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Prayers

A Prayer of Commitment

O Lord,

We people of Faith and people from various walks of life have known you through your various channels as the One who provides
food for the hungry,
clothes for the naked,
shelter for the unsheltered,
home for the homeless,
freedom for the oppressed,
respect for the unrespected and
dignity for the downtrodden.  

We pray to you to give us the courage to employ ourselves to be of help and support to all refugees and asylum-seekers who are suffering because of terror and turmoil in various parts of the world.

O Lord,
We pray to you that through your grace  

we are encouraged to honour this commitment which we share for the world.

Faith Asylum Refugee

A Prayer of Commitment From Zimbabwe 

Open my eyes that they may see the deepest needs of men and women;
Move my hands that they may feed the hungry. 

Touch my heart that it may bring warmth to the despairing;
Teach me the generosity that welcomes strangers. 

Let me share my possessions to clothe the naked;  
Give me the care that strengthens the sick. 

Make me share in the quest to set the prisoners free;
In sharing our anxiety and our love, our poverty and our prosperity, we partake of your divine presence. Amen. 

Canaan Banana

Prayer of  A Refugee

Lord, turn your eyes towards us:
We are far away from our countries;
We are like prisoners without liberty –
Which is why we say we are not free.

Life is full of all kinds of difficulties:
Poverty, hunger, disease and despair!
We try our best to make ends meet,
But life remains insupportable.

In the Refugee Agencies we get all sorts of problems,
Because we can not use the language they use:
Some among us are assisted:
Others thrown out, neglected, told to come back tomorrow:

Life becomes a mountain insurmountable:
To mount our Calvary becomes impossible.
We are wondering what will come tomorrow,
But we remain without hope of tomorrow.

All this you see and you keep in mind,
But, about it, Lord, you do not say anything.

Lord, we are begging your mercy:
Bring into the hearts of your people peace;
We want to be freed from being refugees!
Lord, turn your eyes towards us.

A poem by Victor Hategekimana, refugee at the JRS Kampala English language school

Prayer to make poverty history

Christ our Lord,
your light shines into the shadows,
and shows us
where the obstacles to change lie.
We know that often
they are in our own hearts,
in the way we live,
and in our daily choices and actions.
We pray that we may accept
the light of your love
as a challenge to change ourselves and our world.
We pray that each day,
we make the choices and take the actions
that will bring an end to poverty and hunger,
and lead us all towards a fairer world.
Be with us, Lord,
as we face your challenge
and learn how to live our lives in love.
Amen

Linda Jones, CAFOD

A Christian Response

(cf. Mt. 25:37)

I was a refugee
and you blamed the communists
for causing the revolution.
I was a refugee
and you said the West
shouldn’t have interfered;
I was a refugee
and you launched
another satellite;
I was a refugee
and daily you built
five nuclear weapons;
I was a refugee
and you told me to wait;

I was a refugee
and you accused me
of being an “economic migrant”;
I was a refugee
and you said we prefer people
who speak good English;
I was a refugee
and you said we only accept people
who are sponsored by parents or children;
I was a refugee and you said we’ve got compassion fatigue.

JRS Australia,
from Borders and Barriers

Prayer of Intercession

We pray for all those who are uprooted, who are hunted, who are fleeing for their lives, and who often find only closed borders, closed doors and closed faces. 

We pray for the women and men, the children and the elderly who seek to find safety and solace and who yearn to begin new lives. 

We pray for those who pass by, who would rather not hear the pleading or see the fear or recognize the human being in need of help. 

Too many times the uprooted are invisible and nameless.  As we close this prayer of intercession, we invite you each to name a refugee, internally displaced person or a migrant worker as we pray to God for mercy.   

(time for the names to said) 

All: God of mercy and compassion, we lift up the names of these our brothers and sisters who have been forced to leave their communities.  We bring before you the millions of other uprooted people in this world whose names we don’t know, but who are known to you.  Be with them, God, and also with us as we struggle to do your will.  We pray to you in the words of your son, Jesus Christ:  Our Father…

(the Our Father may be said in your own language) 

World Council of Churches 
 

Blessing

Go now as sojourners in the land, pilgrims passing through.

All:  We go to accept responsibility for the land we are passing through.   

The kingdom of God is neither here nor there.
All:  The kingdom is among us.  Amen. 

World Council of Churches

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