The Greek Evangelical Church is appealing for Christians around the world to pray for their country as Greece struggles to find a way out of economic catastrophe.

In a moving open letter published by the Evangelical Alliance, the moderator of the Greek Evangelical Church says: "Greece needs the prayer of many. The future will not be easy. Would you pray for Greece?"

The letter was published as the German parliament voted by a substantial majority in favour of moving towards the £60 billion bailout deal proposed for Greece. Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of "predictable chaos" if the Bundestag did not back the plan.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank raised the level of emergency funding available to Greece, meaning the Greek banks can reopen on Monday having been closed for three weeks.

The Rev Meletios Meletiadis, Pastor the Greek Evangelical Church of Volos in Greece, pleads for prayers in an open letter to the UK's evangelical community which is all the more moving for the insight it gives to the divisions the crisis has caused in his own community.

It puts a compelling and tragic human face to a disaster which comes across often mainly in terms of fiscal policy and incomprehensibly enormous amounts of debt.

Meletiadis writes that after five months of intense negotiations between the newly elected Greek government and the International Monetary Fund/European Commission, many hoped that the whole ordeal that has kept Greece in the headlines for the past six years would end, especially as the end of June was approaching, when Greece was due to repay its 1.6 billion euro loan to the IMF but did not have the money,

The decision to hold a referendum was like the kick-off in a football game, he says.

The Protestant community of Greece could not avoid the fallout and was immediately rent by division.

Some felt it was a good opoortunity to vent anger for years of austerity and the resulting cuts in wages and pensions, increased taxes and unemployment.

On the other side were those who could not believe their ears.

"They felt numb and betrayed as all along they were being assured by the PM that the negotiations were coming to a good end, and fearful as to what it will follow in case the 'no' vote wins."

He writes: "The majority of the people in the Protestant community kept it to themselves, but a small number –unfortunately one or two with ministries under their care – went into a verbal confrontation on Facebook for the watching world to see and to witness an inter-evangelical fight, with strong feelings expressed in humiliating characterisations of those of the other side. As the week proceeded and the day for the referendum came the rhetoric became all the more polemic."

A rift was created, like the one among the non-evangelicals, which will be very difficult to mend and heal, he warns.

"With such a behaviour one wonders if there's any difference between an evangelical who claims to be born again, who daily reads the word of God and trusts a Sovereign God, and a person with no personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, when the behaviour is not different at all."

Pastor Meletiadis called the warring evangelicals and the entire church to prayer and fasting and ask them believers to abstain from any inflammatory or derogatory rhetoric.

"We asked them to pray all week fervently for our country, for the unity of our nation and for His will to be done even in a referendum that many believe was not necessary."

Other independent Protestant churches also adopted the call to prayer and fasting.

"Since the day of the referendum many things have changed. The popular Greek 'no' vote, within a couple of days turned to be a 'yes' vote as the Greek government was forced to sign an agreement under the pressure of reality. Now, the task of implementing these extreme austerity measures is ahead, as well as the resulting opposition to them."

The prayers requested are for unity, for the young, for the entire country and also for the majority Christian community, the Orthodox Church.