Early this, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, as well as a number of aftershocks, hit southern Turkey and northern Syria. As the death toll rises over 3,000 people, we lift these countries and those grieving loss and facing displacement in prayer. Lord, God, hear our prayers and guide us as we become your hands and feet to the many that are hurting and in fear. May you provide protection amidst falling buildings and may there be provision in the way of shelter and sustenance. We mourn the thousands who have died – women, men, children – and ask that you would surround families and friends in comfort and peace. Oh God, our Emmanuel, our “God with us”, be present to the people in Turkey and Syria.
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A Liturgy for Mourning with Those Who Mourn
LEADER: O Christ Acquainted
with All Our Griefs,
PEOPLE: prepare our hearts to enter now
this space of grieving.
O God of All Comfort,
Lead us humbly into this place of heartbreak.
O Spirit Who Moves
in the Midst of Our Sorrows,
Fill us with a right compassion.
Fill us with a right compassion that
we would not cross this threshold
armed with easy answers,
but would enter instead
bearing the balm of a divine tenderness
best expressed in honest affirmations
and small acts of service.
Teach us even in this hour, O Lord,
how better to mourn
with those who mourn,
that their burden
might in some way
be made more bearable
by our sharing in it.
O Lord, in this place of holy sorrows make us
quick to listen, and slow to speak,
reminding us how the only true comfort
Job received from his friends
came not from their many words
but from a willingness to sit with him
in a silent sympathy of weeping.
So let any spoken comforts we offer
be the fruits of a real and costly fellowship
with those who grieve.
The sharing of such sorrows is indeed
a good and holy work, O Lord.
For you also, Jesus, willingly entered
the wounds of this world and wept
with your creatures in their brokenness.
And you have promised us
that wherever your children gather
in your name, you will be present as well.
So be present with us now
in this wounded space,
O Spirit of God.
Let our presence be sensed as a token
of your presence.
Let our concern bear unspoken witness
to the redemption your love
will one day work, even unto
the utter and unimaginably glorious
reversal of this loss.
Now speak, act, and comfort, O Christ.
Shepherd us into the sharing
of this sorrow.
May our hearts be as your heart here,
our voices as your voice,
our hands as your hands,
our tears as your tears.
Amen.
(Every Moment Holy)
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WAYS THAT YOU CAN RESPOND TO THE CRISIS IN TURKEY AND SYRIA WITH YOUR HANDS…
Convoy of Hope:
Relief is enroute and food, water, and other essentials will be in the region as quickly as possible.
USD giving (and more info)
https://convoyofhope.org/disaster-services/turkey-syria-earthquake-relief/
CAD giving (via Canadian partner, The Great Commission Foundation – please designate Convoy of Hope Turkey and Syria in giving comment)
https://gcfcanada.com/convoy-of-hope/?utm_source=coh&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=ca-geobar
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📷 Ihlas News Agency, via Reuters