O God, we pray for all victims of wars and civil conflicts, and ask for your strength to stand up against the export of weapons, and for peace and justice. Help us to see Martin Niemoller, the first church president of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, as an example to follow.

May we be empowered, even today, by his courage to confess his own guilt in opposing the Nazis too late, and his willingness to seek reconciliation between East and West i  Europe. Amen.