Remembering the role that prayer played in the days before the referendum, a number of faith communities will again come together in a Season of Prayer with the people of Sudan in this time. Specifically, we are invited to pray for thirty minutes on:

• each day from May 20 through 26 when the UN Security Council will visit Africa and spend time in Sudan;
• each Friday until July 9 (this would be May 27, June 3, June 10, June 17, June 24, July 1, July 8); and
• Saturday, July 9.

In the United States, we will be  praying at 11:00a.m. (EST); 10:00 a.m. (CST); 9:00 a.m. (MST); 8:00 a.m. (PST). And we have invited our sisters and brothers in Sudan to pray with us pray at 7:00 p.m. in their country. Pray at these times or whenever time works for you; pray wherever you are; pray individually or gather with your community or an ecumenical community or an interfaith community; pray in a manner you feel comfortable praying.

Find resources for prayer and about Sudan on this blog, http://presbyterian.typepad.com/peacemaking/sudan/

from the PC(USA) Office on Africa, – http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/global/sudan/

and from theSudan Advocacy Action Network. – http://www.sudanadvocacy.com/pray.html

Southern Sudan referendum vote over, now the hard work begins

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) celebrates more than 100 years of ministry in Sudan. Our engagement in Sudan involves ministry through mission personnel and our partner church relationships. The PC(USA) joins its partners in Sudan in a holistic approach to ministry that includes education and leadership development, community development, evangelism and new church development.

Since Sudan gained independence in 1956 civil war has gripped the nation for most of its postcolonial history. Nevertheless, many people in Sudan have struggled to find a common peace. We join together with the Christian churches of Sudan in efforts to end the conflict and bring new opportunity to all peoples of Sudan. Our sisters and brothers in Sudan call on us to speak out and stand with them in their fight for peace and justice for all.

A prayer for Sudan

Loving God,

As we think of our brothers and sisters in Christ in Sudan our hearts echo the joy they are experiencing for bringing this country through a peaceful referendum. Thank you Lord for answering our prayers! But even in the midst of the rejoicing, Lord, we must bring our concerns to you. We hear the anxiety expressed by our sisters and brothers in the North of Sudan who are apprehensive about their status after official separation from the South in July. We pray for the protection of their human rights including to the right to practice and witness to their Christian faith in this country where they will soon become a very small minority. As we receive reports of violence taking place throughout the South inspired by inter-ethnic conflict, struggles for power and political ambitions our hearts grieve for those who have struggled hard for a just peace but are fearful that it may be dismantled. We pray, Lord, that you might bless the efforts of all our partners as they work to follow the Prince of Peace and bring reconciliation, just governance and stability to the South as they face the birth of their new nation in July. Thank you, gracious God, for the opportunity for us to be in partnership with these sisters and brothers in Sudan who have so much to teach us about faithful witness as they proclaim and live out the Good news of Jesus Christ in the midst of such serious challenges. Help us to faithfully pray and advocate on their behalf.

Amen.

Pray

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Dear Heavenly Father,

Gracious King, and Lord of Lords, Holy is Your Name in all the Earth! Holy is Your Name in all the Earth! Creation sings of Your love for us! Creation brims over with Your love for us!

In the deep watches of the night, when all is at rest, when darkness lays like a heavy blanket pressing down upon our chest, though we are unaware of what tomorrow may hold, morning springs forward with bright rays of bold LIGHT, and though we may not know our destination, with every fiber of our being, we know the power of Your Might!

For the eyes of Your heart are ever watchful upon Your people! For the eyes of Your heart are ever vigilant for Your people! They miss nothing, they neglect nothing, they forsake nothing. Your mighty hand of compassion and mercy reaches down, all the way down from Heaven — down, down, down, touching our hearts, wiping our tears, and turning our gaze ever upward. So that with each meager step of obedience and submission, we– Your Creation, all of humanity- would sing and brim with praise for You, our Heavenly Father!

Lord, we lift the whole of Sudan and her precious people up to You! We pray that Your PEACE which surpasses all understanding would flood her lands, bringing sustenance to the already carefully planted and prayed over seeds of JUSTICE & reconciliation.

Please guide her people with each step and each breath they take, filling them with Your Holy Spirit, so that the fruits of the Spirit would thrive: Love, Joy, Peace, Faithfulness, Goodness, Patience, Self-Control, Kindness, and Gentleness.

Father, we especially lift up to you, those Christians who will remain in North Sudan. They need Your Protection, to experience Your Presence with them daily, to know that You will uphold them with Your Righteous Right Hand. May they also sense our prayers, as the Body of Christ, crying out to God on their behalf!

And though the unbelieving world around them, in their ignorance of the LIGHT within, may state that they are all alone, let the truth of Your Holy Word, the testimonies of other believers throughout time, and their personal walk of faith, lay waste upon such lies. Provide them with the strength, courage, and love needed to be a Christian witness for You in this troubling context, to both act in love and pray earnestly for Your lost sheep.

Lord, though they may be under Islamic Shari’a law, we know that You Are Above All Things. We pray that any act of submission, would be regarded as an act of submission to You, —and You Alone. May they know that their integrity and dignity remain safely within Your Hands. We pray also that this law would not serve as a stumbling block or stronghold for our brothers and sisters in Christ, but instead would further cement their knowledge of the truth and their belief in You, taking them deeper into Your Healing Pools of Love.

Father, we lift up to you the election in South Kordofan, taking place in beginning of May 2011, and ask that your hand of discernment would be upon the people there. May it be an open and honest vote, with an outcome that will not only best prepare its’ people for what lies ahead, but also, and most importantly, Glorifies Your Name. May You be in each detail of the proceedings, and in each heart of the participants, as you lead them to a future full of hard changes, but also replete with Your Blessings!

We pray all these things in Jesus precious name, believing and trusting in You Lord for the answers according to Your Will.

Offered by Claire Zuhosky. SAAF