Day of Prayer, Sunday 11th June 2006

The ninth annual Arms Trade Day of Prayer, held on Sunday 11th June to coincide with Stop Week, was a huge success. It was marked by various churches around the UK: some had displays, some organised for prayers to be said about the arms trade, others tailored their services to the theme or gave out leaflets to their congregations. Others used the opportunity to raise awareness about the arms trade in their wider parishes. The focus was the Shut DESO campaign. A total of 108 day of prayer packs were distributed and the comments received so far have been very encouraging. If you have not already returned your feedback form, please do so as it will help in planning for next year. The Fellowship of Reconciliation's 12-page publication, “Living by the Sword. A call for the closure of the DESO” provides a valuable addition to the material produced by CAAT and is available at www.for.org.uk or by calling 01865 748 796.

Other news from the network comes from Teresa Mitchell of the Penarth Christian Network of CAAT:

People from Abergavenny, Cardiff, Ebbw Vale and Newport recently joined members of the Penarth Christian Network of CAAT and friends in the annual Maundy Thursday prayer service outside the BAE Systems Glascoed factory near Usk. The service commemorated the lives of those 2 million children killed, according to UNICEF, in conflict in the last decade of the 20th century. The prayers and readings reminded us of the sufferings of those killed, disabled or left homeless in our war-torn world while prayers were said also for those opposing the arms trade as well as for those engaged in manufacturing and trading in arms.”