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Prayer
petitions for Sundays follow the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Prayer Cycle and can be
incorporated into the prayers at weekly worship. Weekday entries are offered as guides to prayer for the
global, social and outreach ministries of the church. Thank you for your continued prayers for the life
and mission of this church.
1 Please pray for the Holy Spirit’s
guidance for Wal Reat, a Sudanese immigrant who is leading worship in the Nuer language at Nile Our
Savior’s Chapel, Faribault, Minn., and beginning the TEEM program in preparation for ordination.
2 Fifth Sunday of Easter
God of wisdom, we lift up to you the leaders and people of Sudan and Uganda. May peace
accords and reconciliation efforts bring restoration to the hearts and lives of those who have suffered
so long.
3 World Press Freedom Day
Lift up in prayer the Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. Steering
Committee, including ELCA Ecumenical and Inter-religious Relations representatives, meeting in Chicago
May 3-4, 2010, to discuss possibilities for ministry across broad ecumenical lines.
4 Pray for the ELCA’s 65 synods, all of whom are
meeting between April and June, as they make decisions and plan ways to continue God’s
work in their congregations.
5 Give thanks to God for Pastor Richard
Young's ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana (ELCG), where he serves in a parish of
four congregations. Also a medical doctor, he continues to coordinate and develop health programs for
the ELCG.
6 Thank God for the ministries of the
ELCA’s 26 colleges and universities and pray for all their students -- those who with excitement begin
their summer vacations, and those who seek to enter a difficult job market.
7 Praise God for Kate Keyes and Elizabeth Pottraz, who are
serving in Uruguay this year through the ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission Program.
8 Ask God to continue to guide and support Lutheran
Community Services Northwest, which provides a wide variety of foster care, adoption and other child
welfare services throughout the states of Washington and Oregon.
9 Sixth Sunday of Easter
Living God, we praise you for the witness and joy the churches of Kenya and Tanzania
bring to the world. Let us join our voices in rejoicing. Christ has risen! Alleluia!
10 Pray for James Puotyual, African Immigrant Ministry
coordinator at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St Cloud, Minn., as he reaches out to the Sudanese and other
African immigrant people, telling the story of God’s love for the world through Jesus.
11 Lift up in prayer Ronald and Heda Christ in Botswana. Ron
serves as a financial advisor to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Botswana. Heda is working with
HIV/AIDS patients.
12 Offer thanks to God for the quilters of Faith Lutheran
Church, Hamilton, Mont., and all those across this church who sew "Kite Quilts" for the
families of the incarcerated. May these quilts express love, care and support to those whose loved ones
are in prisons.
13 Ascension of Our Lord
Thank God for the commitment to evangelism of Bridge of Peace, Christ the King, Halfway
Creek, and Holmen Lutheran Churches, all Lutheran congregations near Holmen, Wis. They work together to
invite people from their community into a relationship with Jesus. Ask God to bless their outreach
efforts.
14 Matthias, Apostle
Give thanks for all those who volunteer their time and gifts to teach at the Lutheran
schools in Bratislava, Košice, Liptovsky Mikulas, and Tisovec, Slovakia, especially those who return to
the states in mid-summer 2010 to begin new lives.
15 International Day of Families
Pray for the 20 ELCA State Public Policy Office staffs as they advocate for families
struggling in tough economic times and advocate for support for health and human services during a time
of significant budget crises in every state.
16 Seventh Sunday of Easter
Almighty God, as the churches of Malawi and Zambia struggle in a cycle of drought and
flood, give them strength and wisdom to feed the hungry and announce the good news of eternal life
through Jesus Christ.
17 World Telecommunication Day
Pray for all seminarians who are graduating this month from the ELCA’s eight
seminaries. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide them as they enter new phases in their lives dedicated
to serving God through the church.
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18 Give thanks to God for Pastor Arden Strasser, who serves in Leadership
Development in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zambia.
19 Pray for he staff of ELCA Environmental Education and Advocacy as
they educate corporate and governmental leaders as they seek to be good stewards of God's creation in
the secular world.
20 Remember in your prayers Nancy Stevenson, an English teacher at
Makumira University College of Tumaini University, the senior seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Tanzania (ELCT), and for the ELCT’s educational ministry.
21 World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and
Development
Give thanks to God for the lives touched by the ministries of Trinity Deaf congregation
in Reading, Pa. Ask continued blessings upon Pastor Jeanne Beadle and all the members as they gather for
worship, Bible study and fellowship -- and as they reach out to the deaf, hard-of-hearing, and
special-needs community in Berks County.
22 Vigil of Pentecost
Pray for Irma, Maria, Lydia and the many other lay leaders who work to improve and
strengthen Latino Lay School programs across the church. Ask that all lay leadership programs may
continue to lift up leaders for the mission work of their congregations.
23 Day of Pentecost
O God, look with mercy upon the people of Botswana and Zimbabwe, as Zimbabwe struggles
with economic and political uncertainty. May the companion relationship between the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Zimbabwe and the ELCA Upstate New York Synod be a source of solace and encouragement.
24 Give thanks for Todd Byerly, volunteer from the
Southeasthern Iowa Synod, who is serving at the hospital in the Pare Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Tanzania.
25 Remember in prayer the staff and participants in ELCA’s
outdoor ministries programs, especially those in Camp Agape-Kure Beach in Fuquay-Varina,
N.C., which has added a new "green" cabin this year as it gathers all people to experience the
Spirit through unique, small-group encounters with Christ in Creation and Community.
26 Ask God’s blessings upon the many young people
participating in the Young Adult in Global Mission program. Today remember Stephanie Anderson, Nathan
Berkas, Lauren Borsa, John Crouch and Hannah Griese, who serve in a variety of social ministry settings
in South Africa.
27 Thank God for the South-Central Synod
of Wisconsin and Bishop Bruce Burnside for inviting synod congregations to give $1.00 per member in
gratitude to the churchwide expression of the ELCA for faithfulness during these times. The "And
God Said, 'It is Good'" offering is directed to mission support over and above the synod's regular
commitment.
28 Thank God for Jean Wahlstrom and Marv Kananen, who have
just completed 12 years of service in Tanzania. Ask God to bless them as they enter into their
reintegration process.
29 International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
Ask God to continue to guide and support the leaders of Lutheran Peace Fellowship,
Seattle, that they will continue to educate youth and adults of the ELCA about peace and justice issues
and lead them to advocate for God’s will with political leaders, that all may make decisions that are
honest, just, courageous, and bring sustainability for the Earth and the global community.
30 The Holy Trinity
Almighty God, we give you thanks for showering your Spirit upon the churches of Lesotho,
Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. May they find continued strength to engage the social, economic and
political challenges within which they witness.
31 Visit of Mary to Elizabeth
Lift up in prayer Ruth Goehle, who is beginning her service as the ELCA consultant to
the medical services rehabilitation and Anti Malaria Initiative in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Zimbabwe.
This resource may be copied and shared among members and friends of the congregations of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Prayer Ventures is produced by
ELCA Communication Services in cooperation with other units of the ELCA. Contact info@elca.org
for additional information: Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Communication Services, 8765 W.
Higgins Road, Chicago, IL 60631. Telephone: 800/638-3522, ext. 2458.
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