Invitation to Prayer from Faces of Children ... TODAY

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 ... TODAY

Hi Friends,

If you're in town and free, please join us to pray together on Wednesday - TODAY - at 11:00 a.m., in the gym conference room at First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas.

Please note the new time. We are trying this for one semester so that we have less time conflict with the new women's Bible study that is starting on Wednesdays at 11:30.

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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When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought me joy. 
Psalm 94:19

Dear Intercessors,

The world's been overwhelming me the last few weeks. When I sit down to pray, I feel as though I start spinning.

Las Vegas.
Puerto Rico.
Syria. Iraq. ISIS.
Rohingya.
Harvey.
Irma.
Maria.
Mexico.

Is there any end to the sorrow and suffering? The injustice and natural disasters? The shattered lives and broken hearts? There doesn't seem to be, and most days lately I've been feeling like my prayers don't make it very far.

So this week, as I sat down to prepare for our Faces prayer time, I began writing prayer needs on individual post-it notes. When I started, I planned to pass out a few notes to everyone who came to our prayer time and we could pray through the needs that way. But after a few minutes, as my stack grew bigger and bigger, I started feeling the familiar ache of despair creeping higher and higher. So I stopped and pulled out a different color of sticky notes. I began writing answered prayers I'd seen in the past few weeks... or places where I could see God's goodness at work or His hand moving to bring about transformation. To be honest, I didn't have very many of those green notes.

I put all the notes on a window in our prayer room, and when the rest of our group arrived, I invited them to add to my list. We spent about 10 minutes writing - green for answered prayers, yellow for requests; and before long, our notes covered a window. When we stepped back to look at the compilation, we realized we had just as many reminders of places where we see God actively at work as we did of places we know His presence is needed. And the truth of the matter was that in many cases, the two completely overlapped. We cry out for him to see and help the Rohingya, and Partner's shows up and brings relief to at least 10 percent of the 500,000 Rohingya who have fled Myanmar the last few weeks. We cry out for him to help foster children, and a family says "yes" this week to taking in two sisters. We cry out for the victims of the Las Vegas shootings, and we gratefully thank Him for the people who stepped up in the midst of the crisis to comfort the dying, rescue the wounded, and lead many to safety. Truthfully, there's no place God's presence is absent, but we need to let our eyes adjust to the darkness so we can see Him more clearly sometimes.

FPCM Photo by Carrie McKean

As we prayed prayers of thanksgiving and petition over our post-it-note wall, I felt the Holy Spirit remind me of something I perhaps had lost sight of over the last few weeks. Each crisis could be contained to a single post-it note. We didn't need 10 notes for the "big" crises, while the "small" needs only took up one. God doesn't rank the ways His children hurt, and I don't need to feel guilty about praying for my little girl's hurt feelings in the same breath as I pray for a little girl whose mama was killed by ISIS. Each child carries the same weight in the Father's heart. Brokenness is brokenness, and whether a child's life is shattered because a hurricane came through and ripped the roof off his house or because he didn't get to eat dinner last night, the Father's heart breaks. Whether a child is part of 500,000 refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar or an invisible victim to bullying in the high school across the street, the Father's heart breaks.

There's something else about seeing all those needs on small, uniform squares. It isn't overwhelming and chaotic and uncontrolled. I may never understand why God doesn't just swoop in and put an end to all the barbaric ways we treat each other; why He doesn't redirect hurricanes or soothe earthquakes, but He remains the God over all. He sees it all and he never loses sight of his children. May we never loose sight of Him.

This week, I'd like to invite you to get together with a group of friends for some post-it prayer time. I'd encourage you to try to write a note of gratitude, thanksgiving, and praise for every note you write that contains a request. If you think of it, send me a picture of your post-it note wall.

To get you started, here's some recent good news from some of our mission's partners... places where God's redemptive hand is at work!

Marine Reach // Vanuatu, Pacific Islands

Courtesy Photo

Anthea tells the story of Kaitila, a 9-year-old boy trapped with a disability ... "He looked expressionless with his eyes down, an apparent empty shell. He could only drag himself on his bottom through the dirt using his right arm. Being born with Cerebral Palsy, he spent his days just passively sitting and watching others, with no expectation of learning anything or going to school. He was loved but no one seemed to talk to him and most of the village folk assumed he could not speak. We set to work modifying a new "Wheelchairs For Kids" wheelchair donated by Joint Therapy Outreach. Sam and Arvie, two of the ship's crew, helped Heather an Occupational Therapist adjust the "millions" of nuts and bolts. Kit (Physiotherapist), Robyn, (OT) and Anthea (Speech Language Therapist) showed his family exercises and games to develop his strength in order to allow him to be included in play. He smiled, laughed and called out to the other boys...he came alive!"

Partner's Relief and Development // Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh

Partner's has reached over 53,000 Rohingya with much leaded relief and supplies... a drop in the bucket, sure, but still approximately 10 percent of the total population that has fled in the recent violence.

Your love has reached over 53,000 Rohingya from Partners Relief & Development on Vimeo.


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