Embrace’s partners

Images, left to right: 1) Therapy session at the Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre; 2) Special education class at Tahaddi, Lebanon; 3) Physical therapy session at Al-Kafaat, Lebanon; 4) Musalaha brings together Muslim and Christian women in Palestine; 5) A nurse training session at Harpur Memorial Hospital, Egypt (credit: David Uttley, Compelling Story)

This week, we are praying for the hundreds of people who work for our partner organisations across the Middle East. These inspiring people use their expertise and compassion to change the lives of vulnerable people in their own communities. Every day, we are humbled by their courage and self-sacrifice.

Thanks to your generosity, we support over 50 health, education and community development projects, bringing vital services to those at risk of marginalisation and exclusion. Yet this would not be possible without the creative and skilled people in our partner organisations, who are inspired by the Gospel and strive to transform lives for the better.

Partnership is at the very centre of Embrace’s vision of transformation. We count it an incredible privilege to partner with Middle East Christians and we invite you to join us in prayer for our brothers and sisters working in many challenging and pressured contexts.

Bible reading

‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’

Matthew 5:14-16

Thought

In these verses from Jesus’ famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’, our Lord reminds us that as believers we are the light of the world. Notice that this is not a command – it is a simple statement of fact. The command comes later, when we are exhorted to let our light shine before others. The staff in Embrace’s partner organisations are doing just this; they are choosing to actively live out their faith and shine brightly in the communities where God has placed them.

Ask yourself: Think about another Christian you admire and respect. In what ways does their light shine before others?

Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

-Saint Francis of Assisi

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