Our Caring for Children
September 15th we began our Prayer Vigil for Children. Each year our congregation takes part in this event as we lead up to celebrating Children's Sabbath on October 20th because we are committed to caring for children…ours and others.
Our first week fell on an anniversary date none can forget, September 11th. The colors we chose for the day were red, white and blue and the video presentation returned many of us mentally to that fateful day so long ago. The voice-over for this video was a project one family took on as a means of making sure we remember the tremendous toll those events were on families. A young girl whose father was lost in one of the towers wrote a letter to her dad shortly after the event…then at the 5 year anniversary and then at 10. Our world changed that day, not only for the children who lost family members but all children across our nation. The relative security we once knew was forever gone within minutes and the world our children now know looks nothing like the world of our youth. These are the children for whom we pray.
Our second week into the prayer vigil we are mindful of tremendous tragedies in Syria and those most innocent of all…the children. Thousands are displaced, living as refugees in a foreign land and many have lost loved ones or suffered injuries as a result of struggles that have no meaning to them. Throughout the ages children suffer most from the conflicts of adults…and adults continue…feeding greed and striving for power all the while ignorant, or at the very least not cognizant, of those tender ones who are hurt, afraid and confused.
The photographs are not always easy to view…the music a poignant call for our hearts to stir and for emotions to erupt, but the cause is just. If we can maintain a focus on these little ones, ours and others, then perhaps we can become more intentional about becoming peacemakers and healers in this hurting world…following in the footsteps of Christ…teaching others to be instruments of Christ’s peace as we go.
The Children’s Sabbath Planning team consists of some very passionate and very creative young women (we invited men, but none were able to join us) whose combined efforts have not only brought you information regarding our focus on children during this season, but also provided you with incredibly moving worship experiences. Please join me in thanking Allison Smith, Emily Thompson and Andrea Underwood for their love of children and their dedication to our faith family as well as their constant reminders to us that we are a “Disciples Cares for Children” congregation.
Blessings,
Tracy