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,
Faces Of Children will be meeting this Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., in the gym conference room at First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. I hope you can join them to pray together for children in our community and around the world!
Warmly,
Carrie
Dear Intercessors,
This week, my Facebook feed was filled with happy pictures of children going back to school. New backpacks and lunchboxes, big smiles, cute new dresses and bows and tennis shoes. Each child I saw was loved and celebrated and prepared to embark on a new year of learning and adventure.
I enjoyed the pictures - and posted some myself of my own children - but even as I enjoyed each smiling face, I thought about the children in our community who go back to school with no fanfare. Kids who don't have backpacks full of supplies to take or a new uniform that fits. And then I thought about kids around the world who don't even get to go back to school... or kids, whose losses strike at an even more primal level, who don't have parents to celebrate any of their milestones.
Living in this world with all its tensions and contradictions and extremes is sometimes such a complex thing to do. I find it challenging to celebrate the highs in my own children's lives while also making space for all the sorrow and losses and lows that plague so many other children. Somehow I take comfort in the fact that even in all this complexity and nuance and contradiction, God is able to hold it all. He has space to care for my own children's concerns and cares, and he has space to care for the children no one else seems to hear. And I'm challenged to pay attention... to watch for those kids who might need me to hear them, see them, and use my voice to speak up for them.
While we were in China visiting our friends at New Day Foster Home, I met an 11-year-old boy named Owen. I wanted to share this story with you and invite you to join me in praying for Owen, and all the children like him, this week:
And some kids don't have the luxury of wanting such things. They simply want a family.
Meet Owen. He's eleven years old and he's been in an orphanage since he was two years old. With a blood disorder called Thalassemia that requires regular transfusions and management, he's had more hard things to navigate in his short life than most people do in their entire lifetimes. And while he's always had orphanage staff and caregivers who were doing their best to care for him, he hasn't experienced what it's like to know the love and safety and nurture of a permanent family. He hasn't had a mom or a dad to walk beside him as he goes into the hospital for transfusions, to talk to doctors about what the best course of care would be, or to advocate and encourage and comfort and support in all the ways parents do best.
Two years ago, Owen's orphanage asked New Day Foster Home to take over his care. Due to their location and medical care access, Owen wasn't able to receive the regular transfusions he needed to stay healthy and alive, and his health suffered as a result. Frail and weak, his body didn't have what it needed to empower him to do what he was supposed to do - just be a kid. Once he came to New Day, we began getting him more regular treatment. His blood levels stabilized and his energy returned and he began enjoying his childhood more and more. He even had the chance to leave an institutional environment and join a foster family, learning and enjoying the simple rhythms of family life.
And yet his heart's cry remains the same.
Owen understands there's a difference between a temporary foster family and a family that will forever be his own. In an almost cruel twist, it seems sometimes the children who don't have families are the ones who understand their value the most. Every child deserves to know the love and care of a family, but for older children like Owen who see babies and toddlers adopted quickly, their own sense of self-worth and value crumbles a little with each adopted child's departure. Because so many children at New Day are adopted internationally, Owen has his heart set on getting on an airplane with his family and going to America, as he's seen so many friends do. But we know it's not about the place. Whether in China or the USA or Holland or Hong Kong, if Owen had a family to claim him and call him their own, we know his heart would thrive and come alive in ways we can't even imagine. We know those little holes and cracks in his sense of self-worth might eventually be filled if he knew he belonged forever and always to a mom and dad who were proud to call him their own.
We know that just as his body has grown stronger through regular blood transfusions, the infusion of love and belonging a family would provide would strengthen his heart and soul. And we know that someday, just maybe, he'd get around to wanting the little things of childhood - a new gadget for his birthday, a shiny new bicycle, a chance to try something new. And that would be a beautiful thing indeed.
To learn more about adopting Owen, please contact Karen at karen@newdaycreations.com.
A REMINDER FROM LAST WEEK ... Since so many children across the USA are starting school, I wanted to invite you to join me in a weekly prayer discipline. Whenever you pass by a school or see a student or think of educators or sit down to pray, I'd like you join me in praying for the following:
Monday: Teachers and Administrators and Support Staff
From the teachers to the cafeteria line workers to the custodial crews to the principals and superintendents, the adults in our schools cultivate an important environment for our children. Healthy schools start with healthy staff. Please pray for those who are struggling to make ends meet. Pray for those who feel like summer didn't provide the opportunity to rest and recharge as needed. Pray for those who are new to their jobs and schools and for those who are burnt out and wishing for changes.
Tuesday: Students for Whom Learning is Hard
Some kids have special needs or learning disabilities or simply haven't had the right teacher or the right opportunity to learn in a way that will make sense. Please pray for those who "hate school" simply because they feel frustrated, unqualified, or "dumb." Pray for this year to be a turn-around year... for the right adults and the right opportunities to cross their paths. Pray for them to have perseverance and never give up.
Wednesday: Students Who Feel Like They Don't Fit In
In a world where we are becoming more and more aware of the tragic consequences of students who feel like outsiders and misfits, please pray for those who are on the margins. Pray they find connection and that if they are the victims of bullying or other mistreatment, this is the school year it stops. Pray for those with serious emotional and psychological and mental health challenges to get the help they need and not slip through the cracks. Pray for each of these children to experience the profound love of God in ways that bring healing and wholeness.
Thursday: Students Who Don't Have Support at Home
For every Kindergartner who has parents reading books to them at night, there's another whose parent never looks up from his or her phone. For every 4th grader who is met at the door with a wholesome after-school snack, there's another who has to figure out what her little brother will eat for dinner that night. For every high school student who has a parent helping them navigate the college application process, there's another whose family doesn't know the difference between a FAFSA and the SAT. There are kids in broken families and kids in abusive ones. There are kids whose families dance on the edges of poverty and homelessness and kids whose parents are simply distracted by work and other commitments. There are kids whose parents are in prison, on drugs, or sick. So much of a child's educational success hinges on engaged and involved parents. Please pray for those children who feel alone and unsupported. Pray each one can connect with one caring adult -- neighbor, church friend, teacher, or parent -- who watches out for them and helps them navigate the school year ahead.
Friday: Students Who Know and Love Jesus
There are many students who have never heard the name of Jesus. In Public Schools, there may not be many opportunities to "officially" share the Good News of Jesus, but there are thousands and thousands of students who do personally know how different life can be when Jesus is at the center going into the halls of schools each day. Let's pray for these students as they go back to school... may they be bright lights in the places where God sends them. Let's pray they grow more deeply in their own relationships with God and that this growth pours out into the lives of those around them. Pray for them to embody the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. May they experience the presence and peace of God's spirit and share that spirit with those around them.
Thank you for joining me in praying for schools and students this week and in the weeks to come. 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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