Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Invitation to Prayer from Faces of Children ... Tomorrow

Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Their mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, they 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 ... Tomorrow

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. The church is not currently offering lunch service. If you'd like to have lunch together, please bring a sack lunch and we can eat 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



Dear Intercessors,

June 20 was World Refugee Day.

"By the end of 2016, more than 65 million people worldwide were forced to leave their homes due to conflict and persecution, data published by the U.N. Refugee Agency reveals. That's an average of 28,300 people per day, almost 20 people every minute."

Over half are children under the age of 18.

As is always the case with big numbers, we run the risk of them becoming meaningless simply because they are so massive. Please join me in praying that God helps us to see each of these people for who they are -- His sons and daughters, crafted in His image, whom He loves.

As you pray for refugees this week, please join me in praying for their:

     Safety: May they find places of safe shelter. May they be protected from traffickers and criminals who would seek to profit from their despair.
     Mental and Physical Health: May they receive the medical care they need. As many of them have experienced great trauma and witnessed horrific violence, please pray for their emotional healing as well. Ask God to strengthen the medical professionals and organizations who are seeking to bring healthcare, counseling, and support to suffering communities.
     Torn-apart Families: It seems many refugees find themselves separated from their families. Pray for them to be reunited so they can rebuild a life together.
     Basic Needs: Many migrants and refugees live essentially homeless existences as they seek to find a stable place to rebuild their life. For families in camps and on the move, they often face hunger and mistreatment and an inability to meet their most basic needs of safe food, water and shelter.

Not all refugees end up in foreign countries. In fact, some of the most vulnerable people are internally displaced... forced out of their homes, but still remaining in their country where they often have little support and protection. Groups like Partner's Relief and Development and Preemptive Love Coalition and Free Burma Rangers are working with IDP communities in Iraq and Syria right now. Please pray for them, as well.

In addition to praying for VBS this week, I'd like to invite you to join me in praying for:

Reuters Photo by Robert Carrubba
CONGO // Militia mutilates toddlers, burns villages in central Congo - UN
"The U.N. rights chief said on Tuesday a militia linked to Democratic Republic of Congo's government has committed a string of ethnically-motivated attacks in recent months, including cutting off toddlers' limbs and stabbing pregnant women. Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein called for an international investigation, saying the Kinshasa government had not done enough to look into the atrocities. Congo's human rights minister dismissed that statement. Zeid told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva he had reports the Bana Mura militia was backing the government in its fight against insurgents in the central Kasai region, and had focused attacks on two ethnic groups, the Luba and Lulua. "Refugees from multiple villages in the Kamonya territory indicated that the Bana Mura have in the past two months shot dead, hacked or burned to death, and mutilated, hundreds of villagers, as well as destroying entire villages," Zeid said. Congo's government has been fighting insurgents in Kasai since last August, triggering fears of a wider conflict in the large central African country, which is a tinderbox of ethnic rivalry and competing claims over mineral resources." Learn more here ...

Please join me in praying for the Luba and the Lulua people from the Kasai region of the Congo. Pray the government forces cease the ethnically-motivated attacks and that further loss of life is prevented. Pray for the government to be held accountable by the UN Human Rights Council and for that agency to have the political might necessary to protect innocent lives.


IRAQ // Joy in the Shadows
Sahale Eubank, daughter of Dave Eubank, shares her experience with an elderly Iraqi woman in this beautiful video that takes you to the front lines of the fight against ISIS.

Let's pray for the Eubank family and their partners, including the Partner's Relief and Development team as they seek to literally bring Good News to the people living in the wake of war. Pray for God to continue to protect these teams and for Him to fill them with His Spirit so that the message they bring is one of God-filled hope, transformation, and life.

Reuters Photo by Siegfried Modola
SOUTH SUDAN // More South Sudanese go hungry but worst of famine eases -U.N.
"More South Sudanese people are going hungry and 45,000 are still living in famine-like conditions even though South Sudan is no longer classified as being in famine, a U.N.-backed food security report said on Wednesday. An estimated 6 million people, half the population, were expected to be in a "crisis, emergency or catastrophe situation" this month and next, 500,000 more than in May, the report by government and U.N. officials said. "I do urge caution, as this does not mean we have turned the corner on averting famine," U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien told a U.N. meeting in Geneva. "Across South Sudan, more people are on the brink of famine today than were in February." Learn more here ...

With severe food shortages spreading across Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, and into Uganda, please pray for the people who are living in the midst of this crisis. Pray for our ministry partners and the communities they serve in Uganda who are also experiencing the impact of the drought, not to mention the people pouring over into Uganda from South Sudan.

Praying with you,
Carrie

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

* Name changed to protect her privacy.


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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