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 07/28/10

Cambodia (Cambodian Hope Organization – www.cambodianhopeorganization.org)
• Give thanks to God for Cambodian Hope Organization’s (CHO) successful International Children’s Day parade on June 1 in Poipet. Six hundred children marched in the parade that was held to raise awareness about the rights of children in Cambodia. Pray for the children of Poipet…that they will be treated with justice and love.
• Please pray that God will provide the resources needed to continue the construction of a new house at Safe Haven for boys who are escaping trafficking.
• Pray for the staff and volunteers with CHO, for their stamina and strength. Thanks be to God for their dedication to the difficult work of serving disadvantaged rural people and at-risk and poor children.
• Give God thanks for the anti-trafficking training CHO provides for public school teachers.

Uganda (Watoto Child Care Ministries – www.watoto.com)
• Give God thanks and praise for the recent opening of Baby Watoto Gulu. Please continue to pray for the babies and children living at the Watoto village and for those who give them such tender, loving care.
• Pray that God will continue to provide the resources needed to care for more than 1500 children who have been orphaned, abandoned, or left in the care of Watoto Child Care Ministries by desperate parents.

Haiti
• Continue to pray for the children of Haiti and especially those who were orphaned in the January earthquake.
• Give thanks to God for the Haitian organization Frades, originally a grass-roots collective specializing in microloans, which assumed responsibility for 26 local children who were orphaned in the disaster.
• Pray that God will provide the resources and expertise to continue helping care for the 14 remaining children at the makeshift orphanage. Pray for sustained help for these children who’ve been severely traumatized by the deaths of parents or caregivers.
• Please keep 14-year-old Daphne held close in prayer and ask God to protect her from exploitation or abuse. Daphne was taken from the Frades orphanage by a distant relative and now lives in a squalid tent city near it.
• Pray for the newest arrivals at the orphanage, 11-month-old twins Magda and Magdaline. The girls, dehydrated and weak, were abandoned by their desperate mother who was certain that they would die in her care.
• Please pray for 13-year-old Michelle, the oldest child in the orphanage, who cooks for and feeds the younger children. Michelle has assumed the responsibility of caring for these children as the number of adult caregivers has shrunk due to lack of funds.
A report from the New York Times

United States
• Please continue to keep 2-year-old Steven* and 4-year-old Mariah* held close in prayer as they endure yet another wrenching transition. These foster children were reunited with their biological mother last May, but just recently, Child Protective Services removed them from her home and returned Steven and Mariah to their foster parents.
o Pray that God will comfort them as they make adjustments to being back in a home with more structure and discipline. Pray that God will heal whatever trauma Steven and Mariah may have experienced to warrant removal from their biological mother’s home. Pray for their mother who is expecting a baby.
o Please keep the foster family in prayer as they adjust to having these little ones back in their lives.
• Give thanks to God for the new Safe Harbor law in Connecticut, the third state in the U.S. to pass such a law. As a result, children under age 16 can’t be charged with the crime of prostitution and 16- to17-year-olds will be presumed to be victims of sex trafficking if they are found to be prostituting. Love146
o Pray that Connecticut police chiefs will respond positively to the new law and make a priority of training law enforcement in their regions to enforce Safe Harbor.
o Please pray for the staff managing the Department of Children and Families hotline…that they would be able to ask the right questions to identify a potential victim of trafficking.
o Pray for the staff at Love146 as they create educational materials to raise awareness about this new law.

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.

* Name changed for confidentiality and/or protection.