Litanies for refugees

Litany for refugees I

Leader: Lord Jesus, who fled the wrath of Herod.
All: Be with those who have to flee the injustice of others.
Leader: Lord Jesus, who had nowhere to lay your head.
All: Be with those who have no land to call their own.
Leader: For the refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan.
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
Leader: For people uprooted in South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Colombia.
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
Leader: For refugees and displaced persons who have fled from Somalia, Eritrea and Libya.
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
Leader: For all refugees who have fled oppression in their own countries and are seeking new lives in new lands.
All: Lord, hear our prayer.
All: Help us, Lord, to find room at the inn for those who are far from home. Amen.

Adapted from World Council of Churches Worship Resources, Focus on Refugee, 1981 in ‘Our hospitality both reflects and participates in God’s hospitality.’ - Minnesota Council of Churches

Litany for refugees II

Leader: God of Exiles, Shelter of the Homeless:
All: You welcome all into the arms of your love.
Leader: To all who wander, with no place to call home,
All: You offer shelter and rest.
Leader: To all who thirst;
All: You offer springs of living water.
Leader: To all who hunger, in body or spirit;
All: You offer bread, the fruit of the earth and the gift of human hands.
Leader: Your table is long and wide;
All: With room for all your children.
Leader: Many have shared with us the gift of hospitality;
All: Help us to go and do likewise.
Leader: And, most of all, O God our Creator;
All: We give you thanks that in You we find our home.

Adapted from 'Hospitality to the Uprooted,’ Interfaith Worship, November 1998 in ‘Our hospitality both reflects and participates in God’s hospitality.’ - Minnesota Council of Churches

We pray for all those who are uprooted,
who are hunted, who are fleeing for their lives,
and who so often find only closed borders,
closed doors, and closed faces.

We pray for the women and men,
the children and the elderly
who seek to find safety and solace
and who yearn to begin new lives.

We pray for those who pass by,
who would rather not hear the pleading
or see the fear or recognise
the human being in need of help.

Out of the depths we cry to you,
awaken in us all the potential
which may become your means
of answering the prayers of others.

O Lord, hear our prayer.
Amen.

Source: Adapted from ‘The Worship Book of the Global Ecumenical Consultation on Forced Displacement of People,’ Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1995 in ‘Our hospitality both reflects and participates in God’s hospitality.’ - Minnesota Council of Churches