Thursday, August 21, 2008

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, August 21, 2008

We continue to pray for the people of Georgia and the governments of Georgia and Russia as Russian troops still have not pulled out. We pray that the situation can be brought to a swift and peaceful end. We pray for all those who have been injured or killed in the fighting and we pray for all illegal occupations to end.

We pray for prisoners. We celebrate the release by Israel of Palestinian prisoners this past week, but are concerned that this release was used as a political move by Israel to grant credibility to the Fatah government and undermine the Hamas government. We continue to pray for reconciliation among Palestinian factions and for the release of all prisoners.

We thank God for the ongoing success and distribution of our Sabeel newsletter in Arabic, which is circulated among our local program participants.

We pray for the continuing planning process for our Young Friends of Sabeel outreach. We hope that this network of young friends will be beneficial for education, advocacy, and outreach efforts around the globe on behalf of the Palestinian Christian community and to promote a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis.

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