Recources recognize the connection between peace, prayer
From MWC files
Mennonite World Conference (MWC) invites USMB congregations—and other Mennonite and Brethren in Christ congregations around the world—to observe Peace Sunday on the Sunday nearest to Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace, or another Sunday that fits the schedule of the congregation.
The International Day of Peace was established by the United Nations in November 1981. In March 2006, the MWC Peace Commission established Peace Sunday and began developing suggested Scripture readings, prayer concerns and ideas of activities to help churches observe this day. The commission also invites congregations to report back on their activities for this day.
The Brethren in Christ Church in Nepal prepared the 2014 Peace Sunday materials. The material “reflects many years of struggle and persecution and the lessons, perspectives and images that have helped them through very difficult times,” says the resource letter sent by the Peace Commission. Pastor Shemlal Hembrom, president of the Brethren in Christ Church of Nepal, led the team that collaborated on the resource materials.
The 2014 Peace Sunday theme is “Prayer and praise: The spirituality of peace,” and the suggested text is Acts 12:1-17. The church in Nepal has experienced prayer movements that come from times of unrest, loneliness, fear and dispersion that come from suffering.
“In Nepal there was persecution of Christian believers because of their faith,” write Hembrom and his team. “Some church leaders were killed, others were threatened by death. Churches were bombed. God’s people organized a chain of prayer and fasting. All the believers across the country of Nepal gathered in different places to pray together with one unified voice. The results were miraculous: many believers escaped persecution and were saved. Many of the persecutors found the peace and joy of trusting in Jesus. In Nepal we experienced firsthand the way in which Peter, Paul, and Silas were released from their chains, and at the same time the jailer and his whole family were saved.”
Resources are posted online at http://www.mwc-cmm.org/article/peace-sunday
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