Prayer Request 7/18--7/24

Tuesday
China faces a critical shortage of teachers for grades 5-6. To attract qualified new teachers to serve in the remote villages, Hubei will give 5000 annual bonus to those who stay for 3 years of service. Many teachers have left for better jobs in the cities. No one is offering incentives to go to rural churches. The exodus of rural pastors happens daily. Let us pray for all the believers who have taken up the leadership and teaching role in their congregation. We pray for their walk with God and their studies of the Word .

Wednesday
In Guangxi, about 830,000 children are born every year, mostly from rural, remote and mountainous regions. Many rural families violate the nation's one-child policy and often turn down hospital care for fear of repercussion. Hospital birth rate is below 40%.In these regions, 1 out of 100 births involves a dead mother, with many orphans left behind. We remember all Christians involved in orphanage ministry, for what they do unto the smallest, they have done for Christ Himself .

Thursday
The government announced successful eradication of iodine deficiency after 10 years of adding iodine to table salt. In remote provinces like Gansu, Christian agencies are helping with large-scale education and supplying iodized salt in the predominantly Muslim regions. Believers are to be the light and salt of the earth. Balancing church works with community relief is often difficult in China. Let us pray for powerful witness through the demonstration of the compassion of Christ .

Friday
China scraps plans to make sex-selective abortion a crime. China has 119 boys born for every 100 girls, an imbalance that has grown since it introduced a one-child policy more than 25 years ago. Female believers outnumber male believers in China churches and this trend will most likely continue. We pray for all the young women today who are deciding whether to answer God’s call to serve churches in various capacities and for those who are already serving in leadership positions .

Saturday
The first divorce company opened to brisk business in Haina, helping 3 couples getting divorced in one week, by offering legal consultant and property distribution. It also provides investigation and obtaining evidences for filing divorce. In 2005, China reports more divorces than marriages. Let us pray for guarding of all believers family and those who are considering leaving their spouses. We too pray for all Christians involving in providing family conflict resolution in several cities .

Sunday
4.13 million college graduates will be looking for work this summer. According to a survey, more and more qualified graduate students feel they have no other choice than to accept the zero-salary policy if they want to work. Working for no pay just to land a position in a company seems very desperate, but many church workers do serve the Lord with little pay. Let us remember all who preach and serve faithfully in church without salary .

Monday
A survey of 1,200 enterprises shows that 34% of China’s college graduates demand a salary of 1,000 RMB per month (US$125). However, the trend of lower starting wages for college graduates continues.Experts say people have begun questioning the necessity of college education. Nearly 3,000 students will be entering seminary every year. We pray for those who are in prayer and contemplating equipping themselves to serve full time this fall semester

星期二
中國農村目前六年級學生正逢人數高峰，因此師資短缺問題嚴重，很多老師爲了賺更多錢，都到城裏去發展。湖北省爲此頒給執教達三年的農村老師每年5千人民幣獎金。 在農村教會服事的人沒有什麼獎勵，每天都有傳道人離去。讓我們特別為許多信徒們代理離職牧者在教會負責帶領和教導工作來禱告。求神賜他們智慧研讀神的話，並且保守他們常在神的真理中與神同行。

星期三
廣西每年約有83萬個孩子出生，大多是來自鄉村、偏遠山區和和少數民族。他們因爲超生，不理會政府的一子政策，婦女一般都不願到醫院檢查和生産，免得被罰款或被迫節育，也因此在醫院的出生率低於40%，且每百名產婦中，會有1人死于生産，留下許多孤兒。在此地有基督徒開辦的孤兒院和相關事工，求神親自祝福這群為彰顯神愛而做在最小的人身上的基督徒，也使孤兒們在得到幫助時也能得到救恩。

星期四
中國政府宣稱十年來在食鹽中加碘措施，已成功達成消除人民缺碘病變的目標。而在偏遠地區如甘肅省穆斯林族群，基督教機構也不斷在幫助教育人們對碘的認識和協助供應碘鹽。基督徒應在世上作光作鹽，但在中國，要平衡兼顧教會、傳福音，和社區服務以解決社會問題非常不容易。求神激勵每一位信徒，都能積極為神作見證，用實際行動來詮釋出神的憐憫和慈愛。

星期五
中國取消了把性別選擇性墮胎訂為非法的計劃。中國目前出生的孩童男女比例是119比100。因爲重男輕女的觀念驅使人們墮女胎保男胎，使得這種不平衡自25年前實行一子政策以來不斷加劇。 在中國教會，女信徒人數也遠超過男信徒，而此差距仍逐年增加，未來年輕女信徒可能必須在教會各個崗位上擔當重要的領導角色，讓我們為這些女信徒有信心，並知道如何回應神的呼召來禱告，求神也在愛心信心和知識上操練她們，預備將來成爲教會主幹。

星期六
最近海南島開設了第一家專門辦理離婚的公司，一周内就有3對夫婦辦離婚。該公司除了提供法律諮詢，協助產業分配，還提供私家調查以搜尋離婚證據。據報導，2005年中國的離婚數遠超過結婚者，求神保守眾信徒的家庭和婚姻。尤其是起念想離開配偶的，求神親自改變他們，能有智慧解決問題。中國一些城市裏設有基督徒參與的家庭婚姻輔導中心，求神感動所有基督徒願意投入相關事工以化解當今社會嚴重的家庭危機。

星期日
目前國內413萬大學畢業生覓職正值降薪寒潮，許多高素質畢業生感到十分無奈也別無選擇，爲謀一職位，甚至必須先以「無薪試用」來吸引雇主。很多教會的同工，爲了主的緣故，即使薪水低甚至因教會貧窮無法支付薪水，仍甘心義務服事。讓我們為所有這些忠心的神僕禱告，求神按時供應他們一切所需，加添信心和力量來作主工，並感動其他信徒樂意分擔重擔，使事工能繼續不至受阻。

星期一
一項針對1200家公司的調查顯示，34% 的中國大學畢業生要求1,000人民幣（120元美金）月薪，但是近年來畢業生的起薪已越來越低，人們開始質疑接受大學教育的必要性。神學院每年約有3,000名新生入學，讓我們為這群準備在秋季進入神學院的新生禱告，求神讓他們除了清楚呼召，更給他們堅定心智，認真接受裝備，成為主忠心良善的工人，等候主差遣。