Child Brides
- Please pray for the 10 million girls under the age of 18 who are married each year, often against their will and sometimes to a much older man. http://tinyurl.com/6a7kxb5
- Pray for girls who are forced into early marriages and not allowed to continue their education. Pray this practice of denied education will end, allowing girls the opportunity to be independent, earn a livelihood, help contribute financially to their households, and break the cycle of poverty associated with child marriages.
- Pray for girls who are married off quickly because they’re considered worthless burdens on their families. Pray for a change in attitude about the role of girls and women in society. http://childmarriage.trust.org
- Please keep girls from poor families in prayer as they are twice as likely to marry young as those from wealthier families. Pray for those who are sold off as brides because their families are in a life-and-death crisis or struggling to survive a natural disaster. Pray for girls who are sold into marriage to settle a debt.
- Please keep in prayer girls who are betrothed before birth in order to cement alliances between families. Pray for daughters who are married off early in order to ensure they are still virgins, to protect the family honor, or to maintain their economic value as brides.
- Pray for girls in Niger, Chad and Mali—more than 70 percent of them are married before age 18. Pray for those in Bangladesh, Guinea, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, and Nepal where the child marriage rate is over 50 percent. And please pray for girls in Ethiopia, Malawi, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Eritrea, Uganda, India, Nicaragua, Zambia, and Tanzania where the rate of child marriages is above 40 percent.
India, Nepal, and Tibet
- Please keep the children and people of northeast India, Nepal, and Tibet held close in prayer following a powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck this remote Himalayan region on September 18.
- Pray for those in villages cut off by mudslides triggered by the earthquake. Pray that humanitarian aid and rescue crews can reach remote regions quickly. Please pray for children and people injured or trapped by collapsing houses that were already weakened by recent monsoon rains. Pray for those who lost loved ones, homes, schools, and livelihoods in this disaster. http://tinyurl.com/3llcrep
North Korea
- Continue to pray for the children of North Korea. One third of children under age five is chronically malnourished or has stunted physical growth. Please pray that those who need nourishment will receive it quickly. Pray for the large number of malnourished children in hospitals and pediatric wards—pray they will receive proper treatment, grow stronger, and be able to return home. http://tinyurl.com/44w4bu6
- Pray for children living in orphanages and children’s homes where there is a lack of food supplies as well as the resources needed to purchase them. Pray that whatever distribution of food aid coming into North Korea will be done with transparency and fairness. Pray donated food aid won’t be siphoned off for the military or ruling elite.
- Please pray that the truth about North Korea’s food situation will come to light. North Korean leaders have requested humanitarian assistance claiming heavy rains and flooding this summer destroyed crops. Outside investigators disagree and claim the reclusive country came through that experience better than expected.
United States
- Keep 13-year-old Jacob* and his father Israel held close in prayer during this very difficult time in their lives. Jacob’s father, a single parent, is in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.
- Please pray for a clear diagnosis and treatment plan for this young father. Pray that Israel’s physicians, nurses, and the hospital staff with whom he comes into contact will treat this single dad with compassion and kindness. Pray that Israel will make a complete recovery and be able to care for his son.
- Give thanks that several relatives have come into town to help care for Jacob. Please pray for God’s comfort and peace for Jacob as he goes through this frightening experience.
- Please continue to keep in prayer the children and people of Central and East Texas as they cope with the aftereffects of massive wildfires that torched thousands of acres of land, destroyed homes, and displaced people. Give God thanks that the huge fire in Bastrop County is now 95 percent contained. Pray for those who’ve lost so much in the flames—1,554 homes were destroyed in the Bastrop and Union Chapel fires. Pray for the firefighters and forest service crews who continue to battle fires around the state. http://tfsweb.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?id=12888
*Name changed for confidentiality.
