Faces of Children: Prayer Concerns for This Week

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 11/5/14

Honduras

• Please keep the children and people of Honduras close in prayer during this season of drought and food insecurity. Over a half million people have been affected by a severe drought that has caused crops to die, food prices to skyrocket, and reduced work for agricultural day laborers.
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• Pray for families who’ve been forced to sell their livestock and belongings in order to purchase food just to survive. Over 20 percent of Honduras’ population suffer from chronic malnutrition.
• Pray for those who have migrated to escape the drought and its effects as well as the extreme poverty rampant in Honduras. Tens of thousands of Central American children, the largest number coming from Honduras, have migrated to the United States in the past year.
• Please pray the upcoming harvest will help the estimated 122,000 families who are dependent upon subsistence farming. Pray God will bring rain to this parched region.
• Pray Honduras’ relief agencies can provide support for the most vulnerable children and families who not only need access to food, but also to clean water, health care, and proper hygiene facilities.

India, Brazil

• Please keep in prayer India’s hungry children. One in every three malnourished children in the world lives in this country and more than 190 million people are undernourished in India. Give thanks to God that Indian leaders are serious about ending malnutrition and have adopted Brazil’s “zero hunger” challenge.
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• Thanks be to God Brazil has been able to virtually eliminate malnutrition through this initiative. By providing support to farmers and rural residents (who are often the worst affected by food insecurity) and adopting other policies, Brazil has almost halted malnutrition within its borders.

Iraq

• Please continue to keep the children and families of Iraq’s Yazidi minority in prayer as they face renewed persecution from Islamic State (IS also known as ISIS or ISIL) militants.
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• Pray for the loved ones of those killed by Islamic State fighters. Thousands of Yazidis have been shot, beheaded, buried alive, kidnapped, or sold into slavery by IS militants in what UN officials believe is an attempt at genocide. Please pray for the freedom of those who have been kidnapped or trafficked by Islamic State fighters.
• Pray for Yazidi children, youth, and adults who are forced by IS militants to convert to Islam or be killed.
• Pray for the thousands of Yazidi children and families still stranded on Iraq’s Mount Sinjar as IS militants tighten their siege on the mountain. On October 20, Islamic State fighters began a renewed assault on several Yazidi residential compounds, forcing inhabitants to flee up the mountain.
• Please pray for the safety and freedom of all minorities targeted by Islamic State militants. Pray for peace and stability in this region.

United States

• Keep in prayer the loved ones and friends of those killed in a school shooting near Seattle on October 25. The young man who allegedly shot five friends in the school’s cafeteria lured his victims there via text message. Fourteen-year-old Zoe Galasso and 14-year-old Gia Soriano were allegedly shot by 15-year-old Jaylen Fryberg who took his own life.
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• Pray God will bring healing to those injured in the shooting. Pray for 14-year-old Shaylee Chuckulnaskit who is in critical condition and for Jaylen’s cousins, 14-year-old Nate Hatch and 15-year-old Andrew Fryberg, who are also hospitalized. Pray for their parents and families as they care for these teens.
• Please remember in prayer the students and staff at Marysville-Pilchuck High School during this season of loss and grief. Pray they will sense God’s comfort through the love and support of the community. Pray they will have access to grief counselors as they deal with the trauma of this shooting.
• Give God thanks for the actions of first year teacher Megan Silberberger who intervened in the attack when the gunman paused, possibly to reload.
• Pray for Jaylen’s family as they deal with his death and the shock of his actions. Jaylen was a popular, well-loved student at the school—he was a football player, on the Homecoming court, and a member of the Tulalip Indian tribes. Pray for his Tulalip Tribe community as they struggle to cope with this tragedy.
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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.

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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