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 07/31/14
Iraq, Syria
Rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/ISIS, now known as Islamic State (IS), have taken control of large portions of Iraq and eastern Syria in a campaign to restore an Islamic state in this area that is based on strict, medieval Sunni Muslim precepts. This offshoot of al-Qaeda is considered far more brutal than al-Qaeda. They consider Shi’ite Muslims (the majority of Iraq’s population) to be heretics deserving of death, but also target minorities and civilians with brutal punishments and death threats. Minority religious groups that have lived in Iraq for centuries—Christians, Turkmen, Yazidis, Shabak, Sabian Mandaeans, Bahais, Kakais, and Faili Kurds—are forced by IS to convert to their form of Islam or die. In the most recent attacks by IS militants, tens of thousands of Iraq’s religious minorities, including a quarter of the country’s Christians, have fled north to escape violent assaults. Thousands of Yazidis (a secretive religious minority group viewed by the militants as devil worshippers), remain trapped in the mountains near Sinjar, surrounded by IS forces. They have little or no water, food, shelter, medicine, or fuel and children are dying from dehydration. An estimated 30,000 Yazidis were able to escape after a week of being trapped in the mountains, possibly because of U.S. airstrikes on IS militant positions. Many Yazidis have crossed into Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region.
• Continue in prayer for children and families affected by IS militant attacks and persecution of religious minorities. Pray for those displaced from their homes and communities by the fighting. Pray for the injured and grieving.
• Give God thanks for the escape of so many Yazidis who had been trapped in the mountains. Pray for children and their caregivers who are weak from exhaustion, dehydration, and exposure to the sun.
• Pray for the safety and freedom of the remaining children and families trapped in the mountains near Sinjar. Pray God will provide for their most immediate needs. Pray for those who were too weak to escape after the airstrikes.
• Please pray for peace in this region.
• Pray for Iraq and Syria’s leaders during this challenging season. Pray they will seek God’s guidance in all of their decisions concerning the people in their respective countries.
• Pray for those who kill and destroy in the name of their religion. Pray for a change of heart and mind.
Israel, Palestine, Egypt
In the ongoing, violent conflict between Israel and Hamas, almost 2,000 people have been killed (as of August 10). The majority of those killed were civilians in Gaza, including 452 children. More than 2,800 Palestinian children have been injured in the violence. Over a half million people have been displaced.
• Pray for those on both sides of this conflict who are grieving the loss of loved ones. Pray for God’s comforting peace to surround and sustain them.
• Please pray for the thousands of children and families made homeless in Gaza. Pray for those in Israel who have had to abandon their homes and communities.
• Pray God will bring healing to the hundreds of thousands of children who’ve seen horrors no child should ever have to witness. Pray for children who have already lived through multiple wars in their short lifetimes.
• Please pray for a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire agreement between Israeli troops and Hamas militants. Give God thanks for the previous ceasefires that have allowed more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
• Pray the diplomatic talks in Cairo, Egypt will bear fruit—that mediators will reach a peace agreement that stops this devastating conflict. Pray for a sustainable peace in this region.
Faces of Children
• Please continue to keep Hannah, the daughter of Faces of Children prayer partner Steve Schorr, close in prayer as she begins teaching Muslim and Christian middle school students in a Christian school in Jerusalem soon. Give thanks to God for her safe journey to Israel. And thanks be to God for Hannah’s deep desire to share Christ’s message of love and peace in a troubled region. Continue to pray for Hannah’s parents as they struggle with anxiety for their daughter. Pray God will bless them with the peace that surpasses all understanding.
• Give thanks to God for the opportunity to share the ministry of Faces of Children with the women of the Northeast Georgia Presbytery at their annual workshop in Commerce, GA on August 16, 2014. Pray those who heard the message of prayer for children will take it into their churches and communities.
• 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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