- Pray for the children and people of Mexico and along the Texas/Mexico border who are affected by the drug cartel violence in this region. Pray especially for the estimated 60,000 children who have been orphaned by the violence since 2006. (Estimate based on the 40,000 people murdered since 2006.) http://tinyurl.com/755jt4r
- Please hold close in prayer the children of Ciudad Juarez, a city across from El Paso, Texas, who have lost one or both parents to drug cartel violence. There are an estimated 15,000 narco orphans in Juarez alone. Pray for the grandparents, older siblings, aunts or uncles who end up caring for these children. Pray God will bring healing and peace to them, many of whom experience depression, post-traumatic stress, and/or aggression.
- Pray for 10-year-old Eleazar and his three younger siblings—Eleazar and a brother witnessed their father being gunned down by men in a pickup truck. Pray Eleazar and his siblings will receive care and grief counseling to break the cycle of violence and prevent these children from growing up to be their father’s avengers. Pray for their grandmother who now cares for them and several other children.
- Please pray for 8-year-old America and her 6-year-old sister as they grieve their father’s death. He was shot accidentally when gunmen attacked the house across the street from their home.
- Pray God will bring peace to 13-year-old Manuel whose father was kidnapped and murdered. Manuel carried a photo of his father’s brutalized body in his wallet for months. · Keep in prayer the families of those murdered in Juarez. More than 700 women and dozens of children have been killed in the drug cartel violence. Fathers have been assassinated with young children riding in the car beside them and entire families have been murdered together.
- Pray for those who derive pleasure from violence and for those who are consumed and driven by greed. Pray that God’s justice will rain down on all those guilty of murder. Pray for peace in Mexico and along the U.S. border.
- Pray for an end to the addictions that fuel the huge machinery of drug trafficking.
Thailand (NightLlight – www.nightlightinternational.com)
- Please keep the children and people of Thailand in prayer as they continue to deal with massive flooding and its aftereffects. For more than two months, people in the northern part of Thailand and around Bangkok have lived with flooded homes, closed businesses and schools, lost jobs, and filthy, contaminated water.
- Give thanks and praise for the volunteers and staff with NightLight who have been working with an international church in Bangkok and other local churches to provide flood relief to those who have been forgotten.
- Pray for NightLight’s employees who had to evacuate their homes because of flooding or because they were stranded by the flooding and unable to get to work. Give thanks that the NightLight center is available for employees who have no place to stay.
- Please pray for the efforts of the Bangkok church community as thousands come together to help clean up previously flooded areas. The clean-up and rebuilding of homes once submerged in contaminated water for more than two months will be a major endeavor. Pray God will provide the resources needed to accomplish this. http://tinyurl.com/842vemv
United States
- Please pray for God’s healing presence for a family in crisis. Twelve-year-old James* was sexually molested several years ago by his step-uncle and then James sexually molested his half brothers, 9-year-old twins John* and Sam*. Shortly before James was to finish counseling (he is currently on probation), he sexually molested John again. Pray God will bring healing to all three boys and protect them—including their youngest brother, 2-year-old Ben—from James’ abusive behavior.
*Names changed for confidentiality and/or protection.
- Give thanks to God that James’ mother Susan* and his step-father found out what was going on and took action to help their sons. Pray God will guide Susan and her husband as they make difficult decisions and deal with the repercussions of James’ actions. Please pray Susan’s husband will be more supportive of her. Pray God will provide this family with the resources they desperately need now.
- Pray God will bring a miracle of healing to Mandy’s baby. Mandy has a high risk pregnancy and must undergo several in utero operations in order for the baby to survive once he or she is born.
- Please keep the Prescott family held close in prayer as they grieve for their 15-year-old daughter who recently died of brain cancer. Pray God will also bring comfort to this young teen’s extended family and friends.
