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September 2008
1 September is National Disaster Preparedness month. Ask God's guidance as you talk through your family preparedness plan and speak with members of your church council about congregational planning. Ask God for the safekeeping of all communities from natural disasters.
2 Thank God for ELCA members who are utilizing the wisdom and skills they develop in lay training programs offered by their synods. Those serving in Pennsylvania include Pat McCaughtry and Judi Rogers, who facilitate prayer workshops, and Pete Luedke, who leads a men’s Bible study group.
3 Pray for godparents and baptismal sponsors and for your congregation in its role as support to those who are growing in their baptismal faith. May all take seriously and joyfully this calling to nurture children and adults in Christ.
4 Pray for Pastors John and Valerie Peterson, serving in Hong Kong, John as interim pastor of a Chinese congregation who is also developing an interim ministry program, and Valerie as pastor of a group of Filipino migrant workers and resource on liturgy and worship in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hong Kong.
5 Pray for families and individuals who find shelter in homes and facilities operated by Lutheran social services throughout the country, that they may be helped to find permanent homes.
6 Give thanks for Judy McGuire, who serves as the director of Christian education for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Guyana. Pray that her time on home assignment is blessed as she shares her story with ELCA congregations.
7 17th Sunday After Pentecost
Gracious God, look with favor upon the people of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, that, in the midst of great change, they may find hope and peace.
8 International Literacy Day
Pray for the staff of the ELCA Vocation and Education unit and for all who facilitiate education for our daily callings as Christians in ELCA preschools, schools, colleges and seminaries.
9 Lift up in prayer Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church, North Ridgeville, Ohio, and their developer, Pastor Glenn Zimbelman. This new satellite ministry of Messiah, Fairview Park, is inviting people to “Come and see” the wonderful works of God."
10 Pray for the ministry of the Rev. Stephanie Quick, who serves as pastor to two congregations in the Lutheran Church of Costa Rica. Ask that she continues to find great joy in her work and shares that joy with the people in the depths of suffering that she reaches out to.
11 Pray for architects, designers, engineers, artists and stylists, that their work may bring to many the satisfactions of functionality, beauty, safety and efficiency, as well as appreciation for God's gift of creativity.
12 Give thanks for the Young Adults in Global Mission who have completed their orientation and are stepping out of their comfort zones to go out into the world. Ask God to assure them of the Holy Spirit's continued presence with them.
13 Pray for grandparents, friends and neighbors who are following their calls to love children. Pray especially for those who have taken on major parenting roles while sacrificing their own needs and desires.
14 Holy Cross Day
We pray, gracious God, that the churches of Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania may be your instruments of reconciliation, both locally and in the wider world.
15 Pray for the Rev. Kim Erno as he serves as the director of the Lutheran Center in Mexico City, where participants experience the reality of the poor; reflect on the root causes of this reality; see hope for transformation and return home recommitted to the Gospel.
16 International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
Pray for those who make, maintain and repair the equipment and machines we depend on for daily life. May the mechanics, assemblers, designers, service technicians, inventers, maintenance staff and help desk personnel find joy in carrying out their callings and help in the stewardship of creation.
17 Pray that Joyful Life Lutheran Church, The Woodlands, Texas, will be able to move forward quickly with its building plans and meet the deadlines for land usage. Joyful Life, organized a year ago as a congregation of the ELCA, is led by the Rev. Scott Cigich.
18 Give thanks for the work that God is accomplishing in Honduras through Janet Alcantara. Janet members of the Lutheran Church in Honduras realize their dream of a women’s development program. Ask that the love and joy in her service is abounding in the face of limited resources.
19 Pray for The Church of Steadfast Love, a mission development within the main Compass Center building under a Seattle viaduct, and for Pastor Kristy Daniels, that the participants, who are from the streets, shelters, low-income housing, and the Men’s Transitional Housing Program, will continue to have stronger relationships with Jesus.
20 Rejoice with families receiving children into their homes through international adoption programs of Lutheran social ministry organizations. Pray that these new relationships will flourish and all may be wrapped in loving support by members of their congregations.
21 Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
We give you thanks, God of the ages, for the long history of the church in Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Grant wisdom, strength and grace to the continued witness of the churches and continue to guide the companion relationships among the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States and the ELCA Central States and Northwest Washington Synods.
22 International Day of Peace
Give God thanks for Mark and Linda Jacobson of Tanzania, where Mark serves as the director of the Selian Lutheran Hospital, and Linda serves as chair of the board of the local international school and helps widows to become financially independent. Pray for peace in healing within the Lutheran church in Tanzania, that the conflicts and division it faces may be reconciled.
23 Rejoice in prayer with Pastor Timothy Fong and Lutheran Church of the Way, Richardson, Texas, which is showing exciting signs of growth. Their summer programs attracted mostly non-Christians, many of whom had never encountered the Christian faith. New people are now coming to worship and adults and children are being baptized.
24 As our brothers and sisters in Jamaica continue to struggle in the fight against HIV and AIDS, and as they work to turn violence into peace, pray for hope. Remember Pastor David and Mary Kuck as they walk with the people of Jamaica, teaching them and sharing God’s love at the United Theological College of the West Indies, where they serve as teachers and mentors.
25 Give thanks for Sharonette and Nathan Bowman, who continue to live out Christ’s love in Japan by caring for those who are suffering and in need. Ask that their strength persists and that the Gospel they live and preach might reach those in Japan who have yet to hear the words of our Lord.
26 Pray for Pastor Brian Konkol and his new wife Kristen as they begin serving as country coordinators for the new Young Adults in Global Missions program in Cape Town, South Africa.
27 Ask God’s abundant blessings for mission developer Mathewos Tefera Shibo, and the Oromo Evangelical Christian Mission. This Synodically Authorized Worshipping Community is serving sisters and brothers in Christ recently relocated from Ethiopia to the Philadelphia area.
28 19th Sunday After Pentecost
God of all kindness, we pray that you may gather the people of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into your protective arms, especially as they face numerous challenges in their lives.
29 St. Michael and All Angels
Ask that, as Michael and the angels contend against the cosmic forces of evil, so members of congregations and staff and volunteers of agencies and institutions of the ELCA may, with confidence in God, contend against the earthly evils they face every day.
30 World Maritime Day
Give thanks to God for Lutheran Maritime Ministries, caring for seafarers, who spend most of their time in international waters, thousands of miles away from home, in a terribly lonely existence. Through LMM we reach out to them as children of God with gifts that provide warmth, comfort and the Good News of God's love for them.
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