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).Hello Friends,
I hope you'll be able to join us TODAY (Wednesday, October 28) for prayer at 11:30 in the gym conference room followed by lunch together. I'm keeping my email brief because I want to ask you to pay particular attention to our first set of prayer requests this week, sent to me by Hannah Schorr from Jerusalem. See you today!
Dear Intercessors,
This week, I visited my neighborhood elementary school. It's the school where my oldest daughter might attend Kindergarten next year. I asked if I could get involved this year, hoping to get to know the school better before we decide what to do and thinking there might be at least a few children who could benefit from an adult helping them with their reading or a teacher who might need someone else to make the copies for once. The Assistant Principal's response was an enthusiastic yes and through the course of our conversation, it became achingly clear the need ran much deeper than copies and reading practice. In our quiet little town, there are hundreds of children who feel lonely and on their own. I'm sure it's the same in yours. These kids may have a roof over their heads and food on their plates, but emotionally they are on their own. And the splinters of their broken hearts hurt them, the children around them, and their entire futures. They need more than adults to sit and read with them. They need grown-ups who help them see their own value and worth.
In our prayer time this week, I'd like to ask you to lift up these children. Below I share a prayer request from China, where a cultural phenomenon of economic opportunities in faraway cities has created a generation of Left Behind children. But we don't have to look all the way over to China to see kids who have been emotionally abandoned. There are kids in our own neighborhoods and churches who feel no less alone. It's hard to believe that God loves you and sees you as immeasurably worthy if you feel invisible and unimportant to the people who are supposed to love you the most. So whether the children are here or in Asia or somewhere else entirely, please ask God to open your eyes to kids who need a warm hug, a helping hand, or an encouraging pat on the back. Ask for His wisdom and creativity and energy to fall on organizations like Young Life, Teen Flow and countless charitable organizations and ministries working on behalf of children around the world. Pray for teachers, youth pastors, children's ministry leaders, and volunteers. And most of all, pray that those children who believe no one cares would have an experience this week that tells them otherwise.
China: Pray for "Left Behind" children.
From Love Without Boundaries | For the rural children of migrants who move to China's booming eastern cities and economic hubs to work, childhood all but disappears. They are left behind in their hometowns to be cared for by elderly extended family; though in many situations, it is actually the children caring for the elderly or children being left to their own devices.
Amy Eldridge is the Executive Director of Love Without Boundaries, a charitable organization working in China with orphans and other vulnerable children. In a recent trip, she met one of these left behind children; a little 10-year-old boy trying to help his grandmother walk along the road into a village. As she approached, she realized the little boy was totally overwhelmed and unable to decide whether he should help his grandmother walk or carry their possessions... the weight of responsibility he carried was more than any young child should bear, and as kind strangers approached him to offer help, he broke down in tears. Amy and her medical director, Cindy, spent the afternoon with the child and helped as best as they could. She shares the whole story of their interaction quite beautifully, but one part in particular gripped my heart.
"Cindy had written her cell phone number on a piece of paper for him, telling him to call her if he ever needed anything. He was sitting right in front of me on the river bank, and I watched him take out that piece of paper a hundred times during that afternoon. At one point I heard him slowly saying the numbers to himself over and over again. I realized he was committing Cindy's number to his memory in case he ever lost the tiny scrap of paper. I tapped Cindy on the shoulder to show him what he was doing, and both of us got tears in our eyes as we watched him trying his best to memorize the phone number which could bring him help in an emergency."
According to an article in The Guardian, experts estimate there are nearly 60 million left behind children in China, and nearly 50 percent of these children suffer from depression and anxiety. In a country with few support systems for vulnerable children, there have been multiple cases of left behind children dying due to poor supervision, unmet needs, and suicide. Pray for family, teachers, neighbors, and community leaders to step in and help provide nurture, support, and encouragement for these children. Pray that, when possible, their parents will find employment opportunities in their hometowns so that they do not leave their children. Pray for a change of heart and priorities for parents who put economic success above the emotional well-being of children. Pray that God supernaturally provides the kind of support and tender care these children need to know they are precious, valuable, and loved.
Blessings,
Carrie J. McKean
Faces of Children Director
First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas
(432) 684-7821 x153
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 info@facesofchildren.net
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