Sabeel Wave of Prayer: Week of March 14, 2016
Wave of Prayer: This prayer ministry enables local and international friends of Sabeel to pray over regional concerns on a weekly basis. Sent to Sabeel’s network of supporters, the prayer is used in services around the world and during Sabeel’s Thursday Communion service; as each community in its respective time zone lifts these concerns in prayer at noon every Thursday, this “wave of prayer” washes over the world.
Two children died as a result of a military airstrike in Gaza. The boy, Yassin Abu Khoussa, was 10 years old. He was sleeping when shrapnel hit the family’s prefabricated shelter. The shrapnel killed him immediately, and critically injured his 6-year-old sister who later died in hospital. A third sibling also sustained injuries as a result of the airstrike, which was Israel’s response to rockets being fired from Gaza last Friday which went off in open fields.
God of great and small, your Son asked that the little children be allowed to come to Him, showing that those who society views as insignificant are still precious in your sight. Our hearts ache at the loss of these two innocent children, killed as a result of a struggle their young minds had not even begun to understand. Please be with their families God, as the attempt to recover from this terrible loss. Be with their community as they continue to struggle forward through the depths of despair. Lord, in your mercy…
A recent Pew Survey found that about half of Israeli Jews support the transfer of Arabs out of Israel and into another country. In the survey, 48% of respondents selected either “strongly agree” or “mostly agree” with the statement “Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel.” Conversely, 46% of Israelis either “strongly” or “mostly” disagreed with that statement, splitting the community half and half.
Lord of all, as humans we struggle to be open and let in the “other,” whomever that other might be. Please work within the hearts of the people of Israel, God, and help them to see Palestinians as their neighbors and friends, rather than their enemy. Help leaders in government on both sides to find a way forward that creates peace and unity, rather than war and further separation. Lord, in your mercy…
Female Palestinian teacher, Hanan al-Hroub, won the Global Teacher Prize and an award of $1 million for her work with children who have grown up being exposed to violence. Hanan was born in a Bethlehem refugee camp, and was inspired to enter education after her own school-aged children witnessed a shooting on their way home from school and were traumatized. She plans to use the award money to help other students and teachers around the world continue in their education and careers.
God, we celebrate the accomplishments of Hanan al-Hroub and rejoice in the world recognizing her for her commitment to nonviolence and to helping children who have suffered. Let this success sustain her continued work in education, and allow her story to be an inspiration for others who persevere in teaching in the midst of challenging circumstances. Lord, in your mercy…
Sabeel is organizing their annual walk along the Contemporary Way of the Cross, in preparation for the Holy season of Easter. This walk joins together the suffering of Christ on the Cross with the suffering of Palestinians in the present, and connects the stations of the Cross with contemporary issues of injustice within Israel and Palestine.
God, we ask that you be with those attending this year’s walk. Send your Holy Spirit to guide them as they remember the suffering Christ experienced as he was being led to the cross, and as they link the present suffering of the Palestinian people to it. Remind them too, God, that the joy of Easter Sunday follows the pain of Good Friday, and so too the present injustices in the world will end and you will have the final victory. Lord, in your mercy…
We pray alongside the World Council of Churches for the countries of Myanmar and Thailand