CPTnet
November 25, 2004

IRAQ INVITATION TO PRAYER AND FASTING: November 30, 2004, "They rejoiced
exceedingly"

 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, November 30, 2004: "They rejoiced exceedingly"

The Visit of the Wise Men

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the
king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he
who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and
have come to worship him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes
of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They
told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

"'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
   for from you shall come a ruler
   who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what
time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and
search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word,
that I too may come and worship him." After listening to the king, they
went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went
before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When
they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into
the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and
worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold
and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to
Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Matthew 2:1- 12 English Standard Version (ESV)

Suggested Action Step:

Send Christmas greetings to our ambassador in Iraq, John Negroponte. You
may mail a card or letter to the address noted below. We would like to
encourage the ambassador to recognize the message of Christmas is one of
peace, hope and joy, not one of violence, fear and suffering. Note that The
story the three wisemen in Matthew's gospel teaches us that influential
people can recognize their limitations when in the presence of the divine.
We ask our Jewish readers to consider sending Channukah greetings to him and
our Muslim readers might want to consider the passage on the birth of the
Prophet Jesus (3:45-49) or other passages in the Qu'ran that relate to his
life when they write Negroponte.

Address holiday greetings to the ambassador at the following APO with
standard US postage. People from other countries should use the standard
rate from their country to a US address.

Ambassador John D. Negroponte
Embassy of the United States
APO AE 09316
Baghdad, Iraq

IF YOU ARE SO LED PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FAITH COMMUNITIES AND YOUR
EMAIL LISTS FOR TUESDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2004

Website for posting prayers and reflections now available:

 Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq has begun a webpage
http://prayerandactionforiraq.blogspot.com. We encourage you to post any
insights that may have come to your during our time of prayer. We also
encourage you to post any heartening or disheartening aspects of our actions
so that we may encourage each other's spiritual growth.