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).The Love We Most Long for, God Gives Freely
Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Creator will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." John 14:23
“God, in total freedom, has decided to love us.
This may not seem very inspiring, but if you reflect on it deeply, this awareness can affect and influence your life greatly. Jesus is the revelation of God’s unending, unconditional love for us human beings. Everything that Jesus has done, said, and undergone is meant to show us that the love we most long for is given to us by God—not because we’ve deserved it, but because God is a God of love…Jesus is God’s most radical attempt to convince us that everything we long for is indeed given us. What God asks of us is to have faith in that love. When Jesus talks about faith, he means first of all to trust unreservedly that you are loved by God.
O God, forgive us for so often failing to recognize and trust wholeheartedly in your redemptive love poured out through Jesus.”
Living in Hope: Advent Meditations from the writings of Henri Nouwen by James E. Adams
A message from Chris Laufer, Coordinator, Faces of Children
Greetings, Faces of Children Intercessor,
The Midland Faces of Children prayer group will not meet on Wednesday, December 31, 2014 as our offices will be closed for the New Year holiday.
Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer for the littlest citizens of God’s Kingdom! If you have prayer concerns or celebrations 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 me at at claufer@facesofchildren.net, or give me a call.
Christmas blessings,
Chris
Prayer Concerns for the Week of 12/31/14
Israel/Palestine
• Please keep in prayer the more than 600 children who attend Jerusalem’s Hand in Hand school, a place where Palestinian and Israeli children study together in a bilingual setting. Jewish extremists are suspected of setting the school on fire late the night of November 29, 2014.
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• Pray for Jewish and Arab students who are frightened by the violent threats left on the walls of their school. Pray for the first graders whose classroom was torched. Pray God will give them courage and peace in the face of this disturbing violence. Pray for their protection from further violence.
• Pray for the staff and administrators at the school as they work to calm the fears of students and parents, as well as their own worries. Thanks be to God for the commitment to co-existence they model through their work.
• Please pray for parents who are frightened to send their children to school. Pray God will bless them with the peace that surpasses all understanding.
• Give thanks to God for Jerusalem’s Hand in Hand school in which its student population is equally divided between Jews and Arabs. Thanks be to God for the four other schools in the Hand in Hand network throughout Israel. Please pray the relationships forged here between students from different ethnic, racial, religious, social, and national backgrounds will carry over into their communities.
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Pakistan
• Please be in prayer for all of the children and staff affected by a recent, violent attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan. Militants from the Pakistani Taliban claim responsibility for the December 16 attack on a government-run school that killed 132 children (many of whom were children of military personnel) and nine staff members and injured 125 others.
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• Pray for those hurt when militants, disguised as soldiers, broke into the school and went classroom to classroom, shooting students and staff indiscriminately. Pray God will bring healing to those who were shot or injured by bombs set off by the militants. Doctors report many of the victims have head and chest wounds.
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• Pray for children who watched their friends die in the attack on their school. Please keep them close in prayer as they grieve their friends and process the trauma of the violence they experienced. Pray God will bless them with the peace that surpasses all understanding and lift any lingering fear they may have.
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• Pray for children who are responding to the trauma of this experience by wanting to extract revenge on the perpetrators.
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• Please pray for the parents and loved ones of children killed by militants in this attack on the government school. Pray God will comfort them during this season of loss and overwhelming grief.
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• Keep in prayer all schoolchildren, teachers, and staff throughout Pakistan as the Taliban has threatened to attack more schools in the country.
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• Give thanks to God for the way in which the citizens of Pakistan are uniting because of the massacre of these 132 innocent schoolchildren. Pray for peace and healing in this region.
• Pray for those who use violence against children to achieve their own means.
United States
• lease pray for a young set of twins who were recently orphaned in the murder/suicide of their parents. Their father Chad is believed to have shot their mother Sandra and then killed himself. Pray God will provide healing and comfort for toddlers Caiden and Emmarie during this frightening season. Pray for their caregivers as they help these little ones cope with the trauma and violence they’ve experienced.
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• ray for Sandra’s parents as they deal with the death of their daughter by such violent means. And pray for Chad’s parents as they also experience great loss and grief. Please pray for the couples’ extended family, friends, and co-workers who are stunned by this inconceivable act of violence.
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Faces of Children
• Please keep close in prayer the daughter and granddaughter of Faces of Children intercessors Susie and Steve. Their daughter Sarah learned recently that the baby she is carrying has a heart defect and will need surgery when she is born this spring. Please pray God will bring peace to Sarah and healing to baby Sylvie.
• 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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