More than 500 people attended Thursday’s Delaware Leadership Prayer Breakfast at the Chase Center on the Riverfront.
The fighting and loss of life in Gaza and Israel was brought up several times during Thursday morning’s annual Delaware Leadership Prayer Breakfast, attended by more than 500 people.
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer, who is Jewish, asked for a moment of silence for those who were killed or suffering as a result of the fighting after Hamas terrorists attacked Israel.
He followed that by reading Daniel 2:14-23Â from the Old Testament.
In it, Daniel has a vision after being told he and his friends would be put to death. He responds by saying:
âPraise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons;
He deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.”
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer asks for a moment of silence to remember those killed or suffering in the Israeli-Hamas War.
Meyer’s opponent in the race to be the Democratic nominee for governor, Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall Long, followed with 1 Peter 4:7-11 from the New Testament.
Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that
you may pray.
Above all, love each other deeply, because
love covers over a multitude of sins.
Offer hospitality to one another without
grumbling.
Each of you should use whatever gift you have
received to serve others, as faithful stewards of
Godâs grace in its various forms.
If anyone speaks, they should do so as one
who speaks the very words of God. If anyone
serves, they should do so with the strength God
provides, so that in all things God may be
praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the
glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Prayer breakfast co-founder Robert A. Nickle, right, talks with friends Thursday morning.
The prayer breakfast is described as a way to gather in the spirit of Jesus Christ to pray for the leadership of the nation.
The 500 people attending included state political, business and religious leaders from many churches.
Many have been attending for years.
Co-founder Robert A. Nickle, a watercolourist, brought his son and grandsons with him. The grandsons may have been the youngest people in the room.
Rep. Mike Smith, on screen, offered a prayer to open the Delaware Leadership Prayer Breakfast.
Prayer program
State Rep. Mike Smith, R-Pike Creek, offered a blessing before the breakfast and the Delaware Worship Collective offered a sacred song in the middle of the program and led the crowd in “God Bless America” to end the program.
Keynote speaker Dr. Betty Uribe, who is a former JPMorgan Chase managing director, told the crowd they should know the core values of the people in their lives, including family and coworkers.
Many people claim to have upright core values, she said, but their actions prove otherwise.
That becomes a case of “Your actions are so loud, I can’t hear what you’re saying,” she said.
The Delaware Worship Collective offered a sacred song in the middle of the program and led the crowd in “God Bless America” to end the program.
Employers should spend enough time before hiring someone to understand what their core values are and see how they treat other people, such as wait staff and janitors, Uribe said.
“I don’t hire anyone until I talk to the person in the front desk of the building and see did they treat you with respect and dignity? If they didn’t I don’t care if they’re number one,” she said. “They don’t belong on my team.”
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She asked the crowd to think about how they spent their time and money and whether it was in prayer, with family and friends, and who they were allowing into their mind.
“How do you know that your employees are thinking what you think they’re thinking?” she asked. “The best way to know is to ask. Just go straight to the source and ask.”
Uribe said she had talked to people on both sides of the Israeli-Hamas fight.
“You know, when you talk to either side, they’re both right,” she said. “We’re human. And what is it going to take for us to just really just become human and see ourselves not as color, not as race, but just as human beings.”
Betsy Price is a Wilmington freelance writer who has 40 years of experience, including 15 at The News Journal in Delaware.
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