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 02/20/14
Phillipines
• Pray for children in the Philippines who are involved in compressor mining, a dangerous form of underwater mining for gold. Children and adults dive deep into murky water breathing from a long tube connected to a diesel-powered air compressor on the surface. Underwater, they dig into the sides of narrow tunnels, filling bags with mud and rock that is hauled to the surface then panned for gold. Pray for those who are at great risk of injury or death because of tunnel collapse or engine failure.
• Pray for impoverished families in the coastal province of Camarines Norte who make their living mining gold in this very dangerous way. Pray for children who aren’t able to attend school because their family needs them to help dive or pan for gold. Pray parents will find employment that will help them support their families and allow their children to obtain an education.
• Please keep in prayer children involved in this hazardous form of mining as they are exposed to long term health risks from poor air quality in the breathing tubes divers use (the air sucked through the tube has a mix of diesel fumes, carbon monoxide, and other pollutants because it’s close to the air compressor engine); poor water quality in which they are susceptible to bacteria and parasites; and pressure on the body from diving deeply underwater (gas bubbles can form in the bloodstream at those depths causing the blood supply to be blocked from the brain or lungs).
Syria
• Continue to keep the children of Syria held close in prayer. Pray for the estimated 1,000 infants and children who are being held in jails and state security buildings allegedly by the Syrian government.
• Pray for children, some as young as 10, who are being held on their own. Pray for mothers detained with their infants in conditions that are reported to be inhumane. Please pray these children and mothers will be given access to sufficient food, water, and medical care.
• Pray for peace in this country that has been ravaged by three years of civil conflict and violence between opposing factions.
United States
• Please pray for children affected by the recent cold fronts that have moved through the United States. Pray for those without sufficient clothing or shelter to keep them warm during bitter winter weather.
• Give thanks to God two children left unattended on a school bus in Fargo, ND were both found safe and warm despite the subzero weather. One of the children, 5-year-old Preston, fell asleep on the school bus (which was left running) and wasn’t noticed by the driver who failed to perform a walk through after the morning run. Pray for this driver who didn’t follow established procedures to prevent this from happening.
• Please pray for the estimated 400,000 to 500,000 children, most born in the U.S., who pick crops for long hours in brutal conditions throughout the country. A 1938 labor law allows children 12 years old, and depending on the circumstances, even younger, to legally work in agriculture.
o Pray for children, some as young as 8 years old, who pick, trim, and cultivate fresh fruits and vegetables for nine to ten hours a day in 100-degree heat. Pray for those whose developing bodies are exposed to pesticides and fertilizers in the fields.
o Please pray for teenage pickers who drop out of school to follow their families and the crops. Pray this cycle of poverty and child labor will be broken.
o Pray for migrant farm-working parents who struggle to provide for their families and desperately need the wages their children make picking crops to help make ends meet. Low wages for migrant workers means families need more helpers in the field.
Faces of Children
• Please keep Faces of Children prayer partner Jean Kiker in prayer as she recovers from surgery. Pray God’s healing touch will be upon her. And pray God will comfort Jean and her husband Bob following the recent death of Bob’s mother.
• Please pray for Faces of Children intercessor Sara who has a recurrence of cancer. Pray she will feel God’s loving and healing presence through the prayers of family, friends, and fellow prayer partners. Pray for Sara’s complete healing and recovery.
• 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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