Dear friends,

Over the last few days, violence in Ethiopia has killed 67 people and wounded many others. (Read more at Reuters and the New York Times.) In light of this situation, I want to invite you to stop and pray with me for peace and justice in Ethiopia. If you’re not a person who prays, I hope these simple words can serve as a reflection for cultivating empathy and care for others in the midst of suffering. If you do pray, consider writing your own prayer for Ethiopia and others who are suffering violence, loss, and grief.

Yours with love and sorrow from Addis,

Andrew

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Our Father in heaven,

Please have mercy on our many sisters and brothers who have been killed and taken from us.

Please embrace and comfort those who are grieving and heartbroken with unbearable loss.

Please sustain and restore the injured and traumatized and those who are caring for them.

Please protect and sooth those who are filled with fear and still in danger for their lives.

Please give discipline and courage to the police and military who are seeking to restore the rule of law and peace.

Please bring to justice and heal our brothers and sisters who have killed their neighbors and poisoned themselves with hate and violence.

Please convict our leaders to be servants of peace and justice for all people. Deliver them from arrogance, prejudice, revenge, and hunger for power.

Please awaken and energize each one of us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Give us the strength to love mercy, seek justice, and walk humbly together. Make hateful words, violent deeds, and the destruction of others sickening to our souls. Help us to see and treat each person as our neighbor.

We pause, breathe, and say Yes to your call to be peacemakers.

We pray this with grief and hope in your love,
Amen