Please join Aid to the Church in Need in prayer and ask God to protect the Christian people in Syria who are suffering persecution because of their faith:

Heavenly Father, we pray for an end to the violence in Syria and wisdom for world leaders to know how best to help and achieve peace in this region.

We ask that you give the thousands of Christians who have fled IS attacks the strength and courage to forgive their persecutors.

Loving Lord, we thank ACN for the work the charity does in Syria, especially in the provision of gas, electricity and rental costs for displaced families in Aleppo and Hassake.

We also ask that your Holy Spirit rest upon those Christians who remain in Syria, to encourage them to remain strong in faith, despite the oppression they live with.

Amen.

For further information about ACN and our work please contact Lorraine McMahon on 01698337470 or email [email protected]

Aid to the Church in Need is a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church and a registered Charity in Scotland (SCO40748) and in England and Wales (1097984) 

The Nail Man              by Steve Turner

Which one was it 
that held the nails
and then hammered them
into place?

Did he hit them
out of anger,
or a simple
sense of duty?

Was it a job
that had to be done,
or a good day's work
in the open air?

And when they
clawed past bone
and bit into wood,
was it like all the others,
or did history
shudder a little
beneath the head
of that hammer?

Was he still there,
packing away his tools,
when 'It is finished'
was uttered to the throng,
or was he at home
washing his hands
and getting ready 
for the night?

Will he be
among the forgiven
on that Day of Days,
his sin having been slain
by his own savage spike?