Oct 7, Prayers For Water

From thewaterproject.org:

# Nearly 1 billion people don't have safe water to drink.
# A child dies every 15 seconds from a lack of clean water.
# 1 in 4 children who die before age 5 worldwide, die of a water related disease.
# Children often walk miles every day to collect dirty water to drink.

From the NY Times, Sept 7, 2009:

LOKORI, Kenya: “If nobody comes to help us, I will die here, right here,” he said, emphatically patting the earth with a cracked, ancient-looking hand. A devastating drought is sweeping across Kenya, killing livestock, crops and children. It is stirring up tensions in the ramshackle slums where the water taps have run dry, and spawning ethnic conflict in the hinterland as communities fight over the last remaining pieces of fertile grazing land.

Responsive Prayers and Songs:

There is Still Reason to Sing

There is still reason to sing
There is still hope left to find
In the cracks of war and famine
He can still multiply the bread

There is still reason to sing
There is still hope left to find
He loves the prostitutes
He loves the orphans
He loves children
In homes or without

CH) The Kingdom is and will be
Redemption for your sorrow
The Kingdom is and will be
Healing for your hurt
The Kingdom is a will be
Peace for your family
So let us sing, let us sing

There is still reason to sing
There is still hope left to find
He is stronger than AIDS
And bigger than war
And He loves the poor

Let Your Kingdom Come

Hallelujah
Let your kingdom come
(repeat)

Let your kingdom come and liberate
Every prisoner of greed and hate
Let it fill our hearts, With love for you
For our neighbors and, For our enemies too

Let your kingdom come and end all war
And the pain and grief of the oppressed and poor
Let all violence be finally put away
Let the streets find safety so the children can play

Let your kingdom come and let cool streams flow
Let your fields flourish fresh wind blow
Let your children save instead of destroy
Let every creature thrive free in health and joy.

Let your kingdom come and every knee bow
To the king who was, will be and is now
And let justice roll, as the rivers run
And let death give way to resurrection!

Psalm 145
A Praise of David.
1 I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And on Your wondrous works.[b]
6 Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness.
7 They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,
And shall sing of Your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
9 The LORD is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works.

10 All Your works shall praise You, O LORD,
And Your saints shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,
And talk of Your power,
12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,
And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

14 The LORD upholds all who fall,
And raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You,
And You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
Gracious in all His works.
18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 The LORD preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD,
And all flesh shall bless His holy name
Forever and ever.

Post Your Prayers, Songs, Poems and Words!

The prayers and concerns over injustice of the students will shape our gatherings. Please post your prayer requests, events, concerns, poems or songs here (by clicking comment) to be incorporated into the weekly gatherings!

Sept 16, Prayers for Juarez, Mexico

Peace Prayers for Juarez, Mexico…Sept 16, 2009

Reflection on the word “Justice” and Micah 6:8

Our Call…

Seek Justice

How will we seek justice … Lord as you require?

How will we seek justice … Lord as you desire?

To protest abuse of power,

we’ll face danger and arrest.

We will stand against aggression

and side with the oppressed.

May we seek your justice and love kindness

and walk humbly with you God.

How will we love kindness … Lord as you require

How will we love kindness … Lord as you desire

To the orphan, widow, stranger,

we’ll show hospitality.

We’ll befriend the outcast sinner,

and defend the refugee.

How will we walk humbly … Lord as you require

How will we walk humbly … Lord as you desire

We will not pretend to be, better than we are

We will not hide failure or cover up our scars

Looking outside ourselves…

NY Times, 9/3/09 CIUDAD JUÁREZ — Several masked men armed with automatic weapons stormed into a drug rehabilitation center in this violent border city on Wednesday night, lined up recovering drug addicts and alcoholics against a wall and opened fire at point-blank range, killing 17 people and wounding three…The upsurge of violence in Juárez, where rival gangs have been battling for the lucrative smuggling route to the United States, seems an open challenge to Mr. Calderón’s government, which has sent 10,000 troops and federal police officers to patrol the streets and retake control of the city from the traffickers…Despite the reinforcements, Juárez experienced the most violent month in its history in August, according to the local media, with at least 326 killings. That was almost half the homicides in all of Mexico for the month. And Juárez, Mexico’s most violent city in 2008 with 1,600 killings, is on pace to exceed that figure this year.

Opening responsive prayer…

Poem: River Whose Streams Make Glad

Looking at God…

Trouble Won’t Go: Psalm 46

Trouble won't go, peace won't stay

Oceans roar, levees break

Trouble won't go, peace won't stay

Bridges fall, earth gives way

Ain't no refuge, but You my God

Ain't no safe place, but in Your arms

I'm gonna be still

Trouble won't go, peace won't stay

Land mines wait where children play

Trouble won't go, peace won't stay

In this old world, no safe place

Ain't gonna find, no place to hide,

but in You my God!

Looking inside ourselves…

Let’s Confess

LORD have mercy…

With Kindness

Christ has no body here but ours

No hands, no feet, here on earth but ours

Ours are the eyes though which he looks

On this world

With Kindness

Ours are the hands through which he works

Ours are the feet on which he moves

Ours are the voices through which he speaks

To this world

With Kindness

Through our touch, our smile, our listening ear

Embodied in us, Jesus is living here

Let us go now

Filled with the Spirit

Into this world

With Kindness

Share the Peace of Christ…

Go in Peace and Serve the Lord…