Prayer Request 5/1 -- 5/7

Tuesday
Itinerary preachers are common in China, they preach in various meeting places (points) in the large system of churches (plain). They provide the only "trained" speaker for a local congregation. Most of them have limited training and are often known to travel with a personal collection of no more than 7 sermons. Let us uplift all the traveling preachers, for spiritual renewal, new insights into Word of God and protection from temptation and attack of the evil one .

Wednesday
Shanghai leads China in being a convenient city, but surprisingly Yinchuan, the capital of Ningxia, is the runner up. Ningxia has a large number of Hui people who are Muslim. The only university there hosts the only Islam Study Center. Sharing the Gospel to the Chinese Muslim is difficult and also dangerous. Muslims tend to live in tight neighborhoods and distinguish themselves with their clothing. Let us remember all those who are involved in this, particularly the few churches in Ningxia .

Thursday
Residents of Hangzhou, Haikou, Chengdu, Kunming and Shanghai are most likely to express their desire to stay in their cities. But, most parents will want their children to settle in Beijing and Shanghai. All these cities are the key centers for China churches. All have large, open churches and very strong house churches. We lift up the two cities in the west, Chengdu and Kunming in particular, as they have special outreaches among the Tibetans and other ethnic minorities .

Friday
With the pressure to have a boy under the one-child policy, many illegal techniques are used to select male-sex during pregnancy. Chinese men born after the 1970s have found it difficult to find a spouse, as many more baby boys were born than girls since the 1980s. In contrast, China’s churches consist of an overwhelming majority of women--nearly 70%. We thank the Lord for the serving of the sisters, but we need to pray for the strengthening of male believers, since many believing husbands tend to be inactive and uninvolved in the church .

Saturday
China is also known as the "bicycle kingdom," home to a world-record 470 million bicycles; one in 3 persons own one. But, 1% of bicycles are stolen every year and everyone must face the annoyance of becoming a victim of theft. Church meeting places have many bicycles parked in front. While the police may not bother, someone must guard the bicycles to deter thefts. Let us pray for safety, freedom from disturbances, thefts and neighbors’ complaints of all churches, especially the house churches .

Sunday
It is said that people from Guangdong and Wenzhou are the best businessmen in China. But, even the Wenzhou businessmen have proven too tough to beat because they can cut cost and squeeze out any competition by bringing in their relatives. Many churches in China have links to their mother churches in Wenzhou, receiving financial support as well as the training of church workers. Let us pray for strong growth, solid teaching, and passion for missions in all of the Wenzhou-related churches .

Monday
Even with booming economy, competition for jobs is fierce and is expected to intensify, with projections that another 10 million people will join the ranks of the urban jobless by 2010. Many college graduates know that, inevitably, graduation means unemployment. For those college students who accepted Jesus but failed to land a job, it is very trying on their new found faith. Let us pray for the watering and growth of thousands of these new seedlings, as they learn to trust that God is good and faithful to them .

星期二
許多中國地區的教會漸漸形成以地域行政區為單位（牧區）。主日訊息的供應以牧區為單位，調遣其數量有限「受過講臺訓練」的傳道人到各個堂點講道。其實，許多傳道人受的教育不高，往往發生僅以七篇講章就能走遍牧區的現象。讓我們為這些傳道人禱告，求神引領他們更新靈命，常從神的話語得到新的亮光，並保守他們不落入惡者的試探和攻擊。

星期三
根據一項調查，上海的生活便利程度領先中國其他城市，黃河上游的銀川市出乎意料的高居第二。銀川市是寧夏省的首府，人口中有27%信奉伊斯蘭教的回族，這裡也有全國唯一設有伊斯蘭經學院。向中國的回教徒傳福音既困難且危險。回教徒傾向於群居於同一鄰裏社區，以獨特的衣著、信仰習俗和其他人區隔開來。讓我們特別為寧夏少數參與回宣事工的教會禱告。

星期四
從去留意願看，杭州、海口、成都、昆明、上海的居民願意留在自己的城市的比例最高。從全國範圍看，人們最希望自己的子女遷入北京和上海。這些對人們最具吸引力的主要大城市，也有大型的公開教會以及很強的家庭教會。其中位處西部的成都和昆明兩城市也是向西藏藏民和其他少數民族傳播福音的據點。我們特別在禱告中求主保守、引領聖工的拓展。

星期五
中國在「一胎化政策」下，人們用盡方法選擇生個兒子，1980年後出生的嬰孩男多女寡，估計70年代以後出生的男性將會很難找到配偶。相反的，教會裏女信徒人數高達70%。我們為這些姐妹願意忠心服事而感謝主。同時，我們需要為許多家庭中的弟兄們都不活躍、甚至不參與教會活動來禱告，求主大大加強男信徒對神的信心和熱心。

星期六
中國號稱“腳踏車王國”，擁有4.7億腳踏車，相當於每三人中就有一台。而每年卻有1%腳踏車失竊 ，令車主感到十分煩惱。教會聚會處門口常停放許多腳踏車，即便公安不會干 擾，卻需要有人看守以防被偷。讓我們為所有教會，特別是家庭教會禱告，求神常常保守他們的安全、不受盜賊和鄰舍的投訴攪擾。

星期日
中國有一種説法：溫州人和廣東人最會做生意。尤其溫州人特別精打細算，善於削價和帶進親友以排擠競爭對手，來開拓甚至壟斷市場。許多中國教會與溫州的教會都有一定程度的連繫，比如受到溫州教會在人力或經濟上的支援。求神記念溫州教會為主擺上的熱心，也為那些受資助的教會能有更強壯的成長、更有力的教導和傳福音的熱忱來禱告。

星期一
雖然最近中國的經濟仍在熱化，國內工作競爭卻越發劇烈。預計到2010年，將有1千萬人加入都市失業行列。許多大學生也意識到畢業等於失業。對於在大學接受主的畢業生，找不到工作對他們稚嫩的信心將會是一大考驗。讓我們為許許多多在大學中信主的年輕信徒禱告，求主讓信心的種籽在他們心中不斷得到澆灌成長，以至對神信心堅固，能耐風浪。