There are two events being planned for next weekend by folk at St John's Seven Kings which may be of interest.
The first is a Prayer Vigil for Sri Lanka which will be held at 7.30pm on Saturday 4th April. This Vigil is being organised at the request of our Tamil members and together with one of the Pastors from the Tamil Church in East London.
At least 300,000 Tamils are currently displaced in a tiny jungle area in the north of Sri Lanka, which is continuously being bombed and shelled by the Sri Lankan army and air force. More than 2,000 Tamils have been killed since the beginning of January, many of them children. During the Vigil we plan to provide information about the situation faced by civilians in the LTTE-controlled areas in the Wanni and to pray for a ceasefire and the unrestricted flow of food, medicine and international aid agencies into the conflict zone.
By organising this Prayer Vigil we wish to stand alongside our Tamil members and friends in their distress at what is occurring in their mother country. We cannot stand idly by while displaced people face death through conflict and lack of relief. Therefore, this Vigil is both to pray for and raise awareness of the urgent need for a ceasefire and for aid to be allowed into the region.
The second event is a shared Palm Sunday Service and Procession with St Paul's Goodmayes. The shared service will begin (9.45am for a 10.00am start) at St Paul’s with the opening section of our Palm Sunday liturgy. We will then process from St Paul’s to St John’s via Atholl Road, Woodward Recreation Ground and Meads Lane singing hymns as we go. We will stop in Woodward Recreation Ground to read the Gospel and bless palm crosses before completing the procession to St John’s where we will receive communion together.
We will be accompanied on the procession by a real donkey and are inviting children to dress up as disciples to accompany the donkey on the procession. We are also asking adults to bring greenery from their gardens to wave as we process. The original Palm Sunday featured a joyful procession as Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt and the people praised God and spread cloaks and palms on the ground. Our hope is that the service and procession will be a joyful celebration for us and a visible act of witness to our community.
The first is a Prayer Vigil for Sri Lanka which will be held at 7.30pm on Saturday 4th April. This Vigil is being organised at the request of our Tamil members and together with one of the Pastors from the Tamil Church in East London.
At least 300,000 Tamils are currently displaced in a tiny jungle area in the north of Sri Lanka, which is continuously being bombed and shelled by the Sri Lankan army and air force. More than 2,000 Tamils have been killed since the beginning of January, many of them children. During the Vigil we plan to provide information about the situation faced by civilians in the LTTE-controlled areas in the Wanni and to pray for a ceasefire and the unrestricted flow of food, medicine and international aid agencies into the conflict zone.
By organising this Prayer Vigil we wish to stand alongside our Tamil members and friends in their distress at what is occurring in their mother country. We cannot stand idly by while displaced people face death through conflict and lack of relief. Therefore, this Vigil is both to pray for and raise awareness of the urgent need for a ceasefire and for aid to be allowed into the region.
The second event is a shared Palm Sunday Service and Procession with St Paul's Goodmayes. The shared service will begin (9.45am for a 10.00am start) at St Paul’s with the opening section of our Palm Sunday liturgy. We will then process from St Paul’s to St John’s via Atholl Road, Woodward Recreation Ground and Meads Lane singing hymns as we go. We will stop in Woodward Recreation Ground to read the Gospel and bless palm crosses before completing the procession to St John’s where we will receive communion together.
We will be accompanied on the procession by a real donkey and are inviting children to dress up as disciples to accompany the donkey on the procession. We are also asking adults to bring greenery from their gardens to wave as we process. The original Palm Sunday featured a joyful procession as Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt and the people praised God and spread cloaks and palms on the ground. Our hope is that the service and procession will be a joyful celebration for us and a visible act of witness to our community.
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Swarnalatha - Neeye Nirantharam.
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