23 June, 2020
💞 Dear Royal Praying Priests, shalom!
💎 “For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited Me in… And answering, the King will say to them, ‘Amen, I tell you, whatever you did to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” (Mat 25:35, 40, TLV)
Last Saturday 20 June was World Refugee Day. Each year on this day, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and many civic groups throughout the world host various events to raise the awareness of refugees and internally displaced persons who have been forced to flee their homes from war, civil war, conflict, violence, human rights violations, environment, and climate. As of today, over 70 million individuals have been forcibly displaced throughout the world.
In the Old Testament, there were many outsiders and sojourners, such as Abraham the Father of Faith. He lived in the land of Canaan and asked the Hittites for a gravesite to bury his wife Sarah. (Gen 23:4) In the New Testament, the first refugee story was about Yeshua and his parents Joseph and Mary fleeing from the persecution of Herod to Egypt. (Mat 2:13-15) If Yeshua lived today, He would surely identify himself with the refugees and internally displaced persons. In fact, in Mathew chapter 25, Yeshua did teach us to invite the strangers in and welcomed them. Whatever we did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Him—we did it for Him. Will you join us to pray now?
🙏 Dear Heavenly Father, we pray for the refugees and internally displaced people. Please hear their cries, lead them to safety places, and heal them from all the traumatised experiences. Please provide their essential needs of food, water, medical care, shelter and security. We pray for shalom and safety in major refugee producing countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, D.R. Congo, South Sudan, Central Africa Republic, Myanmar, Iraq, Columbia, Vietnam and Eritrea. We pray for the vulnerable refugee women, children and youth. Please protect them from people who would like to exploit them. We also pray for more refugee hosting countries to share the heavy load and invite the refugees in. Please provide funding and resources for the Non-Governmental agencies, and raise up more churches to welcome and love the forcibly displaced people in their communities. Please open doors for asylum-seekers who struggle to find employment and affordable housing, and long for being united with their families.
*Prayer excerpt from Refugee Highway Partnership website.