November 8, 2009 is Orphan Sunday.  In Isaiah 1:17 we are called to "Defend the cause of the fatherless..." On Orphan Sunday we can take a stand for the orphan.  We are a people called to defend the fatherless...to care for the child that has no family...to visit orphans in their distress.  Hundreds of events are being planned all across America and beyond to stand for the orphan.  We all share a single goal: that God's great love for the orphan will find an echo in our lives.  Pastors are joining by preaching on the orphan, small groups are coming together to raise donations, concerts are being held, as well as prayer gatherings.  Visit www.orphansunday.org to learn more and find out how you can get involved.  

• Pray that people will come together for the sake of orphans and take a stand.

• Pray for those organizing events and participating in Orphan Sunday.

• Pray that eyes will be opened to help care for the orphans.

• Pray for the orphans and that God will provide people to help. 

THE PHILIPPINES

Praise God that the Philippines have been spared the devastation of a third typhoon hitting their country! Typhoon Lupit was downgraded to a Tropical Storm on Friday, and was expected to make landfall over Friday night or Saturday morning. Miraculously, it made a U-turn away from the country; experts say that this is a very rare occurrence at this time of year, and that there were no signs that it would change course. God’s hand at work in this situation is abundantly clear. The Philippines are however still reeling from the effects of Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma. The most recent figures estimate the death toll at 850, with 1.3 million still living in flooded conditions, and close to 200,000 in emergency evacuation shelters. What is more, the stagnant flood waters have caused a deadly bacterial outbreak which has so far killed around 150 people. Tearfund has been quick to point out that children, who make up a large percentage of the poorest in the country, are particularly vulnerable at this time.

• Praise God for His mercies for the people of the Philippines. Pray that they would see His hand in turning Lupit away from their country, and that more people would come to know Him as a result.

• Pray for the ongoing efforts of PCMN who are attempting to provide children affected by the disasters with emergency provisions. Pray particularly for the 150 adults and children suffering from food poisoning from some of the food that was provided for them as part of the hunger relief effort.

• Pray that PCMN would be able to use this opportunity to bring more churches and projects into their network, to strengthen their response not only to the immediate situation but also to the longer-term issues around children at risk.

• Pray for Japan, where Lupit is now heading. It is expected to brush the east coast today, reaching Tokyo tomorrow. While the eye of the storm is not expected to make landfall, pray that Japan would be spared any damage and that lives would not be lost.

EAST AFRICA

East Africa is facing a severe food crisis, particularly in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Somalia. In Ethiopia, approximately 6.2 million people are in need of emergency food assistance, while 3.8 million in Kenya are facing extreme food insecurity. This figure has risen by 1.2 million in the last seven months. 95% of Ugandan’s living in the Karamoja region face food insecurity, and in Somalia, 3.8 million are needing help just to stay alive. The UN also reports that these same countries could soon be hit by flooding caused by the El Niño weather system; this would hit these areas particularly hard since the parched ground would not be prepared for rainfall.

• Praise God for the therapeutic food which is being used by UNICEF in Ethiopia to treat the country’s malnourished babies and children. Therapeutic foods are energy-dense, mineral- and vitamin-enriched foods that deliver precise quantities of nutrients, making them ideally suited to the treatment of malnutrition.

• Pray for Viva’s partner networks in these countries, that if they come into contact with those suffering from the drought, God would equip them to be able to handle the situation and protect children from sickness and other dangers.

PAKISTAN

In the South Waziristan region of Pakistan, approximately 139,000 people have fled from their homes in conflict-driven displacement. Humanitarian access to these individuals is extremely difficult due to the security risks posed in the area.

• Praise God that UNICEF has been able to reach some children who have been affected by this conflict, bringing food, household and hygiene supplies, water supplies, and vaccinations.

• Pray that Christian aid agencies would be able to have access to the displaced people, and that they would be able to bring not only physical relief but also spiritual rest, that the people reached would hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. Pakistan is rated 17th in the world for persecution of Christians, so pray for a real spiritual breakthrough and that Christians in the country would be able to bring the hope of God to those suffering.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

The Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, has spoken out against human trafficking. He reiterated his previous calls to alleviate such factors as poverty, underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity, which make people, especially women and children, vulnerable to trafficking.

• Praise God that this issue is being brought to people’s attention. Pray for those in positions of power and influence, such as the Secretary-General, that they would continue to speak out and bring an end to human trafficking.

• Pray for the networks working with children at risk of human trafficking and child sexual exploitation, particularly Chab Dai in Thailand. Pray that God would bless the work that they are carrying out and that more and more children would be rescued from this plight.

LORD’S RESISTANCE ARMY

Please pray against the brutal practices of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda, Sudan, Central African Republic and DR Congo. The leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, claims to be a spirit medium receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit, but the religion that they follow is a blend of Christianity, animism, mysticism and witchcraft. The LRA claims to be trying to create a government based on the Ten Commandments. They say that the violence that they carry out is simply a way of ‘purging’ society of impurity; if someone is killed, whether civilians, government troops or members of their own army, they claim this is a result of them having broken religious commands.

It is estimated that attacks attributed to the LRA have killed at least 188 civilians and displaced 68,000 in Southern Sudan since January 2009, with a further 137 abductions. One of the most alarming features of the LRA is its practice of abducting children, either to recruit them into the army as child soldiers and forcing them to commit horrendous acts of violence, or to use them as sex slaves.

• Pray that ‘Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him (1 Peter 3:22 ESV)’ will intervene in this conflict as a bulwark against demonic forces, thus enabling the defeat of Joseph Kony, who is the LRA personified.

• Pray that supply-lines between the LRA and Khartoum will be severed; it is rumored that the LRA receives support and supplies from the Islamic regime in Khartoum, Sudan, and that Khartoum uses the LRA as a proxy militia against African Christian, animist and even Muslim (Darfur) communities that reject Khartoum’s Arab Islamic imperialism.

• Pray that God will bless all the churches and Christian communities across the region that are carrying heavy loads of both grief and ministry on account of LRA terror; may God supply all their needs of both provision and healing, particularly those which are reaching out to children who have been rescued from being child soldiers or sex slaves.

• Pray that God will bless central and east Africa with a widespread awakening and revival that would rid the region of occultism and syncretism, promoting justice and righteousness so that the devil will no longer have a foothold there.