World In Prayer needs a few more writers and editors! Our team consists of 12-15 volunteers, from several different countries and continents. Each week, one person writes the prayers in response to international news. A second person then edits and posts the prayers online. Because we rotate who writes and edits, you would end up serving approximately once every five or six weeks.
Due to life changes, some of our team members need to cut back. So, we’re looking for people who deeply care about our world, see God’s hand at work throughout all creation and all persons, and are inspired to help write and produce these prayers. If you are interested, please send an email to worldinprayer@aol.com.
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Into your hands, O God, we commend our spirits.
The spirits of the dead and dying…
The spirits of those full of life.
The spirits of the joyous…
And the spirits of the fearful and uncertain.
The spirits of the lost and lonely…
And the spirits of those enwrapped in and wrapping others in love.
Especially, this week we commend into your hands
the spirits of those bowed down by modern slavery.
- In Brazil, where the Ministry of Labor fined 340 Brazilian companies for using slave labor, including in sweatshops producing clothes, in farms, cattle ranches, timber companies, construction and charcoal production.
- In Uganda, where a project by the Interior Ministry’s anti-human trafficking task force is trying to reach out to poor rural communities vulnerable to child trafficking by promoting literacy and increasing awareness. Children in the target areas are trafficked and forced to work in cattle herding, stone quarrying and brick making, lured into prostitution, abducted to fight in rebel armies, or even used as sacrifices in rituals some Ugandans think bring wealth and power.
Especially, this week we commend into your hands
the spirits of those rescued from child enslavement, but who still wait years for repatriation.
- Due to lack of international coordination between nations to verify victims’ identities and trace their places of origin, repatriation can, in some cases, take years. Charities in South Asia are piloting new software which aims to speed up the repatriation of rescued victims of human trafficking who have been smuggled from countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh and forced into slavery in India.
Especially, this week we commend into your hands
the spirits of those in limbo as they travel far from home, seeking for safety.
- The roughly 900 migrants rescued near the Greek island of Lesbos
- Refugees from Syria hoping to travel through Austria to claim asylum in Germany – only this week Austria imposed a limit of 80 asylum applications will be accepted each day, and a maximum of 3,200 people will be allowed to travel through the nation.
- The European Union has scheduled a special summit with Turkey on the migration crisis in early March
- Pope Francis decried the “tragedy” of people who are forced to migrate, as he celebrated Mass in Mexico’s Ciudad Juarez city on the border with the United States. He climbed a ramp overlooking the Rio Grande that separates the city and El Paso, Texas, and laid flowers on a cross erected in memory of migrants who died trying to cross to the other side.
Especially, this week we commend into your hands
the spirits of those who hunger and thirst.
- As many as 49 million people in southern Africa could be affected by a drought that has been worsened by the most severe and longest El Nino weather pattern in 35 years, according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). An estimated 1 million African children are already severely malnourished.
- Emergency food aid reached thousands of people uprooted by Boko Haram violence in Chad who had been cut off from help since November. However, the threat of Boko Haram militants and the difficulty in reaching some areas, partly because of the lack of roads, are hindering efforts to reach tens of thousands more people.
- Humanitarian aid has also reached the embattled city center of Taiz in Yemen for the first time in months, following negotiations to allow supplies into the area described as being on the brink of famine.
- Also this week, 100 truckloads of aid were given to about 100,000 people in five besieged areas of Syria in a U.N.-backed deal to deliver help to thousands of trapped residents. The U.N. estimates there are 486,700 people in around 15 besieged areas of Syria, and 4.6 million people in hard-to-reach areas. In some, starvation deaths and severe malnutrition have been reported.
Especially, this week we commend into your hands
the spirits of the parents who fear for their unborn children.
- As the mosquito-born Zika virus spreads across Latin America, and the number of children born with microcephaly continues to rise
Into your hands, O God, we commend our spirits.
The spirits of the dead and dying…
The spirits of those full of life.
The spirits of the joyous…
And the spirits of the fearful and uncertain.
The spirits of the lost and lonely…
And the spirits of those enwrapped in and wrapping others in love.
Amen.
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