Pray with Palestine, May 11, 2025

Lectionary Selection: John 10:22-30

Prayers for Palestine

God, our Good Shepherd,
You know each one of us by name, and you do not abandon your flock. In these difficult days, we lift up our people in Palestine, those who mourn, those who wait, and those who work each day for peace with justice. Amid forcible displacement, genocide, and despair, may your voice be heard, calling us into hope.

We pray for the people of Gaza, those facing starvation and thirst, those fleeing death and daily burying tens of their loved ones, those who have lost hope in a world that has forgotten them and watches their genocide in silence.

We pray for an end to their unprecedented pain and for the lifting of the injustice that weighs upon them. Open the minds and hearts of decision makers, O God, that they may see killing does not bring peace. Only Your mercy, love, and justice can lead the world to true peace and the salvation of humanity.

We thank you for our partners around the world, including the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, who walk with us in the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) Gaza and remind us that we are not alone. Grant us courage to stand firm, grace to speak truth, and faith to believe that justice will come.

In the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we pray.

Amen

Mission Moment from Palestine

Nour’s Journey Through Pain and Purpose

For over ten years, our dear colleague Nour has walked alongside children affected by wars in Gaza. She led the psychosocial program in one of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) clinics in Gaza, where she brought comfort to distressed children, guidance, and the strength to heal. As a dedicated psychosocial counselor, she gave her heart to helping little ones find their way through nightmares no child should endure.

But in November 2023, war knocked on her own door.

While accompanying her father, who lives with a disability, to medical treatment, an airstrike hit the building she lived in with her extended family. In an instant, her world was shattered. Nour returned to find her family home in ruins. Her two brothers, her mother, her sister, her sisters-in-law, and her nieces and nephews were all gone.

An entire family, wiped out in a moment.

Nour, the one who had always been the helper, the listener, the healer, suddenly went into grief so deep it felt impossible to breathe. Her own trauma struck at the very core of her being. Under constant bombing, displacement, and the weight of unimaginable loss, she faced the darkness she had helped so many others through.

But Nour was not alone.

Her colleagues at the DSPR Gaza, those who had once stood beside her in serving others, now stood beside her. Despite the displacement they are going through, the fear and darkness surrounding them, they held space for her pain. They listened without judgment. They gently helped her rebuild her inner resilience and regain her psychological balance.

And after eight long months, Nour returned, not because the pain had vanished but because hope had returned to her again. She came back to the frontlines of healing, carrying with her deeper compassion, quieter strength, and a more tender heart than ever.

Today, Nour is once again offering her presence to children who have seen too much. Her story is not only one of loss, but also one of extraordinary courage and the power of healing through love.

(Nour is not the actual name of our colleague.)

Mission Partners in Palestine/Israel

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