SCRIPTURAL ENCOURAGEMENTS
From Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus
“God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything
the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put
them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your
way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget
about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the
finish against the Devil and all his angels.
Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle
on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that
when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth,
righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to
apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an
indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing
warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes
open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.’
Ephesians 6:10-20 The Message//Remix, by Eugene Peterson
ORPHANOS -
Orphanos has partnered with local schools in Memphis to
educate students on children at risk. This fall we will begin several
classroom discussions and presentations teaching about what the Bible calls us
to do as followers of Jesus for the poor and orphaned and how the students can
take a stand for the 1.2 billion of children at risk around the world. Our goals
for teaching is to raise awareness of children at risk issues, understand God's
heart for these children, equip them for action, and be mobilized to pray.
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Please pray for wisdom as we prepare the material.
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Please pray that this creates understanding in the hearts of
the students so that they will not waste their lives on temporal pursuits.
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Please pray that God will use the partnerships with the
schools to bring Himself glory and to send Christ-like aid to children at risk.
LATIN AMERICAN NETWORKS –
Our Latin American regional centre is one of our larger
regions and there are wonderful things happening. Here are a few specific prayer
requests.
PERU
There is to be a networking leader’s workshop held 6-8th
August which is aimed at training in the prevention of abuse and focusing on
helping to provide good practice for child care.
COSTA RICA
As mentioned previously, Costa Rica is one of the countries where Viva
implements the QIS (Quality Improvement System.) A training resource which has
six modules of training designed to equip projects and ministries working with
children at risk to increase and improve their work with children at risk.
- Please pray for the 4 people who
are finishing their reports for the child protection module of the training.
- Pray for those who are involved in
implementing the training, for wisdom and strength to see this training
resource increase in influence.
AFRICA - ZIMBABWE
Our network in Zimbabwe has increasingly been struggling to continue and
things are now critical. Rudo, our network coordinator based in Harare, and the
team there report that things are now so bad that they are preparing to close
down the office. A miracle is needed if their work is to continue.
- Pray for Rudo and the team as it
must be discouraging to have to close down work that has been built up over so
many years and which has been effectively networking to help the many children
at risk in this Nation.
- Pray for the church in Zimbabwe,
that it might be an agent of peace, unity, and reconciliation between opposing
parties. Give thanks to God for the work of the Presbyterian Church in
Zimbabwe as it reaches out to women and helps educate, train, and empower them
to provide for their children and families.
- Pray for Godly and wise leaders to
be given favor and raised to positions of influence who can really make a
difference.
