Prayer Request 3/4 -- 3/10

Tuesday
The recent scandal of "pornographic pictures" rocked Hong Kong and mainland China. Millions of young people attempted to download them as the government made arrests. Here we see a major shift in the Chinese view of sexuality. A decade ago, sex was still a taboo subject and kissing on campus was strictly forbidden. Now, condom machines are available on college campuses and young people brag about their sexual exploits online. Let us pray that the hearts of all young Christians will be guarded from temptation and they will desire to live holy lives.

Wednesday
Chinese Labor Laws are very generous to pregnant workers. A pregnant worker is legally entitled to 90 days of maternity leave including 15 pre-birth rest days with full salary. After the seventh month of her pregnancy, she must have rest and cannot take the evening work shift. Many foreign-owned factories are finding these provisions difficult on their profitability. Few church workers have such privileges since they are not covered by health insurance and are not legally employed. Let us pray for those who are pregnant, for their pregnancy and the health of baby and mother, and their desire to continue to serve their churches.

Thursday
“A dwarf watching the show” is a Chinese idiom - one cannot see what is on stage but laughs along with others, assuming it must be funny. Chinese Christians take great pride in associating themselves with certain theological labeling like evangelical, reformed, charismatic, etc. Unfortunately, some of them go too far attacking others as unorthodox. Let us pray for humility of all brothers and sisters in Christ and a spirit of unity of believers in China.

Friday
The Huaxi village in Jiangsu province is known as the “number one village”. It started as an agricultural commune in 1960 and continued as a collective village enterprise. The villagers’ income is 40 times of other Chinese farmers and their homes rival Western resorts. A few urban churches have become the role models for the rest of China, with modern facilities and large attendance. We pray for the leadership for these large churches, for the powerful preaching of God’s Word, their outreach ministries and their assistance to other smaller churches.

Saturday
Seventy percent of the men in Shanghai are willing to be "Mr. Mom" and do the housework in the home. Ladies in Shanghai have a reputation of being very capable so they go out and get jobs while the fathers rear the children.Chinese men are less likely than American men to take an active role in housework and child care. Let us pray for all Christian men that they will be godly men, serve in the churches, be considerate husbands, and excellent role models for their children.

Sunday
China has stepped up its enforcement of workers’ benefits. For example, women are entitled to one hour off each day for feeding their babies up to one year of age. Feeding (breast or bottle) time and the time for travel are counted as work time. The majority of young Chinese mothers work and have their babies cared for by the grandparents. We pray for all the young Christian mothers, as they balance work, family life and relationships with their in-laws in this often-stressful transitional time in their lives.

Monday
Four internationally renowned evangelists, from evangelical to charismatic, will be leading large-scale meetings in Taiwan over the span of 4 months. The island's Christian population makes up less than 2-3 percent of the total population and has not changed significantly. Taiwan churches are deeply divided along political, denominational and theological lines. We pray that these rallies will open a new chapter to unity among churches and a true revival of many churches.

星期二
最近影星「艶照醜聞」震動了香港和大陸兩地。雖然當局下令禁止在坊間流傳，年輕人仍然大量下載，背後反應出的是中國道德觀的大轉變。十年前，性在中國還屬於禁忌話題，大學裏為維護秩序不許公開接吻。如今校園中安裝了安全套銷售機；互聯網上，年輕人自豪地介紹自己的性經歷。讓我們求主保守年輕基督徒的心思意念，能遠離誘惑以敬虔為樂，並渴望過聖潔的生活。

星期三
中國的新勞工法令，非常厚待懷孕工人。福利包括：懷孕職工可享90天有薪產假，包括產前休假15天；懷孕7個月以上者不得從事夜班勞動，且應在勞動時安排休息時間。這些法令讓許多外資廠商覺得影響公司盈利。在教會服事的同工和傳道很少享有這些福利，因為沒有醫藥保險，也非一般正式受聘的員工。讓我們為所有懷孕的信徒和腹中胎兒的健康禱告，也為他們願意繼續在教會裏服侍禱告。

星期四
諺語「矮子看戯」是比喻只知道附和別人，自己沒有主見，用來形容某人見識不廣。中國信徒往往喜歡為自己及他人貼上各類「神學標簽」，如福音派，改革派，靈恩派..等等，並且引以自豪。有些人甚至自詡主流，攻擊他人為非正統，造成許多紛爭。讓我們為弟兄姐妹都能在主裏存心謙卑，也為中國信徒們能在靈裏合一而禱告。

星期五
江蘇省江陰縣的華西村，被評定為全國大型一檔鄉鎮企業。華西村自上世紀60年代就是中國農村的先進典型，繼而走「共同富裕」路線。華西村民人均收入是全國農民的40倍，他們華麗的家園可媲美西方勝地。有些城市教會已擁有現代化設施和廣大的會衆，成爲全中國教會的楷模。讓我們為這些大教會能夠有力地傳講神的話，負起導引作用來禱告，也為他們的宣教工作及對其他小教會的協助向神求恩。

星期六
七成上海職業男人願意在家做全職賢內助，處理家中大小事物。上海女子事業能力強，「女主外、男主內」的風潮在滬上愈演愈烈。比起美國男人，中國男人較少擔起理家育兒的責任。讓我們為所有基督徒弟兄們禱告，求神幫助他們都能敬虔愛主、在教會忠心服事，也願意在家做個體貼的丈夫，以及孩子們的好榜樣。

星期日
中國加強勞工福利。例如，有不滿一週歲嬰兒的女職工，應當獲給予一天兩次共1小時的哺乳時間，哺乳時間和在本單位內哺乳往返途中的時間，算作勞動時間。多數中國的年輕媽媽都有工作，把寶寶托給祖父母照顧。我們為所有年輕的基督徒母親們禱告，求神多賜恩惠，在她們這充滿壓力的人生階段中，能夠平衡工作和家庭生活，以及維繫與公婆的關係。

星期一
四位來自不同宗派背景的大國際知名牧師，將於6-9月之間陸續到臺灣主領大型聚會。在這島上，基督徒僅佔總人口的2-3%，而且一直沒有很大的突破。臺灣教會因政治、宗派、和神學觀點的分歧而互相隔離。我們期望即將陸續登場的福音聚會能為教會的團結景象展開新篇章，並為許多教會帶來屬靈的大復興。