The United Nations refugee agency says almost 100,000 people have fled the fighting in Libya and gone to Tunisia and Egypt. The situation is now seen as a "humanitarian emergency." Many of these people are poor contract workers carrying what they could grab as they left.

And so we pray this news with a responsive prayer, "In Solidarity with Uprooted People," from the World Council of Churches.

Leader: Today we bring into the shelter of our prayer all those who have been uprooted from their homes and communities.

All:people who are compelled to flee for their lives,
to leave their land and culture,
brand live apart from their families.
With them, we mourn their loss of dignity, community,
resources, and employment.
(Pause to give individuals a chance to mention immigrants and refugees by name.)

Leader: We especially pray for women who are the majority of those displaced.

All: We remember women who keep families together in spite of the overwhelming odds of poverty, hostility, and violence.
(Pause to mention individuals by name.)
We remember women who have been sexually assaulted and brutalized on their journey to find a living wage to sustain themselves and their families.
(Pause to mention individuals by name.)
We remember women who have lost children to sickness, hunger, and exposure in flight, in refugee camps and in gang-plagued neighborhoods.
(Pause to mention individuals by name.)

Leader: We remember refugee and immigrant children.

All: the millions whose lives are scarred by danger, exploitation, desperate poverty and separation from parents.
(Pause to mention children by name.)

Leader: God of Mercy and Compassion, You meet us on the way and abide with us always.

All: Help us find ways to stand with our sisters and brothers who simply want a chance to survive and prosper in their home countries. And when there is no such chance or when it is painfully slow in coming, help us act with compassion, care and commitment so as to be the tent in which they can be restored in your loving presence and find safe shelter among us.
(Pause to mention by name people and organizations who are havens for immigrants and refugees.)

All: Amen.


Next Post: Prayers For Gaddafi and Protesters in Libya