Sabeel Wave of Prayer

Each Thursday at noon in Jerusalem, Sabeel holds a Communion service that is open to the community. It is a time to join together to celebrate the Eucharist, to discuss how the scriptures apply to our lives today, and to pray for the specific needs of this region. Following the 2006 Sabeel International Conference, the Friends of Sabeel coordinators met and discussed the idea of "Waves of Prayer." The premise is that in their respective time zones, individuals and groups around the world will pray together at 12:00 on Thursdays, in solidarity with Sabeel in Jerusalem and with "Friends of Sabeel" worldwide. Starting in Australia, passing through Palestine, and on around the world we will pray for Peace with Justice and focus on specific issues each week.

Wave of Prayer for Thursday, July 24, 2008

We pray for the visits of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.S. presidential candidate Barak Obama to Palestine and Israel this week. We hope that these visits will open the eyes of these leaders to the imbalance of power that continues to breed violence in this region, that in the end they will commit themselves to the things that make for peace-justice, truth, and liberation.

We pray for Palestinian students around the West Bank and Gaza who have scholarships to study abroad but are having trouble leaving the country due to visa problems. We pray that the Israeli government will allow these students to continue their studies and achieve their human potential.


We pray for Sabeel's Third Young Adult Conference, which begins Thursday, July 24 and focuses on the 60 years since the Nakba of 1948. We pray for all the international and local young adults who will participate, that they will grow in community and that they will gain a greater understanding of the history, present reality, and prospects for change in Palestine and Israel.

We celebrate the opening of the Sabeel photo exhibit at the YWCA Jerusalem this week. We thank God for the commitment of Canadian Friends of Sabeel in updating the photo exhibit, and hope that this exhibit will be a powerful witness to the memory of the Nakba and the story of the Palestinians.