Prayer Ruquest 11/25-12/1

Tuesday
China has implemented the new "Labor Contract Laws", to keep the employers from paying unfairly low wages or dismissing workers. Workers often had no choices in working overtime, but now they will be paid. Church workers are still expected to "live by faith" and churches often neglect to care for their shepherds. More and more pastors have a job on the side. Let us pray for strength and spiritual well-being of all the bi-vocational workers.

Wednesday
An internationally famous Chinese actress was quickly vilified as a "traitor" and a "slut" after becoming a Singapore citizen. She recently served as a parliament delegate; the move requires her to forsake her Chinese citizenship. Her husband is Singaporean. Resurgence of such nationalistic sentiment is worrisome. Such a flame, when unchecked, has often preceded larger anti-foreigner movements historically. Let us pray for all the ministries and churches supported by Western and Korean missionaries in China.

Thursday
In both the Three-self and the house churches, there are large church, small churches and meeting points. There is no one-formula to ministering these vastly different congregations. Meeting points often rely on someone who only has very little Bible training. Let us pray specifically for spiritual growth of all the believers in all the meeting points, they often lack the training to study the Bible for themselves and totally rely on the feeding of their part time "preacher".

Friday
"Bei piao" which literally means "floating to the north" refers to the population of the young university educated professionals who come to Beijing to look for career opportunities. Beijing offers them the sense of being in the political, scientific, and cultural capital.After once rejecting Christianity as a Western religion or civilization, more and more intellectuals are coming to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. We pray especially for humility, a sincere desire to follow Jesus, and vibrant spiritual growth in the lives of highly-educated believers.

Saturday
According to predictions, within ten years half of China's population will be in the cities and by then there will be eighty-three city centers with a population of at least 750,000 each. However, only six cities will have adequate housing for those moving in. As China becomes so quickly urbanized, the churches must find a way to be relevant to the "have nots" of society. How to reach out and minister to these "outsiders" is a huge challenge and will take much work. Let us pray for a sense of urgency and compassion in all of the churches in these cities.

Sunday
Macau easily overtook Las Vegas as the world's gambling capital two years ago. Yet as China tightened visa requirements for entering Macau, gambling revenues have dried up. Recently 11,000 construction workers were laid off because of the financial crisis. Gambling is a bad addiction of many Chinese. We pray about this social ill and the family members of all gamblers who suffer from it. We pray, too, for those Christian families that have a son or a father who is a gambler.

Monday
The Chinese Peasant Olympics that finished recently in Quanzhou drew 3,500 contestants. Contests included dragon boat racing and lion dancing and many of the events required co-operation rather than competition to emphasize the goal of harmony. In the rural churches in China most are independent and there is little co-operation between them. Let us pray for the spirit of unity in Christ and helping one another, rather than criticism of each other in all of the churches in China.


星期二
中國實行新《勞動合同法》，填補企業低價使用勞力的法律漏洞，企業也不能隨意解僱勞工。過去，勞工一直沒有權利選擇不加班，現在，要加班就得給工人付費。相反，教會往往不注重牧者的需要，期望同工靠信心過日子。越來越多牧者為了生活不得不帶職事奉.讓我們為這些帶職事奉的同工祈求，求神使他們力上加力，靈命壯健。

星期三
近來一國際級的中國女影星因加入新加坡國籍而被貫以「叛徒」及「賤人」等劣稱。她因丈夫是新加坡公民，按規定她得放棄中國籍，同時也喪失了人大代表資格。近來愛國主義重新抬頭，從近代歷史看，這種情緒發展過頭，極易觸發反外運動.讓我們記念所有在華服事的西方或韓國宣教士，以及他們所參與的教會事工，求神祝福保守他們在中國的忠心擺上。

星期四
無論是三自或家庭教會，都找得到規模為大型教會，小教會，或者聚會點的各種形式。牧養教會並沒有放諸四海皆準的單一法則， 然而目前的聚會點一般都是倚靠聖經裝備不多的傳道同工來餵養信徒。他們往往沒獲得足夠的裝備，缺乏獨立查考聖經的能力，只能完全倚賴"兼職"傳道人的餵養。讓我們為聚會點所有信徒的靈命在質量上的增長禱告。

星期五
“北漂”的字面意思是“向北流動”，專指受過大學教育的年輕專業人士，到北京尋找職業發展機會的群體。置身于北京讓他們感到自己正處於政治，科學和文化的中心。知識分子在一度將基督教作為西方宗教或文明而拒之門外之後，越來越多的人正逐漸認識耶穌基督並接受他為個人的救主。讓我們為“北漂”們禱告，尤其為這些高學歷信徒祈求一顆謙卑的心，靈命得以活潑成長，願意真誠跟隨耶穌。

星期六
據預測，十年內中國一半人口將生活在城市，那時有83個中心城市人口將會超過75萬。然而，僅有6個城市能為新遷入的人口提供足夠的住房。隨著中國迅速地城市化，教會必須找到一個途徑來讓社會中的“無產者”覺得教會與己相關。如何關懷和牧養這些“外來人”是教會必須正視的巨大挑戰，並需要更積極投入的事工。讓我們禱告神，幫助這些城市教會都能有緊迫感和同情心，敏感於神的心意。

星期日
兩年前澳門輕易擊敗了拉斯維加斯，成為世界最大的賭城。而今澳門的賭業因中國加緊對澳門簽證的控制而見萎縮。日前有11,000人受金融危機影響，面臨資遣的命運。許多中國人都染有賭博惡習，讓我們為這個社會通病禱告，特別為深受其害的賭徒家人禱告，求主記念這些有嗜賭的父親或孩子的信徒家庭，堅信唯有主能夠改變人心。

星期一
最近在泉州剛舉辦過的中國農民奧運會，吸引了3500名來自中國各地的農民參賽。競賽項目包括了龍舟，舞獅舞蹈;許多比賽項目強調合作和諧，不純以競爭為目標。中國農村教會的事工普遍而言非常獨立，很少彼此往來相互合作。讓我們祈求中國教會在基督裡都能有合一的心志，停止互相指責批評，同心在主裡團結互助，共同興旺福音。