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 12/17/14

Brazil

• Please be in prayer for the children of São Paulo, Brazil who’ve been affected by the country’s worst drought in a century. The city of 19 million—South America’s largest city—is facing severe water shortages since summer rains failed to fall last year and the winter was also very dry.
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• Pray for children living in São Paulo’s outlying, lower-income areas that have been hit especially hard. Pray God will provide for children and families living high up in the favelas (slums) where the water supply fails regularly.
• Please pray for collaboration between the state government, which controls the water company, and residents of São Paulo to reduce water use and conserve this precious resource. Pray water company officials will keep the population of São Paulo informed about water conservation and rationing.
• Pray God will bless this region with the life-sustaining gift of rain.
• Pray God will give São Paulo’s leaders the vision to manage this valuable resource wisely and fairly.

India

• Continue to pray for the children and families affected by severe flooding last fall in India’s Kashmir region. Food crops on 313,000 hectares across the states of Jammu and Kashmir were destroyed in the flooding.
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• Pray for those who lost homes, businesses, and schools in September’s devastating floods. Please keep in prayer children and families who have been displaced by this disaster. Pray God will provide safe housing for those who are without proper shelter as winter approaches.
• Pray for families whose vegetable fields and rice paddies were buried under thick layers of sand, stones, and boulders by landslides and flood waters. Pray for those who lost livestock and herds in the flooding.
• Pray for parents and caregivers who are feeling very anxious about how to provide food for their children this winter since their livelihoods were devastated in the floods. Pray God will provide for the deepest and most immediate needs of these children and families.
• Please pray for children and families living in isolated mountain villages in India’s Kashmir region. Many were affected by September’s floods and will be cut off from any outside assistance when winter arrives. Homes in these villages can be surrounded by up to seven feet of snow that can last for four months of the year.
• Pray India’s government will soon fulfill its promise to provide those affected by the flooding with six months of free food rations.

Syria, Iraq

• Continue to keep the displaced children and people of Syria and Iraq close in prayer during this season of violence. An estimated 13.6 million people have been displaced by the conflicts in these countries—7.2 million within Syria and 1.9 million within Iraq.
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• Pray for the 3.3 million Syrian children and people who have sought refuge in other countries and for the 190,000 Iraqis who have also left their country to seek safety. Give God thanks for the support homeless Syrian families have received in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey.
• Please pray for displaced children and families who are without food or shelter as the winter season begins. Pray God will fulfill their deepest and most immediate needs.
• Pray the “compassion fatigue” experienced by so many donors and donor countries will lift … that the world’s numbness to the plight of these refugees and internally displaced people will cease and support would flow again.
• Please continue to pray for peace, reconciliation, and healing in Syria and Iraq.

Faces of Children

• Please keep Faces of Children intercessor Carol close in prayer as she navigates a long and difficult season of loss, sorrow, and illness. Over the past several years, Carol has lost many relatives, including her husband, sister, and several young nieces and nephews. Carol has also been through multiple surgeries, including one for cancer, and several lengthy hospitalizations. Pray God will comfort this dedicated prayer partner and fill her with the peace that surpasses all understanding.
• 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