Invitation to Prayer from Faces of Children ... WEDNESDAY

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).

Invitation to Prayer, WEDNESDAY

Hi Friends,

Thank you for joining me in prayer for the children of the world. If you can, we'd love to have you pray together with us this Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., in the gym conference room at First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas, followed by lunch together.

Also, Faces of Children is now on Facebook ! I invite you to like our page so that you can see regular stories, prayer needs, and updates from partner ministries.

All the best,

Carrie

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Dear Intercessors,

This week I'm sharing three very different prayer requests from three different corners of the world. If you have any prayer needs we can lift up during our weekly prayer time, please share them with me.

AP Photo

USA // In the wake of last week's police shootings and retaliatory attacks, let's pray for the children of the victims. Cameron Sterling, 15, lost his father, Alton Sterling, last week when he was shot in front of a convenience store by two police officers. Speaking publicly for the first time since his father's death, Cameron "urged protesters to remain peaceful. 'Yes, you can protest, but I want everyone to protest the right way,' he said. 'Protest in peace, not guns, not drugs, not alcohol, not violence.'" Cameron has two younger siblings. Diamond Reynold's 4-year-old daughter sat in the back seat of the car as her mother's boyfriend, Philando Castile, was shot, watching all the events transpire. She can be heard in the infamous recording of the aftermath of that shooting reassuring her mother that everything will be ok. After the shooting deaths of 5 police officers in Dallas, 13 children (all unnamed in media reports) ranging in ages from toddler to adult were left fatherless. Altogether, 17 children are burying their fathers this week because of the brutal events of last week. Father, please comfort these children as they grieve. Give them strong male role models in life to fill the voids left by their fathers, and please help them grow to become the kind of men and women who work towards reconciliation.

BURMA // One of our ministry partners in Burma, the Hallelujah Home, has requested prayers for a little boy named Samuel. He is hospitalized right now for kidney and heart problems. He has a family history of serious kidney problems, and we are concerned for the quality of care he will receive in Burma. Locally, Junia, a 4-month-old Chin refugee girl is waiting for a liver transplant. Please pray for her family as they navigate the medical system and for her health as she waits for a transplant. Father, please bring healing to each of these children. Give the doctors great wisdom and understanding in their treatment, and please comfort their families as they watch their little ones struggle with serious illness.

IRAQ // In a video filmed by Preemptive Love Coalition staff in camps where recently-liberated people from Fallujah are now living, they asked children a series of basic questions. "What's your name?" "I don't know." "Where is your father?" "My father died." "Where?" "He died..." These are testimonies of children from Fallujah, who had escaped ISIS just hours before. They are traumatized and shell-shocked, often unable to answer the most basic questions about themselves or their families. In this video, they talk about life under ISIS: "[They] wouldn't let us go out and play." They describe the dire living conditions in the camps: "We have no oil, nothing to cook food. We have no food to eat today." They wear the pain and trauma of war on their faces. Jesus, come near to these precious children. We know you know their names. You know you care for each of them, and we ask you to be their comfort and their shield, their protector and provider, their hope and their future.

Praying with you,

Carrie

Carrie J. McKean
Faces of Children Director
First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas
(432) 684-7821 x153

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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 info@facesofchildren.net