Pray for Mexico on Sunday, July 12, 2015

Pray for Mexico on Sunday, July 12, 2015

2015_july_mexico_01.jpegLectionary Selection: Mark 6:14-29

Prayers for Mexico:

Dear God; Spirit of Love, Compassion and Justice:

Your servant John the Baptist was killed for speaking truth to those in power.  The guests at Herod’s birthday party were complicit in his killing because of their silence.  Perhaps they didn’t want to disturb the festive mood of the banquet or risk being viewed as siding with the less powerful.

Your migrant son Jesus had been baptized by John and suffered the same fate for challenging the powerful.  No one spoke out for your son, the disciples deserted him, and Peter denied him. 

Give us the courage to express your spirit of love and compassion by choosing to be on the side of the less powerful and speaking out against injustice.  Let us remember our migrant sisters and brothers that are fleeing from poverty and violence.  May we work for policies that welcome them into our country instead of subjecting them to death in the desert or imprisonment for the crime of seeking to provide for their families. 

Let us use the gifts of discernment and wisdom to look clearly at any situation and act as best we can to honor your spirit of love and justice.

Amen. 

2015_july_mexico_02.jpegMission Stewardship Moment from Mexico:

I’ve been blessed to accompany the Home of Hope and Peace (HEPAC) community center for three years.  HEPAC is located just three miles south of the border wall that separates Nogales, Sonora from Nogales, Arizona. 

The vision of HEPAC is to build a healthy and sustainable community in Nogales so that people don’t feel forced to risk arrest and death in the desert in a desperate attempt to provide for their families.  The programs of HEPAC include lunch for schoolchildren, adult education, Culture of Peace workshops that teach skills for healing from trauma and violence, Kids Camps on the Culture of Peace, and a women’s artisan cooperative.

The summer Kids Camp starts on July 13.  The focus of the camps is enabling the children to express their experiences of violence and to learn ways to defend their rights.  Last year, they wrote letters to Central American children being held in immigration detention centers and expressed solidarity with Palestinian children that were suffering the invasion of Gaza.

HEPAC asks for your prayers for the Kids Camp and all of their community programs.  HEPAC believes that praying with our hands and feet, by taking prayerful action for justice, is one of the best ways to follow the example of John the Baptist and Jesus.

(Prayer and Mission Moment by Scott Nicholson)

Mission Partners in Mexico:

Albergue las memorias 
Confraternidad de Iglesias Cristianas Evangelicas (Discipulos de Cristo) (CICE) 
Iglesia Discipulos de Cristo de Mexico (IDCM) 
Iglesias Cristianas Congregacionales de Mexico 
Instituto de Estudios e Investigacion Intercultural, A.C. (INESIN) 
Mesa Conjunta 

More information on Mexico:

http://www.globalministries.org/mexico 

Global Ministries Missionary in Mexico:

Scott Nicholson serves as a long-term volunteer with the Hogar de Esperanza y Paz (Home of Hope and Peace) community center in Nogales, Mexico. His appointment is made possible by your gifts to Disciples Mission Fund, Our Churches Wider Mission, and your special gifts.