Local
We pray for all experiencing treatment for Cancer, this week we think particularly of Michael and Cameron. We pray for your presence, peace, love, hope and joy. We pray for healing where possible and for your arms to embrace them this week.
We pray for all traveling, seeing family for the first time for a while, camping, travelling overseas or interstate, for those on bikes, in cars, on feet and in flight. We pray for their safety and that the time is blessed.
We pray for the community of Gungahlin over January, may the new year see neighbours loved, peace reigning, understanding shared and hope renewed.
We pray for our new Church Council, for Jenelle, Bronwyn, Elizabeth, Bruce, Sue, John and Lynne. We pray for the process to bring a new ministry agent to Gungahlin UCA, and for all involved. May your vision guide us and voice call us.
National
We join with the National Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia as we pray for
- The Devonport community. We pray for the families and friends of the children who died, their classmates, emergency workers who responded and all those providing care for the community.
- The people of the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Rai which killed more than 300 people. We pray for those mourning lives lost and families who have been displaced or left without food and water.
- Uniting Church communities of faith and all Christians who will celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. We pray we will be united in and transformed by God’s hope, peace, joy and love.
World
This week we join with the World Council of Churches as we pray for Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan
We give thanks for:
- the distinctive temples, art and cultures in the region
- the education and economic developments that have improved the lives of many in Japan and South Korea
- how the council of churches in Japan has promoted reconciliation with the rest of Asia
- the prophetic witness of Christians in Japan and South Korea
- the persistent witness to justice for “comfort women” from the Second World War
- the great religious tolerance exhibited by the Taiwanese and their pioneering of contextual theological education
- the Ecumenical Forum for Peace, Reunification and Development Cooperation on the Korean Peninsula, which with others has sought to reunify Korea, to defend human rights, and to work for peace and justice.
We pray for:
- an end to repression of people and to threats of military confrontation, especially on the Korean peninsula
- the reunification of Korea, that peace and justice might prevail
- peaceful resolution of the many disputed claims to islands in the South China Sea by Taiwan and its neighbours and for greater understanding and cooperation between Taiwan and mainland China.
- women and other marginalized groups, and the inequalities they experience
- greater acceptance of immigrants that they might make a positive contribution
- new hope and meaning for the young, amid pressures of competition and consumerism.
We continue to pray with and for the world with the World Council of Churches here using their prayer cycle resources