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Prayer & Action for Peace in Iraq

by Jim McGinnis, inspired by his new book

As we continue to pray and act for peace around the globe this week, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Honduras and Nicaragua (as Nicaraguans observe the 30th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution on July 19th (see pp. 57-59), please consider forwarding this weekly prayer & action request to your networks. 

Insight on Iraqi Security and Refugees.  As US troops withdraw from Iraqi cities, the security situation continues to be serious, as the NY Times reported 7/10/09.  Print the photo of despair on the Iraqi's face and use it as an icon for your prayer.  Also, the situation for Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan remains stark, as Voices for Creative Nonviolence recently reported.  According to the UN High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR services to Iraqi refugees may be cut drastically: "We have only 38% of our requested budget for our Iraqi operation."  Also read the excerpts from David Smith-Ferri's poetic reflections on Iraq in the Supplements to Praying for Peace Around the Globe.

Prayer for Peace in Iraq (Praying for Peace Around the Globe, pp. 26-27)

Loving God, we pray for ourselves: that we may be the body of Christ, saying "No" to war and "Yes" to peace; that we may be followers of the Prince of Peace, learning to love our enemies; that we may be faithful disciples, bringing good news to the poor and release to the captive; that we may be united by Christ's cross, patient and passionate, tender and tenacious.

We pray for others: for the people of Iraq, whose lives and dreams are broken daily; for the victims of torture and abuse, and their perpetrators, whose bodies, hearts, minds and souls are being scarred forever; for soldiers and their families, torn apart by war, sacrificing more than many of us can understand; for communities suffering from poverty and violence, fear and division; may they each know that they are held in your love and our prayers.

We pray for your world: that nation shall not lift up sword against nation, that human shall not lift up spear against human, and that no one shall study war, or greed, or prejudice. 

We pray for peace: make us your peacemakers, that we may learn in our hearts and words and actions, in our votes and policies and halls of governance, to overcome hatred with love, evil with good, and violence with peace.  We pray for peace in the name of the One who offers us the peace of Christ.  Amen.

-from "Prayers for Peace" by the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq

Action Suggestions:

• Support Iraqi refugees through Direct Aid Iraq, funded in part through sales of David Smith-Ferri's Iraq poems in Battlefield Without Borders

• Urge your US Congressional delegation to support HR 578, the Iraqi Refugee & Internally Displaced Persons Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement, and Security Act of 2009 by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121; plus other action suggestions from Voices and the Iraq Wage Peace Campaign of the American Friends Service Committee

• Visit a returning veteran, perhaps at a VA hospital, and supporting Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

• View one of the Iraq films, and/or read the letters and stories from Iraq at Electronic Iraq News

Order a copy of Praying for Peace Around the Globe online, email jimppjn@aol.com or call 1-800-833-0245.

Thanks for caring.
Jim