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. 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 ... Wednesday

Hi Friends,

If you're in Midland this week, we'll be meeting at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 3, for prayer. We meet in the prayer closet at First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Please join us in lifting up the needs of vulnerable children in our community and around the world!

Blessings,

Carrie

Dear Intercessors,

Each week when I sit down to write this email, I check the headlines on a couple of major news outlets. I look at the local paper and some state publications and I think about the stories I heard on the radio in my car as I'm going about my days. Sometimes I see an uplifting story I can share, discovered on Facebook or emailed by a friend. Sometimes I hear of a story from a missions partner. They come from all over, but it seems there are no shortage of ways we can be praying for children.

It's not hard to find particularly jarring stories that grab the headlines and grab significant attention. It's a bit like looking at the night-time Earth from outer space... there are bright clusters of light where all our attention and energy and resources are focused. Migrant children separated from their families at the US Border. Children in Syria. Stories like these explode into public awareness like a surge of electricity, igniting passions and opinions and sometimes lead to action.

But for every headline-grabbing story, there are millions of individual stories, and while they may not grab the headlines, they do grab God's heart. And therefore, when they come across our path, they should also grab our attention.

I found a story about one little Filipino boy in a sea of humanity... one little boy who is gathering fish for his family and to pay for his school fees. In his country alone, he is one of 5 million child laborers. Stories like his do not usually grab the headlines, but they happen every day... millions and millions of little flecks of light on this spinning globe. And not one child goes unseen by God. I take great comfort in this truth we see in Hebrews; the truth that nothing is hidden from Him.

Photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images

So today I'd like to invite you to slow down and step into Reymark's story... As you go with him out to sea, I'd like you to let your mind imagine what it might feel like to be a 13-year-old boy on a raft like this; what it might smell like and sound like and what dangers he may face. I'd like you to imagine the pressure he must feel to provide for his grandparents; the internal drive he must have to work this hard to pay school fees. This week, let's not rush onto the next headline... let's sit with Reymark a while and let this photo essay guide us in our prayers.

CLICK HERE for the rest of this story ...

My eldest daughter isn't feeling well right now. Last night, I drew her a bath and filled it with lavender Epsom salts. I put on some quiet piano music and lit a single candle in the bathroom. I invited her to go in and then I left her, quietly soaking in the dark. When she first got in, she was concerned by how dark the bathroom seemed with only one candle providing light. But after a few minutes, her eyes adjusted and the room filled with light.

The light didn't change. But she sat with it long enough that she could really see.

That's all I want us to do this week. I want us to sit with a story long enough so that we can really see. The headlines will always be there... screaming for our attention with explosive bursts of light. Many weeks, these headlines will guide our prayers. But this week, I just want us to journey with Reymark out to the fishing boats. I want us to send him off and bring him home again with our prayers. And I want to remember that we love a God who sees every little speck of light in this world, and each one is as bright as the sun to him.

All the best,

Carrie

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