Pray for Mexico on Sunday, November 3, 2013
Lectionary Selection: Luke 19: 1-10
Prayers for Mexico:
Beloved God of compassion and justice, we give thanks for your presence within the beauty of creation and for the gift of life to experience that wonder. We ask for the strength to bring down walls that divide creation and limit the opportunities for so many of your children while producing riches for just a few. May those who profit from this division be inspired by Zacchaeus to give their possessions to those in need – to follow the path of Jesus. May we see your presence in our sisters and brothers who are risking their lives and crossing walls in order to provide for their families. Awaken our compassion so that we run ahead to embrace them and welcome them into our homes in spite of the grumbling of others that call them “illegal.” Open our hearts so that we sense your presence shining through all of creation and are inspired to seek justice for all of your children. Amen.
Mission Stewardship Moment from Mexico:
Hogar de Esperanza y Paz (Home of Hope and Peace) community center is located three miles south of the wall that separates Nogales, Sonora from Nogales, Arizona. The goal of HEPAC is to enable residents to improve their quality of life so they don’t feel forced to risk arrest and death in the desert of Arizona in order to provide for their families. HEPAC provides food security for impoverished children, holds Culture of Peace workshops and camps, and also offers education courses for adults.
October 10 marked the one year anniversary of the killing of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez by a Border Patrol agent who fired from Nogales, Arizona into Nogales, Sonora. The Home of Hope and Peace community center, where I’m blessed to serve, was very involved in organizing the march and vigil to commemorate the anniversary. More than two hundred people joined together on both sides of the border wall to call for justice for Jose Antonio and to end the militarization of the border.
Andrea, the nine-year-old sister of Jose Antonio, participated in our Kids Camp this past summer. The focus of the camp was a Culture of Peace. The children were able to express through art and drama the violence that they have experienced. “My dear brother is no longer with me,” said Andrea. “They killed him at the border wall and I miss him a lot… I never want them to kill another person…because nothing is the same now without him.”
(Prayer and Mission Moment by Scott Nicholson)
Mission Partners in Mexico:
- Alianza de Iglesias Cristianas Evangelicas (Discipulos de Cristo) en Mexico (AICE)
- Centro de Coordinacion de Proyectos Ecumenicos (CECOPE)
- Confraternidad de Iglesias Cristianas Evangelicas (Discipulos de Cristo) (CICE)
- Iglesias Cristianas Congregacionales de Mexico
- Instituto de Estudios e Investigacion Intercultural, A.C. (INESIN)
- Mesa Conjunta
More information on Mexico: http://globalministries.org/lac/countries/mexico/
Global Ministries Missionary in Mexico:
Scott Nicholson, a member of University Congregational UCC in Missoula, Montana serves with the Hogar de Esperanza y Paz (Home of Hope and Peace) community center which is located three miles south of the wall the separates Nogales, Sonora from Nogales, Arizona. The goal of HEPAC is to enable residents to improve their quality of life so they don’t feel forced to risk arrest and death in the desert of Arizona in order to provide for their families. HEPAC provides food security for impoverished children, holds Culture of Peace workshops and camps, and also offers education courses for adults.