Faces of Children: Prayer Requests

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 3/23/11

Japan
• Please pray for the children and people of Japan following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake (the fourth largest in the world since 1900) that triggered a massively destructive tsunami on March 11, 2011. Pray for those in the northern communities that were hit hardest by the quake and tsunami. An estimated 15,000 people are missing—10,000 from one town alone—and 350,000 are now homeless.
A report from alertnet.org
A report from the New York Times
A report from the Washington Post
• Please pray for the estimated 450,000 people who have been evacuated. Pray for those without adequate shelter, water, electricity, food, or medical care as rescue operations continue to be hindered by damaged roads and train lines, water and fuel shortages, aftershocks (more than 90), tsunami alerts, and the threat of a nuclear crisis.
A report from alertnet.org
• Pray for those working to stabilize the nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi complex after a partial meltdown—the fuel rods in one of the plant’s reactors were partly exposed when water levels fell temporarily. Pray for those who have been evacuated from their homes and communities around this nuclear facility. Pray for those who have been exposed to radiation substances leaked after an explosion in one of the reactors at the complex. Please pray that this situation will be stabilized quickly and thoroughly.
A report from the Washington Post

Kazakhstan, United States
• Please keep Cindy, a single mother of four internationally adopted children, in prayer as she is currently in Kazakhstan adopting Tia, a little girl who was born with facial deformities. Give God thanks that the judge in this case has made an exception to the current no adoption rule in the country. Pray that everything will go smoothly for this adoption and that nothing will interfere with it.
• Pray for God’s comforting presence for 2–year-old Tia as she waits to be united with her new mother and siblings. Pray for Cindy’s four children back in the United States who miss their mother very much.

North Korea
• Please pray that God will provide for the children of North Korea in a time of great food insecurity. Pray for children who are without a regular source of food each day—one in three children is stunted and one in four pregnant women is malnourished.
A report from the Washington Post
• Pray that leaders and governments around the world will seek God’s guidance in helping this starving country, especially since North Korea’s leaders often divert humanitarian aid to the military, or give it as gifts to elites, or resell it for a steep profit. Pray that all aid reaches the ones who are in the most need.

United States
• Pray for 9-year-old Ray who needs to have surgery to place tubes in his ears. Pray that God will provide the resources his family needs to pay for this surgery as they have no health insurance.
• Pray for the 11-year-old girl at the center of a sexual assault case involving 17 men and boys (that number could grow to 28) from her small Texas community. Pray for her emotional and spiritual healing and for her safety. Give thanks to God that she is in a different community now under foster care. A report from the Houston Chronicle
• Please pray for that 11-year-old’s parents and other siblings—her father can’t find employment and her mother earns very little. Pray for those who have been accused of sexually assaulting this little girl and taking videos and pictures of the rapes with their cell phones. Pray for the children and people of this community as they cope with the fallout from this vicious assault
A report from the New York Times
• Pray for the estimated one million homeless students in the United States. Pray for those who live with their families in motel rooms, shelters, and relatives’ homes. Pray for those who are completely on their own because: their parents have abandoned them; a divorce or rocky economic situation broke the family apart; their parents were deported; they aged out of the foster care system; or they fled homes rife with violence or drug or alcohol abuse. Pray for the throwaway and runaway children of this country and for those around the world.A report from the Washington Post
A report from mysanantonio.com
• Please keep three brothers held close in prayer as they enter the foster care system because of their parents’ neglect and drug use. Give thanks that the 7-year-old reached out for help for himself and his 1-year-old and 11-month-old brothers when they were left alone by their parents in a filthy motel room. Pray for healing, maturity, and peace for their parents. A report from inforum.com

Faces of Children
• 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.