CPTnet
December 30, 2004

IRAQ INVITATION TO PRAYER AND FASTING: December 30, 2004, "Children in
Exile"

An Invitation to Prayer
 CPT in Iraq invites you to join with us every Tuesday for a day of prayer
and fasting that will continue until Easter week. At 9am Eastern Standard
Time (1400GMT) on Tuesdays the team will gather for an hour of focused
prayer. You are invited to participate as you are led either by joining us
in fasting (the team will do a bread and water fast) and/or participating
with us a time of joint prayer -- Additionally we will provide an action
step(s) connected with the sacred passage that will be the focus for our
time of prayer together. If you are so led, the CPT Iraq team asks that you
participate in the suggested action between Tuesday and Thursday so we can
 be working together. We also created a web page where people can post
reflections that occur during their time of prayer. You will find a link
to
the website at the end of the release.

Tuesday, January 4, 2004
"Children in Exile"

(Matthew 2:13-15a)
"After the wise men left, an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and
said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and
remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child,
to destroy him. Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by
night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod."

Jesus spent some of his most formative years living in exile. Mary and
Joseph had to raise their child far from his native culture and people.
How difficult was it for him to return home?

Today, young soldiers are sent both willingly and unwillingly into the
exile of war. The stress of fear and combat, and the interior damage
soldiers sustain when they become killers, last far beyond the time of
deployment. How difficult is it for them to return home? How many, in their
hearts, remain in exile?

More than 1,200 soldiers have died, more than 21,000 have been wounded,
and more than 5,000 of the wounded have been too badly injured to return
to duty. According to a study conducted last year by the Walter Reed Army
Institute of Research, 16 percent of Marines and 17 percent of Army
soldiers showed symptoms of depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress
disorder after returning from Iraq. Those figures are probably
deceptively low, due to the shame connected with reporting a psychological
illness. Other soldiers experience increased rates of marital discord,
high-risk behavior and suicide attempts - all needing attention from a
veterans' healthcare system that has received no new funding since the Iraq
war began.

 ACTION STEP: Many soldiers and families of soldiers are organizing to say
"no" to the Iraq war and occupation, and are seeking alternative ways to
respond to international conflict. Choose one or more of the following
groups to research and support in whatever way you can.

Bring Them Home Now (http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/)
"Our troops are embroiled in a regional quagmire largely of our own
government's making. These military actions are not perceived as
liberations, but as occupations, and our troops are now subject to daily
attacks. Without just cause for war, we say bring the troops home now!"

Iraq Veterans Against the War (http://www.ivaw.net)
"Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is a group of veterans who have served
since September 11th, 2001 including Operation nduring Freedom and
Operation Iraqi Freedom. We are committed to saving lives and ending the
violence in Iraq by an immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces."

Military Families Speak Out (http://www.mfso.org)
"MFSO is an organization of people who are opposed to war in Iraq and who
have loved ones in the military. We were formed in November 2002 and have
contacts with military families throughout the United States, and in other
countries around the world."

For the UK:
Military Families Against the War (http://www.mfaw.org.uk)
"MFAW is an organization of people directly affected by the war in Iraq.
Our relatives and loved ones are members of the British Armed Services. We
are opposed to the continuing involvement of UK soldiers in a war that is
based on lies."

For Canadians:
Conscience Canada (http://members.shaw.ca/consciencecanada/index.html)
"As conscientious objectors to military taxation (COMTs), we choose to
follow the dictate of our conscience and refuse to pay for war. Our Peace
Tax Trust Fund allows people to divert the military portion of their
taxes, to be held in trust until there is a law respecting conscientious
objection to military taxation."

Others: Contact any of the above organizations to offer a word of
encouragement. Let them know that people from other countries appreciate
their bold witness in very difficult circumstances.

Website for posting now available: CPT in Iraq has begun a web log found at
http://prayerandactionforiraq.blogspot.com. We encourage you to post any
insights that may have come to your during your times of prayer and
action, so that we may encourage each other's spiritual growth.

To post a comment on our web log, follow these steps:
1) Scroll down to the bottom of the posting you wish to comment on.
2) Click on the place that shows the number of comments made on the
posting. 3) Scroll to the bottom of that page and click where is says,
"Post a comment."