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, March 31, 2011

► We hold in prayer everyone whose life has been affected by the recent wave of violence in the past weeks. We especially remember all of those injured or killed by the unclaimed bomb in West Jerusalem last Wednesday, by the Israeli air strike bombings of Gaza, by projectiles fired from Gaza into Israel, and by the continued settler and military violence and harassment of Palestinians in the West Bank. We pray for the time when children can play, students can go to school and people can live their daily lives without fear.

► We pray for the ongoing nonviolent resistance to Israel's illegal occupation, colonization, and expropriation of land as people in Israel, Palestine and around the world commemorate Land Day on Wednesday, March 30, remembering the 1976 general strike and protests against massive land expropriation in which Israeli security forces killed six young Palestinian citizens of Israel. We also pray for equality for all of the citizens inside the state of Israel who suffer from growing racism and discrimination, most recently evidenced through newly-passed laws, including a law making it illegal for any body receiving public funds to commemorate the Nakba (the Arabic word for "catastrophe" by which Palestinians remember the events of 1948); a law allowing small communities in Israel to screen potential new residents who do not "fit with the social fabric" of the community; and a law enabling Israel's Supreme Court to revoke the citizenship of anyone not considered loyal to the state.

► We continue to pray for all those calling for greater freedoms and reforms, especially for the people of Syria and Jordan as government responses to protests turn more violent and deadly. We pray that Jordan's announcements of future reforms and the Syrian cabinet's resignation on Tuesday will be followed with more serious reforms and democratic changes.

► Ten leaders from Kairos Palestine, including Rev. Naim Ateek, will be travelling around South Africa in the coming week in order to inform South Africans about the work of Kairos Palestine and to share with each other their respective Kairos moments. We pray for smooth travels to and in South Africa, and that this will be an enlightening and inspiring time to learn from each other's work for equality in their own contexts.


With the Prayer Cycle of the World Council of Churches, we pray for:

Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore



http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/prayer-cycle.html

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, March 17, 2011

► We hold in prayer the family and friends of the five members of the Fogel family who were horrendously and criminally murdered last Friday in the illegal Israeli settlement Itamar, close to Nablus. As the investigation continues with no obvious suspects, we pray for the quick apprehension and trial of the murderers.

► We also remember the Palestinian families who have suffered from violent settler attacks protected by the Israeli army in retaliation to the murder in Itamar this past week, even though those who committed the crime remain unknown. We pray that the cycle of violence, repaying one wrong with another, will be broken.

► Our prayers are with everyone in Japan as they face the ongoing trauma and damage from last Friday's major earthquake, aftershocks, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis. We especially pray for comfort and relief for those who have lost loved ones, homes and workplaces, for the safety of everyone in danger of nuclear radiation and for insight and strength for those responding to this disaster, including those working to keep the nuclear damage under control. We also remember the nuclear facilities around the world, many of which are in tsunami or earthquake prone areas, including in Israel, and pray for people and politicians as the question of the safety of nuclear power plants is revisited.

► We pray for all the participants and leaders of current and upcoming Sabeel programs. On Tuesday, Sabeel started its community Lenten Program; this year's focus on fasting, charity and prayers will include visits to nursing homes and orphanages over the next three weeks, as well as taking part in the Contemporary Way of the Cross. In addition, this Friday and Saturday young adults from Jerusalem, Nazareth and the West Bank will join together to plant olive trees in Beit Jala.


With the Prayer Cycle of the World Council of Churches, we pray for:

Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam



http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/prayer-cycle.html