Argentinian Christians are responding in prayer to the economic crisis

Day of Prayer for Argentina

Evangelical church leaders in Argentina have announced a national day of prayer for the nation on Friday 15 February.

A mass assembly is planned to take place opposite the presidential palace in the Plaza de Mayo, in the heart of Buenos Aires at 7.30pm (10.30 pm GMT). Other prayer gatherings will take place at the same time in squares throughout the country.

The collapse of the country's economy in December and emergency measures introduced by the government have left the people of Argentina feeling dazed, betrayed and angry. People are suffering great financial hardship. Four years of recession have sent the official unemployment figure soaring to 22 per cent; many public service employees are not receiving their wages.

Church leaders are seeing the crisis as a wake-up call. Many feel the time has come to stand up for Christian values and make their voice heard in society, where corruption and mismanagement at every level has brought the country to the brink of disaster. They are asking for the support of Christian brothers and sisters around the world.

For more information on the current situation in Argentina, visit the BBC World Service website Americas pages: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/americas/

For more on Latin Link's involvement with Argentina see the next issue of Latinfile, published on 12 March.

© Latin Link 2002