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 9/5/13
China
• Please pray for the tens of thousands of Chinese children who are abducted by traffickers each year. Anywhere from 20,000 to 70,000 children (depending on the source cited) are kidnapped each year.
• Pray for boy children who are sold to unsuspecting adoptive parents, many of whom may not be able to conceive, or they have daughters but no sons. There is a traditional preference for boys in China making an infant boy worth thousands of dollars on the black market.
• Please pray for older children who are kidnapped and used for street begging, pickpocketing, slave labor, or prostitution.
• Keep in prayer the parents of abducted children as they struggle to find their sons and daughters and deal with police apathy, corruption, or other complications. Pray for parents who have lost hope of ever finding their children. Pray for those who have drained their financial resources looking for their children.
• Pray law enforcement officers at the local level will act with integrity and resist bribes from traffickers. Pray they will work together with other law enforcement agencies to find kidnapped children. Traffickers often move abducted children across vast distances and jurisdictions to avoid detection.
Iraq, Syria
• Please keep in prayer the 30,000 Kurdish refugees from Syria who have recently crossed into Iraq’s Kurdish region. Pray for children and families fleeing attacks by a radical Sunni Arab rebel group that has aligned with Iraq’s branch of al Qaeda. Pray God will be with these desperate families as they seek refuge in Iraq. Pray God will provide the resources they need during this difficult season.
• Pray for peace in this region. Pray Syria’s civil war, which has spilled over into neighboring countries, will end.
Philippines
• Please keep in prayer children and people in the Philippines who have been affected by Typhoon Utor, the most powerful typhoon to hit the country this year. Pray for those who have lost loved ones and for those whose loved ones are missing.
• more on this request• Pray for children and families in Aurora province where the typhoon caused the greatest damage. Pray for those who were affected by the typhoon-triggered flooding and landslides. Pray for families who lost homes and livelihoods. Almost 90 percent of the agriculture in this province was destroyed or damaged, especially rice and corn crops and coconut plantations.
United States
• Thanks be to God for the progress 16-year-old Taylor * has made during a wilderness therapy program and for her successful graduation from it. Keep Taylor close in prayer as she moves to a residential treatment facility to continue her healing journey. Please pray God will bring complete healing to Taylor who struggles with serious mental illness. Pray for her parents and siblings as they have been deeply impacted by her illness. Give God thanks her mother, father, brother, and sister all enjoyed a special, healing time with Taylor at her graduation.
* Name changed for confidentiality and/or protection.
• Pray for the family of an 8-month-old boy who died after being left in a hot car for about six hours. Pray for this child’s mother who forgot she’d left the baby in the car when she went to work. The mother has been charged with felony child neglect and is in jail without bond.
• Pray for the family of Sabriya Towels, a 16-month-old girl who died after being left in a hot vehicle. Pray for the relative who left Sabriya in his truck when he went home to take a nap.
• Pray for all parents and guardians of young children ... that they will be even more vigilant during the hot seasons of the year. Pray for the families of the 29 children who have died in hot vehicles this year. KidsAndCars.org shares resources to help keep young children safe, including a safety checklist for parents and caregivers, and says even the best parent or caregiver can overlook a baby in a car seat due to lack of sleep, stress, or changes in their normal routine.
• kidsandcars.org website
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.
If you have prayer requests about children, those who care for them, those who have authority over them, or those who harm them (the really hard prayers to say sometimes), please send them to Chris Laufer, FOC Coordinator, at claufer@facesofchildren.net
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