We are living difficult days indeed!
Our communities are hurting, our country is hurting, our world is hurting. Hate, violence, discrimination, racism, and injustice are rampant. There is war and there are natural disasters all over the world—flooding, tornados, hurricanes, droughts and earthquakes, like the recent ones in Turkey and Syria that killed over 42,000 people.
There is chaos everywhere. Some of us, or our loved ones, are going through difficult illnesses, broken relationships, addictions, abuse, loss of family or friends, unemployment or lack of resources. There is so much trouble in this world.
Sometimes we feel that there is nothing we can do because it is quite overwhelming. But God calls each one of us to persevere in our faith, to trust in God, and to move into action and pray without ceasing.
God also calls us to pray as one body, the Body of Christ, to pray and intercede together for a hurting world. For this reason, I am inviting all church members of the Skylands District—clergy and laity alike—to gather on Saturday, May 13, for communal prayer and intercession.
Siblings in Christ, we have not gathered in person as the Skylands District for three years. This will be a great opportunity for us to pray together and have fellowship with one another.
Please join us on Saturday, May 13,, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Parsippany United Methodist Church, as we come together, both laity and clergy, for a prayer vigil. There is fracture and heartache on a global scale and in our nation and communities.
We will join together in prayer, song, and fellowship to lift our hearts, mind, and voices for the hurting world. This is an opportunity for members and friends of the Skylands District to come and pray together and seek the peace that our world so desperately needs.
The Rev. Eunice Vega-Perez is Superintendent of the Skylands District