God, we pray for your
children all over the world who have been displaced by human disaster. Lord, we
hear the cries of the suffering; we see the violence in our midst. We pray for
our brothers and sisters in sub-Saharan Africa—Mali, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea,
and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We grieve the unrest, the millions
displaced; we mourn the murders, disappearances, mass rape, and torture; we
mourn the millions of refugees forced to live in overcrowded camps and urban
slums with no opportunities for work or recreation.
We pray for your
children in Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iran, Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Bhutan.
We pray for all those displaced by violence and unrest, for those forced to
leave their homes with no hope of return, for those without appropriate
documentation; may we accept them as our equals.
We pray for all the
Nepalese suffering after severe earthquakes.
We lift up Syria, which
is experiencing the largest displacement of people in the world, and pray our
decision makers find a way to resettle Syrian refugees here in the U.S.
God, we pray for all
your people and for your church; we pray that your Spirit, your mercy, and your
grace give us strength to heed your call to welcome the stranger in our midst,
to love our neighbor, and to act for justice with open hearts and open minds.
Amen.
By Church World Service, a partner of UMCOR
