Prayer cycle (14-20 April): Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan

Intercessions

Give thanks for:

• The flourishing Christian churches in South Korea.
• Those who witness to the self-giving love of Christ in the midst of cultures that value individual prosperity.
• Those who are working towards peace and reunification in the Korean peninsula.
• Christians in Japan and Taiwan who serve Christ even when they are small minorities.
• Kimchi, sushi, tea and all the wonders from the sea.
• Enormous drums which beat the rhythms of life.

Pray for:

• Those who continue to be affected by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
• An end to political unrest, border disputes and nuclear weapons.
• Greater protection of human rights and a decrease in political corruption.
• Those families torn apart by the separation of North and South Korea.
• Peace in this region of frequent tension and misunderstanding.
• Those in North Korea who suffer from malnutrition and starvation.
• Hope for people in North Korea who live in despair.
• A just and peaceful resolution to all political disputes, especially tensions  between China Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
• Those who seek power, prestige and wealth at the expense of spiritual wholeness, that they may be filled and renewed.
• Indigenous peoples in Taiwan.
• Those still rebuilding their lives after powerful earthquakes and nuclear devastation.
• Children forced into prostitution.

 

Prayer

Who do I say that you are? I don’t know. 
But what I know, 
You – Good News to the captives and the poor. 
Liberator of the oppressed, friend of Minjung, 
suffering people, under repression, 
attentive ear to the silenced, 
healer of the tortured, advocate of the lowest, 
hope of the desperate, homeland of the exiled. 
Who do I say that you are? I don’t know. 
But what I know, 
You – Flower of freedom in the valley of repression. 
Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.

                                                                                (Seong Won Park, Presbyterian Church of Korea.)

Prayer (2)

Eternal God,
We say good morning to you.
Hallowed be your name.
Early in the morning, before we begin our work, we praise your glory.
Renew our bodies as fresh as the morning flowers.
Open our inner eyes, as the sun casts new light upon the darkness
which prevailed over the night.
Deliver us from all captivity.
Give us wings of freedom like the birds in the sky,
to begin a new journey.
Restore justice and freedom, as a mighty stream
running continuously as day follows day.
We thank you for the gift of this morning,
and a new day to work with you.

Source: oikoumene.org