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>Prayers are listed alphabetically by
area, organization, country, or topic. Afghanistan
Some reports say more than
half of the country’s infrastructure was destroyed over
two decades of war, internal ethnic conflicts, severe
drought, the Allied bombing after September 11, 2001,
and other disasters. The ELCA has worked through
Lutheran World Relief, the Lutheran World Federation,
and other ecumenical partners to bring extensive
material aid to the refugees and displaced people of
Afghanistan, including refugees returning from other
countries. PRAY for a lasting system of development and
peace in a land with a harsh recent past.
Augusta Victoria Hospital
This hospital, located on
the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem and operated by
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), has faced a dire
financial crisis in recent years due to the loss of a
significant source of its funding through the
Palestinian Authority. In 2006, the ELCA gave the
hospital a $100,000 grant for emergency financial
support. PRAY for the continued operation of this
hospital, which daily provides life-saving treatment for
so many Palestinians who walk miles and brave
checkpoints to get there.
Bread for the World
Bread for the World is an
ecumenical nonpartisan citizens' movement of 48,000
people of faith, including 2,500 churches. Members of
Bread for the World help hungry people by presenting a
unified Christian voice to lobby our nation's
decision-makers on legislation that addresses hunger in
our communities and around the world. An ELCA pastor,
Rev. David Beckmann, is the president of Bread for the
World. PRAY for this advocacy effort on behalf of people
who are hungry and living in poverty, and for the
leadership of Rev. Beckmann, that this movement will
continue to be a voice for those who cannot speak for
themselves.
Cambodia
In Cambodia, less than a
quarter of rural households have safe drinking water. In
this Southeast Asia country, the Lutheran World
Federation constructed 571 deep wells, 518 shallow
wells, and created active water committees in 370
villages to educate the population about the need for
clean water, monitor the water supply, and maintain the
wells and pumps. PRAY especially for vulnerable groups
in poor rural communities, who face daily challenges
such as access to clean water, landmines, food
shortages, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, poor
education, and land-grabbing.
Chile
One out of every six people in the world lacks access to
a reliable source of clean water. In Chile, ELCA World
Hunger Appeal gifts help support EPES (Popular Education
for Health), where staff and health promoters tackle
issues like a lack of running water, sanitation, and
electricity. These health workers serve a population of
shantytowns where people are hungry or lack access to
safe drinking water. PRAY that EPES and similar
organizations will continue to find ways to bring this
life-giving access to water to communities throughout
the world.
China
Torrential floods from Tropical Storm Bilis affected
parts of southern China last summer. Torrential rains
also triggered flooding that turned vast areas of
southern China into muddy lakes and razed mountain
villages, destroying more than 76,000 housing units and
damaging 234,000 units. Typhoon Saomai arrived in
mid-August and caused serious losses in Fujian and
Zhejiang Provinces. PRAY for the victims of these
natural disasters and for ELCA International Disaster
Response as it pledges support to those who have been
affected.
Church World Service
Founded in 1946, Church
World Service is the relief, development, and refugee
assistance ministry of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and
Anglican denominations in the United States, including
the ELCA. Church World Service also puts on the CROP
Walk for Hunger. Working in partnership with indigenous
organizations in more than 80 countries (as well as in
the U.S.), Church World Service works to meet human
needs and foster self-reliance for people who are
hungry, living in poverty, or are affected by violence
and internal displacement. PRAY for this important
international community of churches as it works with and
on behalf of the ELCA and other denominations to improve
the lives of people all over the world.
Darfur
The humanitarian aid situation throughout Darfur
continues to worsen, despite mediation efforts by the
United Nations and more peacekeeping troops in the area.
Darfur has been described as one of the world’s worst
humanitarian crises in recent times. Fighting between
rebel groups has directly affected more than two million
people. At least 1.2 million people have been displaced
since early 2003. PRAY for a sustaining peace in this
region, that people will stop fighting and displaced
people will be able to return home and live in without
fear. PRAY for and support ELCA International Disaster
Response as it raises and pledges money for the effort
to restore this area of the world.
Eritrea
The ELCA sent $50,000 through Action by Churches
Together for relief and rehabilitation work related to
drought in Eritrea. These funds will be implemented
locally by the Lutheran World Federation. PRAY for the
work of the ELCA through the Lutheran World Federation
as it partners with the Evangelical Church of Eritrea to
provide relief to families suffering hunger and thirst.
Ethiopia
Each year, millions of people in Ethiopia are at severe
risk of starvation. PRAY for the ELCA and its partner
organizations, Lutheran World Relief and the Lutheran
World Federation, that together Lutherans can make a
strong and visible dent in this mass famine that
continues in Africa.
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Central Florida
On February 2, severe storms and tornadoes swept through
four counties (Lake, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia) in
central Florida, leaving 20 people dead and between
1,500 and 2,000 homes damaged. Through Lutheran Disaster
Response, Lutherans in Florida are now helping local
communities with the clean-up efforts. PRAY for the
efforts of Lutheran Disaster Response and the many
volunteers helping to clean up. PRAY for the many
families devastated by this disaster, that God may bring
healing and strength to them in their hour of need.
Gulf Coast, United States
PRAY for the countless people affected by the Gulf Coast
hurricanes in the deadly 2005 hurricane season. PRAY for
ELCA Domestic Disaster Response as it works with local
churches and communities to support families and
congregations affected by this disaster and continue the
lengthy rebuilding process.
Haiti
The ELCA has been a long-time partner in relief and
development projects in Haiti, the poorest country in
the Western Hemisphere. Many Haitians live on $2 a day
and barely survive. Through the Lutheran World
Federation, the ELCA’s lasting partnerships have offered
Haitian farmers a chance to form coffee cooperatives and
earn better livings as well as share their own ideas for
improving their communities. PRAY that this lasting
relationship continues and that the people of Haiti will
be strengthened and sustained as they work hard to
survive.
HIV/AIDS
An estimated 40.3 million people in the world are living
with HIV or AIDS. Approximately 1 million live in the
United States, and 64 percent of infected people live in
sub-Saharan Africa. PRAY for the Stand With Africa
effort of the ELCA as it works to combat HIV/AIDS. PRAY
for U.S. ministries supported by the ELCA’s Domestic
Hunger Grants Program—ministries, churches, and programs
that support people affected with HIV/AIDS. PRAY
especially for the people infected and affected by this
deadly disease, that they be strengthened and sustained
and that their families be cared for, including the
countless AIDS orphans in Africa.
Hunger Ministries in the
United States
In 2007, the ELCA World Hunger Program awarded 360
domestic hunger grants to churches and organizations in
the United States that offer relief, development, and
community organizing services and programs for people
who are hungry or living in poverty. PRAY for the
continued work of these ministries, that they might
provide food, clothing, shelter, and efforts to help
develop and organize people in their communities.
India
The ELCA is active in many areas of India, working
through Lutheran World Relief to assist Indians in
implementing development projects or accessing things
link clean water and health care. Besides irrigation
projects and specialized health care for women and
infants, Lutherans work with a local partner
organization in Jamkhed in a unique project that
provides free artificial limbs to people who cannot
afford them. PRAY for the sustained health of people in
India. PRAY for the many thousands who continue to
rebuild after the tsunami more than two years ago. PRAY
also for the victims of the recent train crash.
Landmines
Many nations of the world struggle in the aftermath of
war to clean up their war-torn lands and rebuild a safe
environment in which people can live. Landmines left on
the fields of battle can make any post-war peace nearly
impossible. People return to and walk around their home
towns and lose their lives or their limbs in a split
second by stepping on a leftover landmine. PRAY for ELCA
partner organizations like Lutheran World Relief that
work diligently with people of post-war nations to
eradicate landmines and make the land safe to inhabit.
Lebanon
The Contact and Resource Center, an institution designed
to enhance the future of people living with disabilities
in Lebanon, is located in Beirut. It is a companion
ministry of the ELCA that supports people with
disabilities who are often left vulnerable, both
physically and emotionally, during the current military
confrontation. PRAY for the efforts of ELCA
International Disaster Response, which initially sent
$30,000 in support of this program. PRAY for the staff
at the Contact and Resource Center and the people with
disabilities whom they serve, that all may find peace
and support in a time of conflict.
Liberia
For more than a decade, Liberia has suffered from the
instability of intermittent civil war. The ELCA
continues to support the Lutheran Church in Liberia and
all who assist in the rebuilding effort after a
prolonged internal conflict. PRAY that the ELCA, working
through Action by Churches Together, Lutheran World
Relief, and Lutheran World Federation, can help a mass
international humanitarian aid effort to provide food,
clothing, shelter, clean drinking water, and medical
supplies in a country with widespread violence and
instability.
Lutheran Immigration and
Refugee Service
The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service works with
refugees, migrants, and asylum-seekers; helps U.S.
citizens in difficult situations overseas; and enables
congregations and individuals to aid in its mission. It
also speaks out for fair public policies joins with
other agencies, organizations, and individuals—locally,
nationally, and internationally—to preserve human
dignity. PRAY for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee
Service and the thousands of people it serves, people
often stranded in a strange land or detained, without
representation, by U.S. authorities.
The Lutheran World Federation
The Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of
Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. It is a
worldwide communion of 66.2 million Lutherans, including
140 member churches in 78 countries. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in many areas of the world
to help bring theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and other aspects of church
mission and development to people living in poverty.
PRAY for the Lutheran World Federation as it acts on
behalf of the ELCA and other Lutherans to work with
people who are hungry and living in poverty.
Lutheran World Relief
Lutheran World Relief works with partners in 35
countries (including the U.S.) to help people grow food,
improve health, strengthen communities, end conflict,
build livelihoods, and recover from disasters. PRAY for
Lutheran World Relief as it carries out God’s work
throughout the world, acting on behalf of the ELCA, the
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and all U.S. Lutherans.
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Mexico
The ELCA World Hunger Program and ELCA Global Mission
support a grassroots coalition of Mexican Christians
known as AMEXTRA, or the Mexican Association for Rural
and Urban Transformation. AMEXTRA provides food and
services to people in some of Mexico’s poorest areas by
developing community-improvement programs. The program
promotes holistic reform and education of individuals,
families, and communities. PRAY for Eugenio Araiza
Bahena, the director of the program, his family, and all
those who work hard each day to improve the quality of
lives for their Mexican sisters and brothers.
Nepal
The Lutheran World Federation program in Nepal has been
supporting over 100,000 refugees from Bhutan in refugee
camps for more than 15 years. They fled from their homes
in Southern Bhutan in early 1991. PRAY for the
well-being of the people of Nepal, especially those
living in extreme poverty, and that refugees may find
permanent homes and rebuild their lives.
Peru
Many people lack access to clean water in Peru,
primarily water for drinking and crop irrigation. Your
gifts to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal support people in
Peru, such as people who have created fish farms to
raise trout with the help of ELCA partner organization
Lutheran World Relief. After three years of drought, an
irrigation system will now allow multiple crops of
quinoa (a high-protein grain) to grow in another area
where 60 farm families live. A mountain spring will fill
their 33,000-gallon reservoir, which in turn will supply
the mechanized irrigation system. PRAY that these
communities will now be sustained through their newfound
water and irrigation systems.
Russia
The break-up of the Soviet Union caused major economic
disruptions. Many, including pensioners, lack enough to
eat because of the pervasive nature of this economic
crisis. The ELCA World Hunger Appeal raises money to
support Lutheran missionaries through ELCA Global
Mission. The ELCA works in partnership with different
denominations to provide soup kitchens and other
assistance to people living in poverty, especially
people who are elderly. PRAY for this continued lifeline
for affected people in Russia.
Senegal
Among the Pulaar nomadic herders in rural northeastern
Senegal, milking is a woman's job. After rising early in
the morning to milk cows, women then push a wooden cart
filled with milk over rough dirt roads for miles to the
nearest town where they can sell it. This is the primary
source of income for some women and their families, and
some villages depend entirely on milk sales for their
livelihood. Your gifts to the World Hunger Appeal helped
ELCA Global Mission start this herder’s cooperative
nearly 13 years ago, working with local people to get
the operation going. PRAY for the long-term success of
this cooperative and for the Pulaar women who work hard
every day to earn a living.
Souper Bowl of Caring
This national event held every year on the same Sunday
as the NFL's Super Bowl is traditionally led by youth
who stand at sanctuary exits in congregations following
worship services on that Sunday and collect $1 and/or
one can of food from each parishioner. The money and
food collected supports local, national, and
international anti-hunger efforts. Each congregation
decides where and how their collection is distributed.
Many give to both a local food pantry and to the ELCA
World Hunger Appeal to care for neighbors around the
corner and around the world.
Over $8 million was collected
by participants across the United States! ELCA Lutherans
contributed nearly $800,000 of that amount and
participate every year. PRAY that youth across the
country will continue to use their creativity to raise
money for and awareness about world hunger.
Southeast Asia
PRAY for the millions of
people affected by the tsunami that devastated this area
of the world at the end of 2004. PRAY for the ELCA’s
work with companion organizations and churches, that
this work might be strengthened for the many years of
rebuilding that lie ahead in the wake of such a powerful
and overwhelming tragedy.
Stand With Africa
Stand With Africa is an ongoing emphasis of the ELCA
that supports African churches and communities as they
withstand AIDS, banish hunger, and build peace. The ELCA
continues its support of Africa in this special way by
recognizing the unique challenges that our African
sisters and brothers face. PRAY that this effort will
allow Lutherans to reach even more people in Africa as
they battle a deadly disease, struggle to fight
starvation, and seek an end to violence in many nations.
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Tanzania
Many people in Tanzania are affected by the HIV/AIDS and
food crises of the region, resulting from lack of health
education and disease prevention as well as severe
droughts. Many households are headed by children as
young as 14 or 15 years old, children who often care for
multiple younger siblings. PRAY for the Lutheran Church
in Tanzania and the ELCA as it relates in many ways to
many people in this country, such as by supporting the
HUYAWA program that works with orphans and children who
are head of their household.
Texas
Floods, tornados, and hurricanes are regular occurrences
in this state off the Gulf of Mexico. Lutheran Disaster
Response works there regularly with local churches and
organizations in Texas as part of massive recovery
efforts. PRAY for the people constantly affected by
these disasters and having to live in fear of the next
disaster, especially people living in poverty who now
have little or no resources on which to survive.
Uganda
The rate of HIV infections in Uganda has dropped from 30
percent to 6.2 percent since 1992 thanks to early
cooperative efforts between the government, churches,
local and international non-governmental organizations,
and United Nations member agencies. Gifts to the ELCA
World Hunger Appeal have supported a Lutheran World
Federation vocational program that provides training for
AIDS orphans who are now responsible for earning their
own wages and, in many cases, caring for younger
siblings. PRAY for this vital ministry, for AIDS orphans
in Uganda and other African nations, and for the
continued reduction and increased awareness of HIV/AIDS.
United States
American Indian and Alaska Native families, the first
inhabitants of this abundant land, continue to
experience a poverty rate more than twice as high as the
general population. PRAY for these families as the ELCA
and its partnerships with Native communities work to
break this harsh cycle of poverty through food
assistance and community organizing and development
projects in the continental U.S. as well as Alaska.
Unnamed, unknown victims of
hunger and poverty
Lord, in every corner of this earth you have created we
know there are people who are hungry, who live in
poverty, or who live in fear of persecution. We confess
that we do not always see these, your children, in their
time of need. Sometimes we do see them, but we look the
other way and hope they won’t bother us. We PRAY that
you will open our eyes and our hearts to pour out on
them the compassion that you pour out on us every day.
Help us to know their names and their faces, that we
might be moved to walk with them so that they do not
suffer anonymously in our backyards.
ELCA Washington Office
PRAY for the ELCA Washington Office as it represents the
ELCA and its position within the area of public debate,
witnesses for social justice on domestic and foreign
policy issues facing the nation, and provides
communication between the ELCA and the federal
government, working on behalf of people living in
poverty who may not be able to make their voices heard.
West Bank/Jerusalem
PRAY for the many victims of violence, political
upheaval, and unrest in this region. PRAY for the
Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities—hat they might
ultimately know a lasting peace and coexist peacefully
in and around the Holy Land. PRAY for the ELCA World
Hunger Program and ELCA Global Mission as they actively
work with and through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Jordan, its bishop, Munib Younan, Augusta Victoria
Hospital, Lutheran schools in the Holy Land, and many
more people and programs in the Middle East.
What a Relief! program
In the spring of 2006,
nearly 1,100 college students, campus ministers,
professors, and other members of 54 campus communities
participated in the first-ever Lutheran Disaster
Response “What a Relief!” alternative spring break.
Participants volunteered in the hurricane-damaged areas
of the Gulf Coast. PRAY for the participants of this now
annual event, that they might be strengthened to do this
vital work.
Your community
What can you do to help people who are hungry in your
community? Where can you volunteer? How could you lead a
simpler lifestyle in order to share more of your
blessings and material wealth with others? Do you have a
special talent that could be put to use? PRAY that God
might lead you to a ministry you might not have
considered or to a place where your gifts might be a
blessing in service to others.
Youth
PRAY for the youth of the ELCA, including the
40,000-plus young people who attended the 2006 Youth
Gathering and are now faced with making a difference in
their own communities and out in the world. PRAY that
they be strengthened to do God’s work, to be an example
to their peers, and to be energized and passionate about
what they have learned and the gifts they have to share
in service to others.
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