter where the spotlight of the world’s attention shines, you see those who are struggling, in every city, every village, every alcove, around the world.
So, we pray to you, O Lord.

Righteous One,
We hold up those in the streets in Sudan, Haiti, Malawi, and Hong Kong – those protesting non-violently around the world, and those who find themselves losing hope in justice. As for those who have come to believe that violence is the only way to get things done, we pray that you soften their hearts, strengthen their spirits, and reveal your steadfast work in the world. Break apart all prisons of tyranny, shake loose all dominions of greed, bring forth your reign of mercy and righteousness, here on earth.
We pray to you, O Lord.

Almighty One,
When we confront events of the past, pain and questions can blossom in our hearts. Walk with all those who are reliving moments of trauma in recent weeks. Walk with those in Kenya, as four young men are charged in connection with the 2015 militant raid at a university. Walk with those in Rwanda, as the nation acknowledges the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1994 genocide. Walk with those in California, Puerto Rico, Texas, (USA) the coastlines, and other areas affected by natural disasters, as they face another hurricane and wildfire season. Walk with those celebrating Juneteenth this week in the United States, as well as those who are pausing to acknowledge the 400th anniversary of documented slaves arriving on the shores of the American colonies.
So, we pray to you, O Lord.

Jesus our Christ,
Your power is not our power, your healing is not our healing, your love is not our love. At the end of the day, at the end of our lives, we turn all that we are, and all that we hope to be, over to your receiving arms. Guide us, renew us, redeem us. We cannot do anything apart from you .
We pray to you. Lord have mercy.
Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, March 7, 2019

“Safe in the shadow of the Lord

beneath His hand and power,

I trust in Him,

my fortress and my tower.”

– paraphrase of Ps 91 by Timothy Dudley-Smith

Heavenly Father, Your word and being is of compassion, merciful care and everlasting love to all, regardless of merit. The response to this has to be our choice. But, if we come choosing to trust You in your nature and openly admit with contrition where we have fallen short or turned away from You, Your everlasting mercy erases our failures and unites us with Your heart. We long for this acceptance and healing.

Lord, I trust in You and give thanks and praise.

“My hope is set on God alone though Satan sets his snare,”…

The temptation to be obsessed by becoming “successful” and gaining material wealth and power too often based on exploiting others and the world You have created is seen as being mainstream and so seductive. We think of our cheap, instant fashion created by people in sweat shops; our flowers often out of season grown in developing countries using chemicals not allowed in our own home states; cheap palm oil at the expense of deforestation and loss of habitat for wildlife and endangering the ecosystem of the entire planet. Our rubbish, whether technical, plastic, or ships and vehicles, dumped overseas where they are stripped by people in desperate need of work, often in very dangerous conditions, and contaminating their environment.

Lord, open our eyes to the convenience of our lives so dearly paid for by others we don’t see or rarely think of. But, these too are our brothers and sisters, created and loved by You.

I choose to trust in You, God, to keep each one of us in Your care and make us more aware of how we are co-dependent one on each other, regardless of where we live on this small, beautiful, but fragile planet.

“From fears and phantoms of the night, from foes about my way”…

The widespread use of violence in word, attitude, and action wounds, marginalizes, and even kills people. Anything that is “other” than what we are is portrayed as being negative and even not worthy of being allowed to exist. We remember people of faith being persecuted for being Christian in Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, Northern Nigeria, Iraq and even in Europe and the UK if people of other faiths chose to become Christian; for those Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Jehovah Witnesses and others who are routinely targeted by hatred and thoughtless violence in word and action and even torture in Russia, the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and many countries in Africa, South America and Asia. Our fear of difference and love of the same as ourselves distorts so often into ugliness and hatred of others.

We give thanks for projects, such as that led by Dr. Paula Green in Massachusetts, USA, bringing people together from across whichever divide exists in our communities for conflict resolution. Helping to put faces to the depersonalized hate or feared group of people, and to really listen to each other are major starting points.

I choose to trust in You, God, by darkness and by day. Forgive us our smallness of mind, heart and understanding and open us by the in-pouring of Your Holy Spirit.

“His holy angels keep my feet secure from every stone;”…

Fake news abounds throughout the media and the world, built on fears and trying to cause division and confusion. In Venezuela, Israel, the Middle East, Europe the UK and Northern Ireland over Brexit; countries, politicians, multinational companies trying to manipulate others through media disinformation and lies, breaking down trust, increasing the sense of helplessness and hopelessness in so many: we recall the Chinese telecoms corporation, Huawei, Facebook, Twitter, most major newspaper groups in the UK, and so many of our own governments who are involved in this to varying degrees. We give thanks for the individuals and groups daring to challenge, often at great personal cost, even of their lives, and hold to account those perpetrating such destructive practices. You are the God of truth, justice and what we rarely speak about now, “righteousness”.

I choose to trust in You, God, and with Your help, unafraid go on. Keep hope alive for all those who look and trust in You so others too may come to know You and Your love.

“Strong in the everlasting name, and in my Father’s care”…

The widespread epidemic of violence of gun and knife crime, and using sex as a weapon of violence is destroying lives and communities throughout the world but with especial focus on India, Canada, the UK, the USA, South Africa, and the Middle East.

We give thanks for many initiatives both at national and local levels to combat this globally including Boston, USA as far back as 1995, inspiring others in Scotland and now England.

I choose to trust in You, God, who hears and answers prayer.

Daily, let our prayer be that in all we seek to be and do as individuals and communities, we choose to be safe in the shadow of You, our Lord, our God and Redeemer. Possessed by Your divine love, help us to trust in You and meet Your unfathomable love with our puny and sometimes swithering love and, so, be participants in transforming and transfiguring all of Your Creation of which we are part. Power in Your terms is Love. May we become people of such power. AMEN.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, May 10, 2018

Lord, we come before you

Prayer is communication that invites at-one-ness with You, the source of our being. We call you God, and as revealed in the flesh, Jesus. We ask for empowerment. Transform us with the life-giving force of the Holy Spirit. Make us channels of the your Eternal Love, Light, and Grace. Help us to continue this work of transformation, of ourselves and of all creation.

Lord, in your mercy hear us

As You are One, You call us to this oneness yet we are so divided by what should unite us, our religious beliefs, diverse cultures, resources and desires. You have shown us glimpses of Yourself according to what we are willing and able to receive, then, too often, we become exclusive and possessive. Thinking we own the truth, we denigrate others.

We see this in the tensions in India between Hindus and Muslims leading to the torture, rape and murder of young girls. Coptic Christians being attacked in Egypt. Conflict and sectarian violence continuing in Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Nigeria and elsewhere around the world.

Lord, hear us and forgive us

You call us to care and nurture all creation, yet so often we treat it cavalierly and out of greed, abuse our resources. The continuing deforestation of huge swathes of Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil, and even in protected ancient forests such as Poland. New gigantic off-shore platforms near Australia are drawing natural gas resources to meet our insatiable greed for energy.

Lord, teach us stewardship and how to touch the earth lightly for the benefit of all and generations to come.

Lord, hear us and forgive us.

We give thanks for the work in the United Arab Emirates by scientists from Norway who have developed a method to pump liquid clay nano-particles into sandy desert so that crops are planted in seven hours instead of seven years. Water required to grow these crops is also reduced by up to 50%. The blooming of the desert is a closer reality.

We give thanks too for the female armed rangers in southern Zimbabwe who are protecting highly endangered elephants from poachers. Unlike their male counterparts, they are not succumbing to corruption or pressure but are arresting poachers even from their own villages or families. Often having survived abusive relationships, these women can now send their children to school and support them.

Lord, continue to strengthen those taking such creative action in solving problems we humans so often have created.

Lord, we bless your holy Name: hear us and bless us.

We continue to remember all who fear. Remember those experiencing natural disasters such as in Hawaii, U.S., and dust and electrical storms in India. Guide our leaders as we watch such political posturing as between North Korea and the rest of the world. Give us discernment in the Iranian nuclear discussions and in the latest financial crisis in Argentina. Comfort those experiencing the devastating wave of knife crimes in London, England among the young. Be with those imprisoned throughout the world without trial or justice, those lonely, those who feel they have no self-worth.

Help us to reach out as need presents itself in all its forms. We have heard your Truth. Prompt us to act on it and live it in our daily choices and decisions.

Lord, hear and answer our prayers for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ who opened the way for Your kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, January 18, 2018

Prayer for Lovers

“Faith, Hope and Love Abide.

But the greatest of these is love.”

(1 Corinthians 13:13)

Holy and Loving God,

Your voice is so clear. Your message unavoidable: to love. We confess, Loving God, that we fall short despite your best efforts to teach. We heard your still small voice to Elijah. We heard your prophets. We read your laws on stone tablets. Your admonitions, your exhortations, your instructions all pointed to love.

“Honor your mother and father… love your neighbor… is it nothing, all ye who pass by?… love your enemies… do unto the least… thou shalt not kill or steal… love deeply… love covers a multitude of sins.

Holy God, You are clear. Yet, Loving God, after these thousands of years of inspired writing we falter in our love. The unloving words of leaders, the unloving acts of governments, the unloving excuses of bigotry, the unloving closing of borders and hearts and minds, the unloving treatment of our environment, unloving laws, unloving religion – all these break your loving and sacred heart.

God, restore us to loving You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Recommit us to loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. Remind us that all the laws we could ever think of must hang on those two.

May such love come to both sides of Jerusalem, to all within Myanmar and Somalia, from Yemen to Venezuela, from the United States to Zimbabwe, from the Congo to Congress to Parliament, from all the seedbeds of nationalism and tribalism to casteism and racism, among immigrants and refugees the world over. In every place of strife and hatred and bitterness and division, may we believe your disciple who declared, “God is love. For if anyone says they love God but hate others they are liars. Whomever loves God loves, well, just loves”.

Holy and Loving, Loving God, may it be so.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, 7th November 2017

Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:1-2, NRSV)

God of comfort, we live in a world that increasingly reveals its disconnection from you. We feel the deepening of the artificial divisions of nation, race, and religion as the Supreme Court in the United States allows a ban to go into effect that will prevent refugees and families from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen from entering the United States. Wars and the threat of new conflicts abound, and fears mount as countries like North Korea demonstrate their military might with ever-escalating missile tests. We cry out to you in our exile and ask, ‘How long, O Lord?’ Bring to us the comfort that you have promised. Be present with us in our pain and fear and worry. Cause us to see your face in the faces of our neighbors both near and far.

A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’ (Isaiah 40:3-5, NRSV)

God of glory, we long for the day of your revelation. Your children around the world continue to suffer in places like Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, Myanmar, and so many others. The earth cries out for justice as natural resources are abused and protected lands are exposed, like in the United States’ Bears Ears National Monument, which is set to lose 85% of its acreage in a policy change. The impact of pollution grows in places like Delhi, India, where toxic air quality levels have threatened the health of residents for weeks. Guide us in preparing the way for your coming. Give us hearts for service and wisdom to act with justice.

Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
‘Here is your God!’ (Isaiah 40:9, NRSV)

God of hope, in this season of Advent, remind us of the glad tidings of great joy that come to us as a baby in a manger. Open our eyes to the good news of Christ’s presence in our lives and in the lives of all people, especially those who suffer and are in need. And give us hope in the glorious future of your coming kingdom, when your justice shall reign and your love shall transform the world.

See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep. (Isaiah 40:10-11, NRSV)

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, October 19, 2017

Dear Lord,

Your people in Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean have looked up into rain flooded skies and out onto destroyed homelands, waiting for water, food, shelter and the provision of medical care. Open the hearts of decision makers to release funds to continue the rescue, to bring relief and stability. Smooth the communications to move people to care as the USNS Comfort (US naval ship) waits for the needy. Help us to grow in compassion as a people as we listen to news from hurricane-devastated places and during the long recovery, not forgetting the gulf coast.

We pray for the Rohingya peoples who await smugglers to take them across the Naf River between Myanmar and Bangladesh. Others make the treacherous journey to safety through jungles and mountains and into refugee camps such as Balukali, Kutupalong and Nayapara, where the depth of need is continually expanding. Dear God, our Comforter and Protector, be with the nation of Bangladesh and the NGO’s as they summon all their capacity to meet the needs of these deeply suffering refugees. Surround exhausted families with nourishing sleep. Tend to the children who make up 60% of the refugees – lost and torn from their families. Open our eyes to the horror of genocide, as a people are being erased from Myanmar’s history and annihilated. Come Holy Spirit. Guide the world as it seeks to address this calamity.

Some look up into smoke and ash filled skies in the western United States barely escaping burning homes and a tortured landscape and yet 10,000 firefighters – including 100 women prisoners working as firefighters – move toward the flames. Renew their energy to endure and guard their steps. We are so grateful for their unique skills in this treacherous work. Dear God, provide shelter to families bereft of everything they owned. Sustain the communities in their great work of serving these families, providing food, a listening ear, counseling and guidance in next steps and getting in touch with family. Be with the 42 families who have lost loved ones and the 68 families with unaccounted for loved ones. Hold them in their distress.

Some hide in the shelter of darkness yet afraid. “Has the fighting stopped?” Oh Lord, how seemingly endless is the noise and dust and calamity of war and the horrific suffering, the interminable loss and degradation. We pray for the peoples caught in the wars within wars, in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region of Kirkuk, for the police killed in Taliban raids and bombings in the Paktia and Ghazni provinces in Afghanistan. We pray for the dead and wounded civilians as they were waiting to get their identity cards. We pray for an end to 6 years of suffering in the Syrian civil war displacing 6.3 million people internally, causing the deaths of 400,000 with more than 5 million Syrians fleeing the country.

Open the hearts of combatants to give safe humanitarian access. Our hearts are torn again as we hear about the global food crisis, severe food insecurity, and the increasing risk of full on famine in northeast Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. Some are too week to sit or even cry, hungry to the point of death. Oh God, you are listening. You surround them. You love them. Open our hearts. Help us to prayerfully consider our time, talent and treasure. Help us to share the wealth from our tables. Bring peace in those places where war creates famine, where conflict creates war, where war seems to be endless.

We watched with deep concern as Ireland and the UK received the effects of Hurricane Ophelia downgraded to a tropical storm. We are saddened at the loss of life as severe winds toppled trees on to cars. We are grateful for advanced warning such that the Irish Defense Forces were ready where needed and schools were closed keeping children safe. Be with families in their sudden grief and with those experiencing the deep deep losses in Portugal and Spain as wildfires fanned by the winds of the very same hurricane have brought further catastrophe. Again we pray for the 6,000 firefighters and nations called to come together in these wildfires. Be with the injured and their caregivers as severe burns are treated. Comfort those who are in mourning of the over thirty-two victims including a one-month old infant taken so quickly. Many weep for their cherished lands and fields, and livestock so vulnerable. Comfort them in their mourning. Give them your strength.

And your people in Mogadishu, where the Somali nation again suffers a bombing so despicable and barbaric with over 276 lives destroyed in an instant. Oh Lord, we take-in this news of the over 300 injured and suffering, and families still searching for the missing. We hear of the need for donor blood, the exhausted hospital staff, and how they keep going, as its populace is weeping, weeping, weeping. Help them as they assemble and arise as a people to discern steps for increased stability and safety in their nation. Comfort your people of Somalia in their great sorrow. Bring them peace.

Guide us in our faith. Help us to seek your will.

May we rush to understand one another, to love urgently, and to grow steadily in becoming more tolerant.

From you comes all blessings and life itself.

Amen.