Minnesota–Francis Sayre

The Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr. (1915 — 2008) was Dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. for 27 years.

O God by whose timeless care earth is furnished, we praise Thee for livelihood and leisure so amply framed in welcome Minnesota.

For sheer delight hast Thou spangled her land with ten thousand mirrors of glory;

For the need of life dost Thou bring forth sturdy grain for the millers grist, to bind Thy love to our bread;

And if after Thee we would builders be, then thanks for the mountains of iron that we may exchange for sinews of steel.

Where Thou hast gone before, O blessed Father, let us follow after: to the headwaters of Thy mercy and the harbor of Thy might; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hat tip: The Anglican Digest

The Lord’s Resistance Army

President Barack Obama announced to Congress his decision to send about 100 U.S. troops to central Africa to help battle a rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army. We have prayed much for the destruction of the Lord’s Resistance Army on this blog.
I don’t often address Satan in spiritual warfare prayers, but Psalm 149 teaches us that it is our honor to execute the Lord’s judgment. This is a previous spiritual warfare prayer.–JW

We praise You, Lord, and rejoice in Your glory. We speak new prayers and sing new songs in adoration. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. You will beautify the meek with salvation.

Who is President Joseph Kony that he should indiscriminately slaughter Your children? Who defies the living God by using His name in the service of death? The LRA has abducted, enslaved, raped, maimed, and killed Your children.

Let the high praises of You be in our mouths and the two-edged sword of Holy Scripture in our hands.

God has exalted Jesus to the highest place and given him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We who believe in Jesus Christ exercise our authority to establish God’s kingdom on earth. We declare to all the mountains and obstacles that block the dismantling and dissolution of the Lord’s Resistance Army, “Become a plain.”

Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. We say, “Devil, get under our feet and crawl on Your belly. Eat our dust because that is the only thing you are allowed to eat. We bind Your rulers, authorities, powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms with chains and fetters of iron.”

Oh, Lord, it is Your good pleasure to give gifts to Your children. You want us to ask and seek. Withdraw Your sword from its scabbard and command it to destroy this evil stronghold.

Take pity on Your children. Take pity. Amen.

Psalm 89:14; 149; Jeremiah 47:6-7, Philippians 2:9-11, 1 John 3:8, Genesis 3:14, Luke 11:9-10

Matthew 12:18-21

“Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,” (Matthew 12:18a)
      Father, please help us choose what you have chosen.

“My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!” (Matthew 12:18b)
      Father, help us love those whom you love and find pleasure in what pleases you.

“I will put My Spirit upon Him,” (Matthew 12:18c)
      Holy Spirit, come upon us as well.

“And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.” (Matthew 12:18d)
      LORD, let your justice run down like water and your righteousness like a mighty stream in the Episcopal Church (see Amos 5:24).

“He will not quarrel nor cry out,” (Matthew 12:19a)
      Jesus, let your peace that passes all understanding fill our hearts and minds.

“Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.” (Matthew 12:19b)
      Holy Spirit, help us hear when Jesus speaks to us.

“A bruised reed He will not break,” (Matthew 12:20a)
      Father, please help us bind up the bruised and broken-hearted.

“And smoking flax He will not quench,” (Matthew 12:20b)
      Jesus, don’t let us quench the fire of your Holy Spirit — help us fan it into flame.

“Till He sends forth justice to victory;” (Matthew 12:20c)
      Jesus, win the victory in us; help us bring forth your justice and mercy in the diocese and in this land. Bring forth your justice and mercy in Haiti and in every place where there is trafficking in children.

“And in His name Gentiles will trust.” (Matthew 12:21)
      Holy Spirit, help all those who do not know Jesus come to place their trust in him. Thank you.

A word received: Let me carry your heavy burden.

STUDY GUIDE: SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 06, October 23, 2011
Theme Verse: 19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22)
Readings: Matthew 22:34-46; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20; Exodus 22:21-27; Psalm 1
Memory Verse: “Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)
Next Week: Matthew 21:1-12; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13; Micah 3:5-12; Psalm 43

      Gospel: Matthew 22:34-46

A word received: The order is important: first, loving me, and second, loving your neighbor. Love that does not begin with me can produce all sorts of evil.

      Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20

A word received: Paul is a living model of the order of love in the gospel. His love for me compels him through every danger and hardship. His love for the Thessalonians shines forth with love for me.

      Old Testament: Exodus 22:21-27

A word received: My love should be shown forth in the way you treat the widow, the orphan and the poor among you. If you say you love me, then show forth love to the little ones and to the lost among you. Look around you — they are everywhere around you.

      Psalm: Psalm 1

A word received: Look at the way love is to be lived out. You cannot mock my little ones and say that you love me. One of the ways my righteousness is lived out is by the way you treat my little ones.

Thursday: 37:1-18 * 37:19-42; Ezra 1:1-11 1 Cor. 16:1-9 Matthew 12:15-21
Friday: 31 * 35; Ezra 3:1-13 1 Cor. 16:10-24 Matthew 12:22-32

      Notes from the Front Line

***** Please pray for David Gough, CMS Ireland as he travels to Egypt, South Sudan and, for the first time with CMS Ireland, to 3 Partner Dioceses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
      20th October Thursday, 08.00, Diocesan staff and meeting with Bishop Bahati, Confirmed

Albany Intercessor

Oregon–Francis Sayre

The Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr. (1915 — 2008) was Dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. for 27 years.

Author of all majesty, how bright is Thy glory upon the land of Oregon! Blessed be the trees upon their hills, the valleys in their verdure, and the dry places waiting their turn of fertility.

Praise be to Thee for the precious gift of rain: Drawn into heaven from the sea, caught again upon the snowy peaks, returning fruitfully down the strong rivers giving life to Thy people in their orchards and city places. May their lives be likewise lifted to Thee, and blessed, and sent again to do Thy service upon earth.

So may the land be renewed, and the souls of Thy servants; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hat tip: The Anglican Digest

Senator Mark Hatfield

Mark Odom Hatfield (1922 – 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. He served for 30 years as a United States Senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

An excerpt from an introduction of a resolution for a national day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer:

We are in need of repentance. Our claims of righteousness as individuals, and as a nation, deceive only ourselves. We remember the words of the prophet Amos: “I hate, I despise your feasts, and your solemn assemblies, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take away from me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your viols. But let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:21-24)

South Carolina

Colossians 3:1-2
You have been raised to life with Christ, so set your hearts on the things that are in heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right side of God. Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth.

Triune God,
The river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, flows from the throne of God and the Lamb. Christ Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the great descendant of David. We kneel at his throne and sing

You are worthy to take the scroll and to break open its seals.
For you were killed, and by your sacrificial death you bought for God people from every tribe, language, nation, and race.
You have made them a kingdom of priests to serve our God,
and they shall rule on earth. The Lamb who was killed is worthy
to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and strength, honor, glory, and praise!

May the praises to God resound over the land as living water flows from the throne of God and wells up in the hearts of Your children in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.
Bring the lowcountry up higher, Lord.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done along the Little Pee Dee, Waccamaw, Great Pee Dee, Lynches, Black, Santee, Wateree, Congaree, North Fork Edisto, South Fork Edisto, Edisto, Ashepoo, Salkehatchie, Combahee, and Savannah Rivers. Amen.

Lamentations 2:8-15

The LORD has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line; he has not withdrawn his hand from destroying; therefore he has caused the rampart and wall to lament; they languished together. (Lamentations 2:8 )
      LORD, the walls that protected your church and your people have been cast down and your people languish.

Her gates have sunk into the ground; he has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the LORD. (Lamentations 2:9)
      Father, your word and your law are regarded as nothing, our leaders and teachers in the Episcopal Church speak false visions.

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and keep silence; they throw dust on their heads and gird themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground. (Lamentations 2:10)
      Jesus, your faithful people mourn for your church — have mercy on us.

My eyes fail with tears, my heart is troubled; my bile is poured on the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the children and the infants faint in the streets of the city. (Lamentations 2:11)
      Lord, we are troubled by the events in the Episcopal Church — give us your peace and the comfort of your Holy Spirit.

They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” As they swoon like the wounded in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out in their mothers’ bosom. (Lamentations 2:12)
      Holy Spirit, feed your people with your word. Anoint the preaching in the Diocese of Albany and in the Diocese of South Carolina and in all your faithful parishes.

How shall I console you? to what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is spread wide as the sea; who can heal you? (Lamentations 2:13)
      Jesus, you are our healer and the healer of your church. Come soon, Lord Jesus; come soon!

Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions. (Lamentations 2:14)
      Father, shut the mouths of all those who speak false visions and words to your people.

All who pass by clap their hands at you; they hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that is called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?” (Lamentations 2:15)
      Lord, many mock your church and your people. Restore us to the beauty of holiness and let the good news shine forth among us.

A word received: Pray for my heart and my mind to be in you.

A word received: Take my yoke upon you and find the freedom of my service.

Wednesday: 38 * 119:25-48; Lam. 2:8-15 1 Cor. 15:51-58 Matthew 12:1-14
Thursday: 37:1-18 * 37:19-42; Ezra 1:1-11 1 Cor. 16:1-9 Matthew 12:15-21

      Notes from the Front Line

***** Please pray for David Gough, CMS Ireland as he travels to Egypt, South Sudan and, for the first time with CMS Ireland, to 3 Partner Dioceses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
      19th October Wednesday, 07.00 , Bukavu Archdeaconry visits, MU, schools and other projects, Confirmed

Albany Intercessor

Kansas–Francis Sayre

The Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr. (1915 — 2008) was Dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. for 27 years.

Open day, open land;
Open face, open heart;
So hast Thou made Kansas and her children, Lord.

Homesteads for weather,
Hands for work;
Fibre of human souls
Thou hast winnowed on the prairie.

Bless that free soil, O God,
Her hills of flint,
Her miles of wheat,
Her flowers in the sun,
And steady servants of Thine unswerving truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hat tip: The Anglican Digest

Governor Sam Brownback

Samuel Dale “Sam” Brownback is the current Governor of Kansas. He served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative from 1995 to 1996.

When jogging one night, he stopped and spoke to a group of intercessors in front of the US Supreme Court:

It doesn’t take a majority to change history. It only takes a remnant.

Praying for the Bishop Election in Central Florida

There is just about one month remaining now until the election of a new bishop for the Diocese of Central Florida. The election is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 19.

All the materials on the search process and the candidates can be found here.

We’ll try to post regular prayers here in the coming month. Today, let’s join the Diocese in praying the prayer for the search process which they have been praying over the past few months:

A Prayer to Guide [their] Search

Be with [the Diocese of Central Florida] and guide [them], Holy Spirit of God, as [they] seek your will for the future of [their] Diocese. Help [them] to discern the needs and hopes of your people in Central Florida, so that [their] search for a Bishop may proceed with clear vision and joyful obedience. We pray through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Matthew 11:25-30

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” (Matthew 11:25)
      Holy Father, “wise and prudent” normally seem like good characteristics, but Jesus is saying something else here. Help us to get past cold calculations and find the freedom to go into your arms that babes have. Thank you.

“Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight.” (Matthew 11:26)
      Father, please give us eyes to see as you see, to weigh things in the balance as you do.

“All things have been delivered to me by my father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27)
      Jesus, please help us enter into the life of that heavenly banquet and fellowship that you share with your father and the Holy Spirit.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 )
      Holy Spirit, help us lay our burdens at the foot of the Jesus’ cross and enter into his rest.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29)
      Jesus, help us learn from you and take on your character and find rest for our souls.

“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30)
      
      Holy Spirit, set us free from being stiff-necked and wanting our own way; help us take on Jesus’ yoke and lay aside all the needless burdens and baggage we have picked up in life. Thank you.

Tuesday: 26, 28 * 36, 39; Lam. 1:1-5(6-9)10-12 1 Cor. 15:41-50 Matthew 11:25-30
Wednesday: 38 * 119:25-48; Lam. 2:8-15 1 Cor. 15:51-58 Matthew 12:1-14

      Notes from the Front Line

***** Please pray for David Gough, CMS Ireland as he travels to Egypt, South Sudan and, for the first time with CMS Ireland, to 3 Partner Dioceses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
      18th October Tuesday, 07.00, Goma to Bukavu by boat, Welcome meetings, Confirmed

***** The Athanasian Creed
      Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father Uncreate, the Son Uncreate, and the Holy Ghost Uncreate. The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible. The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Eternal and yet they are not Three Eternals but One Eternal. As also there are not Three Uncreated, nor Three Incomprehensibles, but One Uncreated, and One Uncomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not Three Almighties but One Almighty.
      So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not Three Lords but One Lord. For, like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be Three Gods or Three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

      So there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.

      Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting Salvation, that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.
      God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the substance of His mother, born into the world. Perfect God and Perfect Man, of a reasonable Soul and human Flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood. Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but One Christ. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into Flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by Unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one Man, so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.

Albany Intercessor

West Virginia–Francis Sayre

The Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr. (1915 — 2008) was Dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. for 27 years.

Shine, O Lord, upon the homely mosaic of West Virginia’s land: Upon her steep-hewn hills and angled draws, her maple-strewn valleys and ridges clad in mountain rhododendron.

Shine, Lord, upon her citizens, armed only with freedom, scrappers all for such measure of dignity as fearlessness and faith may win.

Shine, O God, into those deep recesses where Thou hast hidden abundant riches, that those who dig in the earth, and those who watch for their return, may know the radiance of Thy light and the safety of Thy love.

Bright be the cleansing fire of Thy truth in the hearts of the people, and in the public weal of their common life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hat tip: The Anglican Digest

The Daily Office as a Means of Grace

I (Karen) don’t get time to do much blog reading these days, but every now and again I’ll skim through the “Around the Web” section at Stand Firm.

One blog listed there, Creedal Christian, has now twice recently caught my eye with EXCELLENT posts on the Daily Office.

The first post on Sept. 7th that I noted was: Bringing Each Day Captive to Christ Through the Daily Office .

an excerpt:

Open the Book of Common Prayer to its first rites. There you will find a demand and promise of remarkable ambition: the unending cycle of daily prayer. The features of this daily prayer epitomize the spiritual drama of the Christian life, both in goal and in focus, for the ambition to mark each day grows out of a faith in Jesus Christ as the Alpha and Omega. We are to dwell in him, and to do so each day must brought captive to Christ.

We should not imagine that this ambition is optional or peripheral to the Christian life. Daily communal prayer, or what the Anglican tradition (following the lead of the larger Western tradition) calls the Daily Office, serves as the engine of intimacy. …

An opening sentence for Morning Prayer expresses the need for daily prayer: “Watch, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep” (Mark 13:35-36). We are warned, rightly, against our tendency to sleep-walk through the life of faith. Prayer morning and evening responds to the exhortations found in the book of Isaiah: “Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion! Put on your beautiful garments” (52:1). The Daily Office stands as the primary means by which the church might make us wakeful and watchful.

 

Newly posted is the entry The Daily Office as a Means of Grace

An excerpt:

Reading the Bible in accordance with the lectionary and in the context of the liturgies of Morning and Evening Prayer is a disciplined yet powerful way to encounter the living Christ in our daily lives. And, as The Rector’s Corner notes, the canticles – the songs of praise read or sung in thankful response to the scripture readings – help to facilitate that encounter:

The canticles … provide a response to the lesson just read. They remind us the scriptures are not “data” to be consumed but encounters with God, moments of transformation to be pondered and integrated into our full being.

The Latin for “office” is officium meaning “service” or “duty.” And so the Daily Office is one’s Daily Service or Daily Duty. The ordination vows do not explicitly require clergy in the Episcopal Church to read the Daily Office, but it is one of the most reliable and deeply Anglican ways to fulfill the promise to “persevere in prayer.”

 

Please go read both pieces in full.  I pray today that the Lord would help me, and each one reading this blog, to allow the Lord to use the Daily Office as “an engine” of ever increased intimacy with Him, helping us to be alert to His voice and attuned to His heart.

-Karen

Matthew 11:16-24

“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not lament.’” (Matthew 11:16-17)
      Holy Spirit, please bring us and your church to maturity. So many in the church expect Jesus to dance to their tune and their agenda. Help us recognize the folly of such expectations and behavior and repent of that.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” (Matthew 11:18-19)
      Father, help us repent of our hardness of heart. You have sent the witness of your prophets to your people and they have rejected them. You have sent the witness of your son to your people and they have mocked and killed him. Father, our human wisdom leads us into such folly — help us repent and accept your Living Word to us.

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” (Matthew 11:20-21)
      Woe to you, Episcopal Church! Many mighty deeds have been done in you and you and your leaders and teachers have hardened your hearts against the Living Word, Jesus. Have mercy on us.

“But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.” (Matthew 11:22)
      Jesus, help the people of the Episcopal Church, its leaders and teachers and all who have been led astray by political correctness to repent and return to you.

“And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” (Matthew 11:23-24)
      LORD, the Episcopal Church is filled with so many Lot’s wives who are dying by looking back (see Genesis 20:26) at what is being destroyed and dead. Send your witnesses to the Diocese of Albany and the Diocese of South Carolina as you did to Lot in Sodom and guide us by your word. Thank you.

Additional words received on Sunday’s Communion lessons:
      Gospel: Matthew 22:15-22
A word received: Look at the whole chapter.
A word received: I want my people to come to me. They can come to me as they are — full of sin and selfishness, but they must come to me on my terms — with hearts that are open to me and my word.

      Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
A word received: Ask the people to share times of joy in the midst of affliction and suffering.

      Psalm: Psalm 96:1-9
A word received: How I long for my people to come to me and give me themselves.

Monday: 25 * 9, 15; Jer. 44:1-14 1 Cor. 15:30-41 Matthew 11:16-24
Tuesday: 26, 28 * 36, 39; Lam. 1:1-5(6-9)10-12 1 Cor. 15:41-50 Matthew 11:25-30

      Notes from the Front Line

***** Please pray for David Gough, CMS Ireland as he travels to Egypt, South Sudan and, for the first time with CMS Ireland, to 3 Partner Dioceses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
      17th October Monday, 07.00, Fly back to Goma — stay in Goma overnight, Confirmed

***** Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011
From: Patti Gibbons
Subject: Haiti: When words can not be allowed to fail
Dear Torre,
This is my blog post about the orphans; it has links to the details. I’m also attaching a photo of “Dodo” and I from last January (he is the boy in the striped shirt). Thank you for raising your voice for these little ones!
In Christ, Patti

Haiti: When words can not be allowed to fail via the intersection of life and grace by patti on 10/16/11 http://pattigibbons.com/?p=1257&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pattigibbons%2FmQZg+%28pattigibbons.com%29

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Often attributed to Edmund Burke, the sentence above has been running through my mind as frequently as I think of Haiti. In the past 24 hours, between bouts of intense agony and anger, it has been at the top of my mind. I must speak because this evil can not triumph. But, I’m ahead of myself.

Last winter I travelled to Haiti [see my posts about that trip here] to serve the people of Port-au-Prince as they struggled to recover from the earthquake of January 12, 2010. Among the locations at which we ministered to children was an orphanage called Son of God. I sensed something was wrong there, more than just poverty, very quickly after our arrival. The children were more than just eager for attention, they were desperate for it. They held on so tightly, as though to say, “Don’t leave me here.” They were sick, malnourished, improperly clothed, and the glimpses of their sleeping areas were frightening. Children I’d seen in friends’ photos of the same place were not present. This was more than post-quake situational poverty. My second visit confirmed that my sense of the place was not simply initial shock. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t back it up.

Yesterday I read a blog post in which Seth Barnes of Adventures in Missions http://adventures.org/ requested help in spreading the word about the dire situation existing at the Son of God Orphanage in Carrefour, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The same orphanage our group visited. The information Seth shared is the culmination of a year-long investigation regarding the orphanage, the welfare of the children there, and those charged with their care. From Seth’s post:

Backed by corrupt government officials, an orphanage we work with in Carrefour/Port-au-Prince, Haiti has been trafficking its orphans.

Suspecting foul play, we’ve been investigating for the last year. We’ve not been ready to go to the media until we had the facts.

As a result, the orphanage director is now in jail, but the 75 children left in the orphanage are still in danger. A worker said, “The kids are in terrible condition — the doctor gave them some prescriptions, but we doubt that the medicine will ever be administered to the children. Instead, the medicine will probably be sold.”

Please click here to read the facts revealed on Seth’s blog. http://www.sethbarnes.com/?filename=help-stop-haitian-officials-from-trafficking-orphans The information requires us to act; 75 children are in imminent danger and many are complicit in their circumstances. Read it and then consider to whom you will tell this story. “No one” is not an option. Thus far, I have emailed several reporters, my senators and congressman. I have told the story to many at my church and a wider audience via my social media accounts. I will not stop telling their story and I dare you to tell it too. These children have no voice of their own and they are desperate for you to lend them yours.

This situation is an extraordinarily painful one, especially for Americans. We can not throw money at this problem because money will not fix the corruption of the human hearts at whose sinful inclination these children have been starved, left ill and improperly clothed, educated or loved. To stop the crimes of humanity, humanity must intervene.

Speak.

Speak now.

I do not exaggerate when I say their very lives depend upon our voices.

Albany Intercessor

Nevada–Francis Sayre

The Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr. (1915 — 2008) was Dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. for 27 years.

Thou Lord who pleased to pierce the sky and furrow earth in such wild abandon, give Thy servants to endure the pursuit of Thy glory, which Thou has tumbled upon the untamed vastness of Nevada.

Bless the liveliness of water stored upon her snow-clad slopes, and melted in her shining reservoirs. Bless the veins of treasure girt within her rocky soil. Bless Thy children all, who come seeking peace as a cool draught in a dry land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hat tip: The Anglican Digest