Category: Prayer Vigil
ACT Palestine Forum: 24 July Prayers
July 27, 2017 –
Prayer Petitions: 24 July 2017 ACT PALESTINE FORUM PRAYER VIGIL FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST 24TH of every month
Every day in the month ahead, we continue to pray with and for our sisters and brothers in Palestine and Israel who have called for an ecumenical prayer vigil across the globe on the 24th of every month. APF encourages its friends and partners to visit the APF website and APF Facebook page often to find, and also contribute, updates, photos, stories, advocacy ideas, and special prayers.A special thanks to the ELCJHL for contributing to this month's prayers.
ACT Palestine Forum Prayers
24 July 2017
Prayer Focus: Family Reunification
Israel’s residency policy has left Palestinian families divided, spouses living apart, and children in single-family homes. Couples in which one of the spouses is a resident of the Occupied Territories (Israel) and the other a resident of the West Bank or Gaza, must choose between two options: One option is that the resident spouse leaves the Occupied Territories and the couple lives together abroad. Because Israel does not grant the West Bank/Gaza Palestinian spouse a due process toward legal status, the West Bank/Gaza spouse will never have a legal chance to live with their loved one in the Occupied Territories. The other option, available when the West Bank/Gaza spouse is already in the Occupied Territories, is to have the spouse live there without a legal status, as well. In this situation, the couple and their children must live in hiding, in constant fear of deportation, arrest, and fines.
***
Scripture:
Matthew 19:6
“‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Genesis 21:17
God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy as he grew up.
Exodus 4:18
Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go back to my kindred in Egypt and see whether they are still living.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in Peace.”
Prayers:
Holy God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus Christ your son,
Look with compassion upon the whole human family.
Take away the arrogance and hatred that infects our hearts,
Break down the walls that leave families separated.
Unite us in bonds of love, your love, marital love, and the love of family,
So that in unity we can accomplish the work You have begun.
Today we pray for the sanctity of marriage,
We pray for Palestinian children who do not have the loving embrace of both parents.
We pray for the freedom to love despite residency boundaries.
We pray for those who make decisions that tear families apart,
So that they may come to know your love reflected in the family.
Strengthen our families so that they may grow together and become instruments to peace and justice for Palestine. Keep us steadfast in prayer, in advocacy, and in action.
Amen.
***
Opportunities for Advocacy
Listed here are a few sources that invite you to advocate for an end to family unification freezes:
Defense for Children International Palestine
Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
Find a PDF version of the Prayers here: 24 July 2017 Prayer Vigil
ACT Palestine Forum: 24 June Prayers
June 29, 2017 –
Prayer Petitions: 24 June 2017 ACT PALESTINE FORUM PRAYER VIGIL FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST 24TH of every month
Every day in the month ahead, we continue to pray with and for our sisters and brothers in Palestine and Israel who have called for an ecumenical prayer vigil across the globe on the 24th of every month. APF encourages its friends and partners to visit the APF website and APF Facebook page often to find, and also contribute, updates, photos, stories, advocacy ideas, and special prayers.ACT Palestine Forum Prayers
24 June 2017
Prayer Focus: The Annexation of Jerusalem
Jerusalem has been and continues to be one of the most contentious issues related to the 50 year military occupation of Palestine. Following the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem to its territory, in contravention of international law. Palestinians who were living in Jerusalem were given the status of “permanent residents” of Israel. This residency typically provides them with greater freedom of movement than Palestinians from other parts of the oPt and allows them to pay into the social services system to receive health and social security coverage. However, this status can be revoked on various grounds, denying the affected residents their right to live in the oPt, including East Jerusalem (UN OCHA oPt). East Jerusalem is physically isolated from the rest of the West Bank by the Separation Barrier, restricting movement, resource access, employment, and economic activity for Palestinians. In this 50th year of occupation, we pray for a solution to this prolonged injustice and for the continued hope and perseverance of all those working for peace.
Read more about the effects of the occupation on occupied East Jerusalem here:
https://www.ochaopt.org/location/east-jerusalem
http://www.btselem.org/jerusalem
http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/topics/wall-and-jerusalem
Prayers
Lament
(Normal Font: Leader, Bold Font: All)
Give us a voice
and we will cry out.
We will raise our voices to sing
Our feet will dance
Wherever there are signs of life around us.
Give us a voice
and we will sob.
Weeping with your world,
like a child holding a broken treasure,
a child that will not be comforted:
weeping at the divisions and separations of churches and our communities;
weeping at misused powers that oppress others and destroy the earth;
weeping at the brokenness of our lives;
weeping with those who lost their loved ones because of wars and conflicts;
weeping with refugees and displaced people;
weeping with the abused and unloved children and youth;
weeping with those who are discriminated against;
weeping with the hungry and the thirsty as they search for a just peace.
Give us a voice to name truth
and expose falsehood;
to encourage the downhearted
and confront the powers.
Give us a voice that speaks with passion
and a voice full of compassion.
A voice that is gentle
and a voice that knows when to be angry.
When there is no word to convey our grief and anger,
and when we cannot pray,
help us to believe
that the Spirit groans with us and intercedes for us.
Give us a voice,
and we will proclaim the living Christ.
Voices buried deep will shout out.
Voices that have been submerged will emerge.
Voices that have never been heard will be raised.
Even stones will cry out.
We hear the words of the Spirit of Christ whispering to us.
Keep the dream alive.
Watch and wait.
One day I will return.
One day justice will flow like a river.
And I will establish peace for you.
Amen.
Lament from the WCC Global Day of Prayer for Just Peace in the Holy Land, 2017
Full order of service can be found here:
Please find a printable version of the prayers here: 24 June 2017 Prayer Vigil