Prayer for Peace

This is the prayer I composed the evening before we attacked Iraq, March 19, 2003.  It is still my prayer today.

Jamie Harrison

 

O nameless God of many names, I know you neither slumber nor sleep, and that you hold this world and its people in your eternal care.  Through your child, Jesus, you have taught me what a life filled with God looks like.  I trust in you.  Through his redeeming life and teaching I have grown to accept the promise that you are determined to draw the whole human family into your life, and that you seek in holy love to create a world where, one day, all your children will live together joyfully.  Deep in my heart I know that your will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.  I am grateful for that assurance.

 

Yet, deep in that same heart this evening [and still today], I am filled with sadness as your children teeter on the rim of the caldron of war.  However we found our way to this hour, I feel like we are entering an ominous darkness.  Left to our age-old human devices, we grope blindly in that darkness, once again resorting to violence to establish peace.  When will we ever learn?  When will we ever learn? Lord, have mercy on us!  Lord God, have mercy on the people of this world!

 

Merciful God, I know that the first heart to break in a time like this is always your heart.  I trust that your compassion is boundless, encompassing the inhabitants and families of every nation.  Therefore, I hold in prayer tonight the names and faces of those I know and love, and the names and faces of those I do not know, but who are certainly loved by you. Protect and shelter the children of every nation who find themselves in mortal conflict.  In the confusion and madness they find around them, give them a sense of your loving presence.  Bind up the wounds of those whose bodies will be broken.  Comfort those who will suffer.  Shelter innocent victims.  Strengthen the doctors and nurses and chaplains and others who care for the fallen.  Deliver from fear all who wait at home praying for sons and daughters sent into harm’s way.  Console the grieving.  Give wisdom to leaders, and humility in proportion to their power.  Hold in your care those whose art it is to craft the miraculous gift of peace.

 

And awaken me tomorrow to your presence, I pray, surrounded by your mercies, and grateful for the light of Jesus shining in the darkness.  Shield me from despair.  Deliver me from hopelessness.  Fill me with your spirit so I may know your peace and share it with others.  All this I ask, and more, for your goodness sake.  Amen

 

Woodstock, CT

March 19, 2003

Today the number of American service men and women who have died in Iraq since 2003 passed 2,000

Today the number passed 2000
by Celeste Zappala

Just a number perhaps
a moment,
at sometime today
some young person's life
swung in the balance,
they drew their last breath
and were gone.
And all the hopes
that rode on them,
all the prayers
that followed them,
from all the people
who loved them
are done.
All the glorious days
of a future
they would have held,
dreams they had in their heart,
words they wanted to say
and maybe children
they hoped to have
are gone.
In the wind of the desert,
in the smoke of explosion
at the speed of a bullet.
Gone.
And we who mourn them
will never know
who they may have become,
what light they may have given
the World.
In their name
and with all the love we possess
let us work
to stop this war.

With hope,
Celeste Zappala

Faithful America.org
110 Maryland Avenue NE, Suite 108
Washington, DC 20002
tel: 202.544.2350 • fax: 202.543.1297
email: info@faithfulamerica.org

 

SOUTH ASIA EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

Church World Service providing medical assistance to 100,000 quake survivors
in Pakistan
Written by J. Bennett Guess
Wednesday, 12 October 2005

In Pakistan, UCC-supported Church World Service reports that its emergency aid teams and other rescue groups are continuing to make inroads where more than 42,000 people died and nearly five million are homeless following the South Asia earthquake on Oct. 8. The UCC sent an initial $20,000 from the One Great Hour of Sharing special mission offering to support relief efforts.

"This is going to be remembered as the earthquake that killed the children," Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan Director Marvin Parvez said today from Islamabad.

Parvez is on the scene helping coordinate the Church World Service response to the calamitous earthquake. Parvez said one report today from Pakistan estimated the death toll could climb to 80,000.

"We received beautiful news of four children being rescued from a school," said Parvez, but with occasional good news about rescued survivors, reports from the scene have otherwise been extremely bleak.

"There are recovered bodies of children being set outside of schools, ready for burial," Parvez reported. "As a parent, this is very difficult to see."

"It's a horror story that doesn't end. You find yet another village that has been flattened by this earthquake," he said. Efforts to rescue survivors or retrieve bodies are being hampered by the inaccessibility of remote rural villages.

Parvez said there is "tremendous need right now for shelter for the earthquake survivors. People have lost their homes and need shelter. People are very scared and they can't afford to lose any more loved ones."

"Our teams have been on the ground since day one," says Parvez. The agency has had operations in Pakistan for more than 25 years.

CWS will provide medical assistance to 100,000 people impacted by the quake--half in Azad Kashmir and half in the Northwest Frontier Province – through two health centers. Parvez said the health centers are now being organized and will provide immunization and first aid.

A collaboration of international humanitarian and emergency response agencies in Pakistan, including Church World Service, are assessing damage and needs.

"Despite the fact that we are all responding as fast as we can, and that international aid is now coming in, survivors are in dire need. People are asking for clean drinking water, food, tents and medicines," Parvez said. "Those now homeless or who are afraid to return to their houses are living in the open air and freezing temperatures."

Church World Service's office and health clinic in Mansehra were damaged by the quake but the clinic is now cleared, open and serving survivors needing medical care.

CWS Pakistan-Afghanistan offices in Karachi, Islamabad, Mansehra and Murree are organizing relief efforts, assessing needs and determining longer-term CWS response focus. Families who will be served now are those who have lost their houses from the earthquake, as well as women, children and vulnerable families who are without food and shelter and have taken refuge under the
open-sky.

Parvez said people are still being given first aid at open places and in the streets. Helicopters have been shifting injured people to hospitals in Murree, Abbottabad and other hospitals.

As international aid began to pour in today, aircraft loaded with supplies came from the United States, Britain, Japan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. India, Russia, China and Germany also offered assistance.

The U.S. responded today by sending three military cargo planes laden with emergency supplies and eight U.S. helicopters, diverted from Afghanistan, carrying supplies, tarpaulins and equipment including high-tech cameras for finding buried survivors, according to a CNN report.

Parvez said earthquake survivors are pleading for coffins and assistance to bury the dead bodies lying in the rubble.

"This has been the most severe earthquake in this area for 120 years," said Parvez. People are grief-stricken. There are towns that have been completely destroyed. Many children are still missing, as they were in school at the time of the incident."

CWS further reported that areas ahead of Balakot town and Gari Habib Ullah are not yet accessible. From Washington, Church World Service Emergency Response Program Director Donna J. Derr said that the capital of Azad Kashmir is devastated.

"In Abbottabad, a Girls High School of 1,100 students was destroyed," she said, and only a few students could be evacuated. At a primary school in Balakot only 25 of its 175 students could be saved. The grief here is enormous and demands particular care, now and in coming weeks," she said.

"The worst hit place was Bagh, 40 kilometers southeast of Muzaffarabad There are no survivors in villages like Jaglari, Kufalgarh, Harigal and Baniyali in Bagh district," Parvez said.

Pakistan has said it would accept assistance from long-time rival and neighbor India, and, in another sign of good will, the Associated Press news service reported that the largest rebel group in the disputed region of Kashmir ordered an end to violence in areas devastated by the quake.

From its U.S. headquarters, Church World Service has issued an initial national fundraising appeal for $7.9 million to support emergency phase relief in the region.

Designate contributions for Pakistan earthquake relief. Checks should be made payable to "The Missionary Society of CT."

Send to:
Connecticut Conference UCC
125 Sherman Street
Hartford, CT 06105

Interfaith Relations: Why They Matter to Local Congregations

Interfaith Relations: Why They Matter to Local Congregations
With Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, The Rev. Mark L. Heilshorn and Imam Qasim Sharief

Monday, November 14, 7 p.m. At Hartford Seminary 77 Sherman St. Hartford
Directions and Info at www.hartsem.edu

Why is it imperative that we create dialogue with people of other religions? What impact do other religions have on us in our daily lives and in our community? Three noted scholars in the field of interfaith dialogue will come together in this special program to discuss why interfaith relations are important to each and every one of us. Sometimes their interfaith work is questioned, but they remain committed because now more than ever we need to learn about other religions that co-exist with ours in today's increasingly pluralistic society. Learning about "the other" only strengthens our understanding of ourselves.

Presenting will be: Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, Senior Rabbi of Congregation BethIsrael in West Hartford; The Rev. Mark L. Heilshorn, pastor of First Church of Woodbury, UCC.; and Imam Qasim Sharief of Muhammad Islamic Center in Hartford. In Spring 2005, Rev. Heilshorn organized an interfaith conference at his UCC church in western Connecticut that attracted more than 100 participants. At Congregation Beth Israel, Rabbi Fuchs has hosted Imam Sharief as guest speaker; similarly, Imam Sharief has welcomed Rabbi Fuchs in a sermon at the mosque. Join us to learn why these three religious leaders believe so strongly that dialogue with those of other faiths is essential in today's society.

Cost: Free
Please register in advance - 860.509.9555

HOPKINS FAMILY NEWS

 

Doug and Kyle Hopkins (members of our church), and their daughters Eliza and Abigail, set sail in October, 2003, for an around the world voyage on their sailboat, Estrela.  Here is their most recent post (Oct. 12, 2005) on a passage from Fiji to New Caledonia, on the way to Australia.

 

Estrela is on the move again after a little over three months cruising in Fiji.  We're en route to New Caledonia.  As is typical at the beginning of an ocean passage, the crew have queazy tummies and we all feel very tired . . . and it's only our first night!  The push to complete a myriad of preparations before going offshore always induces anxiety.  This was probably our smoothest and most efficient (and enjoyable) passage preparation ever . . . and we still feel whupped.  Our first big challenge underway has been a misbehaving self-steering windvane, forcing Kyle and me to do a lot of hand-steering or hand-correcting of the windvane.  Hand-steering gets exhausting quickly for a two-handed boat like ours.  Fortunately, just in the last hour or so I have managed to bring Estrela into better balance by tinkering with sail trim and adjusting the windvane controls.  Her track under windvane alone is wobbly but is averaging within 10 degrees either side of our intended rhumb line course for New Caledonia.  I have to tug on the tiller to put her back on course about every ten or fifteen minutes now -- a big improvement.  I think the Aries's problem is too much friction, probably occurring in many places rather than in one key place.  It's just time for another servicing, or at least for replacing some of the most critical nylon bushings.  As Tony Holt, Kyle's dad, can attest, however, taking the Aries windvane apart to replace these nylon parts is a real bear.  He and I spent many days doing a complete servicing and rebuild in the Holt's Connecticut barn two years ago.  I think Tony had to call in a favor from every machine shop in Eastern Connecticut to enable us to dismantle the twenty-five year cast aluminum and stainless steel contraption.  I hope we can nurse the vane along to Australia where we'll be able to service it again.  In the meantime -- as our Brit/Aussie friends would say -- no whinging by the Estrela watch keepers! Doug 

 

God Speed--Doug, Kyle, Eliza, Abbie

UPDATE ON OUR CHURCH'S HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS

As of October 6:
Over one hundred health kits were assembled by the Senior High Youth Group and delivered to Church World Service in New Windsor, Maryland, by Bob and Kathy Packard, to be distributed to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. THANK YOU to all who donated cash or supplies for this project. At this point in time, additional donations of toothpate are needed so we can make even more kits. ALSO, thank you to everyone who donated money towards hurricane relief through the United Church of Christ. Due to your generoisty, so far we have collected $1,617.37.

New Orleans pastor requests deluge of handwritten UCC prayers

Written by J. Bennett Guess , United Church News

Thursday, 06 October 2005

When the Rev. Fred Meade, pastor of St. Matthew UCC in New Orleans, had no place to lay his head, except for the refuge he found at UCC-related Slumber Falls Camp in New Braunsfel, Texas, someone shared with him a stack of 25 handwritten prayers offered by members of a single concerned church. "It was a very moving experience to see different handwritings, different color pens, different ways of saying the same message of love for those of us in transition," Meade recalls. Now, Meade -- facing the overwhelming task of rebuilding his storm-damaged church and its scattered congregation -- is remembering how those prayers buoyed him. That's why he's asking for more, this time to buoy the spirits of his congregation. "I know as a pastor that the only way St. Matthew UCC is going to survive is through the prayer and continued support of its sister churches," he said. Meade is asking UCC members and churches from across the country to send prayers that he can share with his parishioners over the coming weeks and months. "I want the members of St. Matthew to know that people from all over the United States are praying for us," he said. "I want them to feel the body of Christ as I have felt it over these past 5 weeks." Meade is inviting persons to send prayerful emails or cards to his attention. "We will then read these prayers every Sunday -- or as long as we receive them -- until we are back on our feet," he said. "In some ways the easier part of recovery is getting food and shelter," he said. "The harder part -- from a pastoral perspective -- is dealing with the depression, anxiety and overwhelming fear that this has created in people's lives." E-mail prayers to fredmeade@aol.com. Copies of your prayers also can be sent to United Church News at newsroom@ucc.org to be considered for online publication. Sunday School classes, or other church groups, can send prayer cards by regular mail to: St. Matthew UCC c/o the Rev. Fred Meade 802 Cedar Ave. Metairie, LA 70001

Latest update from Back Bay Mission

September 30, 2005
Dear friends,
Peace to each of you, faithful friends who continue to pray for us and uplift us by your love and caring. It has now been one full month since the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. I am awed by that realization. So much has occurred and such extremes of emotions have been felt. Is it possible that all this has been experienced in just a few weeks? Time is now measured in “before” and “after” terms. We long for the routines and certainties of life before the hurricane; we wonder still how life will ultimately unfold after the hurricane.

For many, the initial fog of shock and denial has begun to lift, replaced by another stew of anger, impatience, and anxiety. And then there is something else: sadness. There is simply too much of it now. It is etched on nearly every encounter one has here in this time of “after”. There was the man who stood in a store, talking on his cell phone, who suddenly erupted into sobs. There’s the cashier who told me with barely contained tears that both her children’s schools were completely destroyed. There’s the friend who told me she misses the solace and centering moments of what used to be her daily drive to work along the Gulf’s edge. And there are far too many conspicuous absences at tables of fellowship and of work, loved ones displaced by a storm that showed far too little mercy.

The Back Bay Mission family has not been immune from all of this. In the time since my last up-date, two key program staff members have resigned, persons who lost everything to the storms and cannot fathom a return to the area. We miss them immensely. In addition, our independent building assessment conducted last week concluded that we must demolish five of our seven buildings on campus. The two workcamp dorms, the bath house, the Iroquois Avenue guest house, and the Thrift Shop building must all be taken down. The workcamp cottage has significant damage as well, and its future is also in question. Only the main office/service building is sure to remain, but it must be gutted and rebuilt from the studs out.

Yet there is good news to share, too! We are making slow but constant progress toward establishing presence again on our campus. By October 10, we should have at least one mobile office in place there, and a second will follow. Plans are underway to have a modular home in place by year’s end on an adjacent property, which will house all staff and services while repairs are done to the campus’s main building. We’ve accepted donations of two RV’s that can house individual volunteers, and we’ve found a place to put them. And a long-term volunteer has already been identified by the Volunteer Ministries office in Cleveland; she will begin her service with us in mid-October.

We have also resumed bits and pieces of our ministry. We agreed this week to serve as the fiscal agent for the Interfaith Disaster Recovery Task Force, which will serve as a long term recovery agent in the area. We are convening other social service providers to begin assessments of what new service gaps have been created by the loss of so many agencies to the storm. And we have worked to locate all our Home At Last clients, homeless disabled persons we had placed in permanent housing. Although several were safe and still housed, others’ apartment buildings had been swept away by the storm, making them homeless once again. We will strive to find them new housing, although what little housing is left is in very high demand. Sadly, one Home At Last individual is presumed dead. We have listed him on the missing persons register, in hopes that he may still be found.

We are still struggling to figure out how we can accommodate workcamp groups in the near future, but we are working hard to solve that problem. And in the meantime, one work group has already been and gone… and accomplished incredible things! A work crew from St. John UCC in Archbold, OH took on the very nasty task of cleaning out every moldy, damp item from our main building, power washing the flowers, and ripping out every inch of drywall. Wow! Another source of inspiration: your gifts. Your financial support has begun to flow, and we have been amazed by your generosity. Individuals, congregations, denominational offices, and organizations of the Council for Health and Human Service Ministries (UCC) have dug deep and have endlessly surprised us with their gifts. Again, we are thankful beyond words for the trust you have placed in us, for the love you have showered on us.

Yes, Back Bay Mission will rebuild… our staff, our ministries, and our facilities. The future is daunting, but it is also filled with incredible opportunity for the Mission and for our community. As I rise each day I remind myself of that, and as I go to bed each night I ask God for more strength, more wisdom, more vision for the coming days. And as the tasks and conversations of each day unfold, I find myself blessed. I have quickly learned that when all else is stripped away, it is the strength of our relationships that pulls us through… with family, with friends, with all of you, and with God. The ties that bind are stronger than the hardest day. Thanks be to God!

I will continue to provide updates for as long as you want to read them. Know also that you may access a power point slide show, with pictures of our property “after” the hurricane, at www.chhsm.org/backbay <http://www.chhsm.org/backbay>. Share it as you will, but know the pictures don’t do justice to the extent of damage incurred. This is one case where you truly have to see it to believe it.

Our deepest thanks to each of you for all that you have done and all that you are still doing to ensure the future of Back Bay Mission. You have blessed us!
Peace,
Rev. Shari Prestemon
Executive Director
Back Bay Mission