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 01/21/15

Afghanistan, Colombia, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, South Sudan

• Please keep close in prayer children injured by landmines and other explosive remnants of war in Afghanistan and Colombia. Afghanistan has the world’s highest number of children killed or wounded by these violent leftovers with Colombia in second place and Syria in third. 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 children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, and South Sudan who make up at least 75 percent of those killed or wounded by landmines in their countries.
• Pray for healing for children who have been maimed by landmines or other explosive devices. Pray children injured by these weapons of war will have the opportunity to receive treatment, physical and occupational therapy, and any assistive devices they might need to live full lives. Pray they won’t be shunned in their homes or communities because of these devastating injuries.
• Please pray for the parents and loved ones of children killed by landmines and other unexploded weapons. Pray God will bring them comfort in their season of loss and sorrow.
• Pray for the protection of children who work outdoors herding livestock, gathering wood and food, or collecting scrap metal as they are more likely to come into contact with landmines or other unexploded ordnance. Boys make up the majority of child landmine victims as they tend to perform outdoor activities like these.
• Please pray for more programs to educate children and adults about the dangers of explosive devices. Often children will pick up unexploded ordnance out of curiosity because they don’t know what it is or they might mistake it for a toy.
• Pray for peace in these war-scarred regions. Pray humanitarian landmine clearance programs will soon be undertaken in each country.

Nigeria

• Please be in prayer for those affected by Boko Haram violence in Nigeria. Pray for the more than 100 children and women who were kidnapped from Gumsuri, a remote northeast Nigerian village, last December, allegedly by Boko Haram gunmen. Pray for their safety and freedom.
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• Continue to pray for the more than 200 girls and young women who were abducted in April 2014 from a secondary school in Chibok, only 15 miles away from this most recent attack. The majority of girls are still missing and may have been “married off” to Boko Haram commanders. Pray for their safety and freedom.
• And pray for those in Baga, another northeast Nigerian town, whose homes were burned down by Boko Haram insurgents. Please keep the loved ones of those murdered by Boko Haram in this second killing spree close in prayer during their season of sorrow.
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• Pray for an end to this violence. More than 10,000 people were killed in 2013 by Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden.” The militants have been trying to establish an Islamic state for more than five years and use extreme violence and fear as potent weapons of war.

Ukraine

• Please keep the children of Ukraine who’ve been affected by the conflict there close in prayer. More than one million people have been forced from their homes by a violent conflict between Ukraine and pro-Russia separatists.
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• Pray for the more than one million people who’ve been driven from their homes by this violence. Pray for the estimated 610,000 uprooted within Ukraine and the almost 600,000 who have fled to neighboring countries. Pray for the most vulnerable populations that are in need of humanitarian assistance. Pray for those who don’t have access to services and aid and are further challenged by the harsh winter conditions.
• Please pray humanitarian aid might reach those most in need. Aid organizations have limited access to areas controlled by armed groups. Pray for peace in this region.

Faces of Children

• Thanks be to God for the opportunity to share the ministry of Faces of Children at First Presbyterian Church in Bradenton, Florida last weekend. Give God thanks for the women who have responded to God’s call to pray for children through Faces of Children.
• Praise God for all of the amazing intercessors who pray regularly for children through Faces of Children! Thanks be to God for their faithfulness and compassion.
• 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