Iraq, Syria
Rebels from the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria/ISIS, now known as Islamic State (IS), have taken control of
large portions of Iraq and eastern Syria in a campaign to restore an Islamic
state in this area that is based on strict, medieval Sunni Muslim precepts.
This offshoot of al-Qaeda is considered far more brutal than al-Qaeda. They
consider Shi’ite Muslims (the majority of Iraq’s population) to be heretics
deserving of death, but also target minorities and civilians with brutal
punishments and death threats. Minority religious groups that have lived in
Iraq for centuries—Christians, Turkmen, Yazidis, Shabak, Sabian Mandaeans,
Bahais, Kakais, and Faili Kurds—are forced by IS to convert to their form of
Islam or die. In the most recent attacks by IS militants, tens of thousands of
Iraq’s religious minorities, including a quarter of the country’s Christians, have
fled north to escape violent assaults. Thousands of Yazidis (a secretive
religious minority group viewed by the militants as devil worshippers), remain
trapped in the mountains near Sinjar, surrounded by IS forces. They have little
or no water, food, shelter, medicine, or fuel and children are dying from
dehydration. An estimated 30,000 Yazidis were able to escape after a week of
being trapped in the mountains, possibly because of U.S. airstrikes on IS militant
positions. Many Yazidis have crossed into Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region. http://tinyurl.com/kr4g6je http://tinyurl.com/nxnsh2d http://tinyurl.com/mesrm6j http://tinyurl.com/lvb9odt
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Continue in
prayer for children and families affected by IS militant attacks and persecution
of religious minorities. Pray for those displaced from their homes and
communities by the fighting. Pray for the injured and grieving.
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Give God thanks
for the escape of so many Yazidis who had been trapped in the mountains. Pray for
children and their caregivers who are weak from exhaustion, dehydration, and exposure
to the sun.
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Pray for the
safety and freedom of the remaining children and families trapped in the
mountains near Sinjar. Pray God will provide for their most immediate needs. Pray
for those who were too weak to escape after the airstrikes.
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Please pray for
peace in this region.
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Pray for Iraq and
Syria’s leaders during this challenging season. Pray they will seek God’s
guidance in all of their decisions concerning the people in their respective
countries.
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Pray for those
who kill and destroy in the name of their religion. Pray for a change of heart and
mind.
Israel, Palestine, Egypt
In the ongoing, violent
conflict between Israel and Hamas, almost 2,000 people have been killed (as of
August 10). The majority of those killed were civilians in Gaza, including 452
children. More than 2,800 Palestinian children have been injured in the
violence. Over a half million people have been displaced. http://tinyurl.com/m65a9ou
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Pray for those on
both sides of this conflict who are grieving the loss of loved ones. Pray for
God’s comforting peace to surround and sustain them.
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Please pray for
the thousands of children and families made homeless in Gaza. Pray for those in
Israel who have had to abandon their homes and communities.
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Pray God will
bring healing to the hundreds of thousands of children who’ve seen horrors no
child should ever have to witness. Pray for children who have already lived
through multiple wars in their short lifetimes.
·
Please pray for a
comprehensive and lasting ceasefire agreement between Israeli troops and Hamas
militants. Give God thanks for the previous ceasefires that have allowed more
humanitarian aid into Gaza.
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Pray the
diplomatic talks in Cairo, Egypt will bear fruit—that mediators will reach a
peace agreement that stops this devastating conflict. Pray for a sustainable
peace in this region.
Faces of Children
- Please continue to keep Hannah, the daughter of Faces of Children prayer partner Steve Schorr, close in prayer as she begins teaching Muslim and Christian middle school students in a Christian school in Jerusalem soon. Give thanks to God for her safe journey to Israel. And thanks be to God for Hannah’s deep desire to share Christ’s message of love and peace in a troubled region. Continue to pray for Hannah’s parents as they struggle with anxiety for their daughter. Pray God will bless them with the peace that surpasses all understanding.
- Give thanks to God for the opportunity to share the ministry of Faces of Children with the women of the Northeast Georgia Presbytery at their annual workshop in Commerce, GA on August 16, 2014. Pray those who heard the message of prayer for children will take it into their churches and communities.
