Faces of Children: Prayer Requests

Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Our mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, we seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).

Prayer Concerns for the week of 01/28/09

India
• Pray for the migrant children of Bangalore, India who have been trafficked into the commercial sex trade, domestic service, bonded labor, factories, restaurants, construction sites and dangerous industries.
• Pray for the estimated 400 children (the majority are girls) who migrate to Bangalore looking for work every year.
• Pray that God will provide many more places for migrant children to go where they will be safe from traffickers and receive proper care, education and love.
• Pray for an end to the cycle of crushing poverty that forces families to send their children away to find work or drives children to seek work in larger cities.
A report from merinews.com

Malawi
• Please keep the mission team from First Congregational Church of Hopkinton, Massachusetts in prayer as they travel to and from the village in Malawi that the church has sponsored for the last five years through World Vision. This will be the last visit the Hopkinton church will make to Mbobo Mtonga village as World Vision encourages the people of the village to become self-sufficient and not totally dependent on outside aid.
• Pray that the World Vision leaders and village elders have prepared the children and people of Mbobo Mtonga for the conclusion to this relationship. Pray for understanding—that the people won’t feel abandoned.
• Give thanks to God for the partnership between the village and the church these past five years and for the many successes as a result of the partnership.
• Thank God for the more than 150 child sponsorships (by members of the Hopkinton church through World Vision) that will continue even though the official relationship between the village and the church is over.
• Please continue to pray for the children and people of Mbobo Mtonga as well as the congregation of the Hopkinton church. And pray for the World Vision workers who will continue to be a guiding and supportive presence for the village.
A report from FCCH

North Korea
• Continue to pray for the children of North Korea as the food crisis there deepens. Forty percent of North Korea’s 23 million people will require emergency food aid because of chronic food shortages, cautions a U.N. agency.
• Pray that the children of this country will have consistent access to food and medical care.
• Pray for families who are struggling to survive in this impoverished country that is led by a cruel dictator.
A report from alertnet.org

United States
• Give thanks to God for the safety of all 155 survivors, including several young children, of the U.S. Airways jet that crash landed in the Hudson River earlier this month.
A report from the Washington Post
• Please be in prayer for struggling families in the U.S. and around the world who are desperately trying to make ends meet in the current national and global economic downturn. Pray for children who are adversely affected by this downturn; who suffer abuse or neglect as a result of stressed parents losing jobs or insurance coverage; who live in homes without heat or electricity; who aren’t receiving medical care any longer.
A report from the Washington Post
• Pray for children in questionable childcare situations. Many parents can no longer afford proper childcare and must leave children at home, unsupervised or with inappropriate caregivers. Pray for children/youth who must quit school to care for younger siblings.
A report from the Washington Post

Faces of Children
• Please continue to pray that more churches and individuals will join with the ministry of Faces of Children in spreading awareness about children in crisis and inviting more people to pray for children at risk.