As we enter into the holiday season, what are you most thankful for? Maybe it is the birth of a new grandchild this year, more time spent with your family, tending a garden this past summer, spending time in nature, or even experiencing the struggles in life that led to growth.
As an organization motivated by Christian faith, World Relief Chicagoland considers our gratitude as a moment to see God at work in our midst and respond in prayer. How can you do the same? The Psalmist captures this gratitude as he celebrates God’s love and compassion. He responds in praise.
In Psalm 103, we read:
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:1-5 NIV
Moments of Praise
A call to praise God is often the climax of praise in the Psalter. Here at World Relief, there are many ways we can praise God for his work as we enter into Thanksgiving. May we take a moment to recognize and praise God for his love and compassion.
- Between our three offices in Aurora, Chicago, and DuPage County, we have welcomed nearly 200 arrivals since September 1st.
- Our Chicago office began welcoming newly arriving refugee families for the first time since 2018.
- Well over 1100 people have inquired to volunteer in the past three months.
- Students attending the Careers Pathways class were hired in well-paying positions to support their families.
- More students have been able to take part in English classes because they are virtual.
Moments of Prayer
At the same time, there are many ways we are asking God to move in the months ahead. This Thanksgiving, will you join the World Relief community in prayer for lasting change?
- For all the new refugee arrivals for smooth adjustments to the United States and to be able to adapt to the weather this winter.
- For our refugee and Afghan evacuee’s who are arriving to the United States with high expectations and finding everything much more difficult than they expect it to be from housing to jobs.
- More volunteers to tutor students who are learning English.
- The right people to join the World Relief Chicagoland team as there are many open positions and that these new staff members would feel welcomed.
- Permanent housing options that are affordable for families to move into upon their arrival.
- For our Immigration Legal Services team who are hearing about many situations of people processing trauma and feeling very overwhelmed.
- For World Relief Chicagoland staff to find times of rest and renewal this holiday season.
Join us in Prayer
We’re reminded that while creating change isn’t easy, it’s possible when we move together. May we pray this prayer of thanksgiving as we gather with friends and family this holiday season.
God of all blessings, source of all life, giver of all grace: […]
We thank you for setting us in communities: for families who nurture our becoming, for friends who love us by choice, for companions at work, who share our burdens and daily tasks, for strangers who welcome us into their midst, for people from other lands, who call us to grow in understanding, for children, who lighten our moments with delight, for the unborn, who offer us hope for the future.
Vienna Cobb Anderson
We thank you for this day: for life and one more day to love, for opportunity and one more day to work for justice and peace, for neighbors and one more person to love and by whom be loved, for your grace and one more experience of your presence, for your promise: to be with us, to be our God, and to give salvation.
For these, and all blessings, we give you thanks, eternal, loving God, through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
We would love for you to share these moments of praise and prayer with your family and friends. When you share this post, tag World Relief Chicagoland on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Thank you for joining World Relief Chicagoland in praying for our refugee and immigrant neighbors as they rebuild a new life in our community.