Prayer Request 12/01 - 12/07

Tuesday
In China households with sons accumulate assets, especially houses in order to compete in the marriage market and thus cause the housing market to fluctuate greatly. This provides a constant demand and bids up the prices which in turn causes people to have to save more. Let us pray specifically for believing families who have sons, not only for Biblical parenting but also for a desire to see their (only) son walk closely with the Lord and even willingly encourage or allow him to serve Him.

Wednesday
If they were asked the question, "After sixty years why do Chinese people still hate the Japanese so much?" most Chinese would answer, "The reason is that the Japanese military did so much damage and hurt us so much. They are still unrepentant and building up their military forces." While the Chinese like to use Japanese electronic products, they do not have a love for the people of Japan. Likewise churches cannot really love the the unsaved or the Muslims if we fail to stop our deep hatred for the country and people who live next door to us. Let us pray for true forgiveness in our churches starting with our own hearts because God has first forgiven us. We need to care about the biggest mission field, not that one far away, but the one next door, Japan.

Thursday
In a recent publication the head of China's Bureau of Religious Affairs defended the government's religious policy as "based on separation of state and religion and seeking a harmonious relation between the government and faith." He rejected the claim that China oppresses religion and allows no religious freedom. The decision to stay unregistered as a church is a tough one for all house churches. We pray for wisdom and God's guidance for them. We pray especially those who are facing the difficulty of finding places to hold worship because they cannot obtain the approval from authority.

Friday
Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its very first restaurant in Beijing in 1987 and it is now the largest restaurant franchise in China, far ahead of even McDonald's. KFC has stores in more than six hundred cities and in four hundred of them, it faces no Western competition. China is indeed a huge country but in terms of churches and training centers for Christian workers, only about twenty to thirty cities get most of the attention and resources. Let us pray for the churches and believers in those cities in which there is a KFC but the church has never appeared on our prayer "radar". May the Lord strengthen their work for Him and their faith.

Saturday
According to a government estimate there are still fourteen million Chinese in the villages who are considered to be in absolute poverty, having nothing. The government has attempted to close the ever-widening disparity between the "haves" and "have-nots" but still schools in poor areas are horribly inadequate in both the quality of their teachers and their facilities. The gap between the rich and poor is very evident within church and between churches. We pray for humility and a heart of thanksgiving for those who are wealthy and a desire to trust God for those who are unemployed or poor. Once again we uplift all the churches in the poor regions and remember our brothers and sisters who have little but are rich in God.

Sunday
China has launched an ambitious "1000-scholars project" to jump-start her place in the world of science. She is offering salaries that are ten times regular salaries to lure the most talented Chinese researchers who live abroad to return home. However, this effort has alienated those professors who have not studied abroad. There has also been a huge gap in compensation between rural and urban pastors. Giving in the rural churches tends to be low which forces the pastors to take on a side job to support their families. Let us remember these leaders that they will have strength to do their ministry, wisdom as they shepherd the flock, and a close walk with Jesus themselves.

Monday
A FIFA soccer agent said, "Asian players generally lack confidence. Chinese players are the worst. European players are tougher, more resilient and they have the advantage in bigger size." Asian players get hurt more easily and are not accustomed to playing in bitter cold weather. Many Chinese believers feel inadequate in sharing the gospel because they are new believers and still weak. They fear they will bring shame to God's name or are not qualified to share. We pray for divine confidence and the enabling of the Holy Spirit that will give us all the willingness to be able to share our testimonies for Jesus Christ.


星期二
有男孩子的家庭為了使他能在婚姻上有更多籌碼，父母通常會為他累積一些財產，房屋通常是第一選擇。這種對房屋的不斷需求，使房地產價格飆升，市場動盪。一般人需更多儲蓄才有可能購屋。讓我們為有兒子的信徒家庭禱告，願神幫助他們不單以聖經原則教養孩子，更願意帶領兒子一起與神同行，鼓勵他們服事主。

星期三
「六十多年了，中國人為什麼還是那麼恨日本？」(卻愛日本電器產品）多數中國人會回答：「日本軍人以前對我國及人民傷害太深，至今還不知徹底悔改，且還在發展軍事力量，這是最主要的！」同樣的，教會不能真心愛「未得之民」，除非先除掉我們對鄰國及其人民的恨意。讓我們禱告求上帝讓中國教會能打從心底真正饒恕他們，如同上帝饒恕了我們一樣。讓我們能把宣教眼光聚焦在離我們不遠的鄰國－日本－這片廣大的福音禾場！

星期四
近來宗教事務局表示，中國的新型政教關係，以政教分離原則為基礎，以政教和諧為價值取向，同時拒絕西方國家攻擊中國政府「壓制宗教信仰自由」。對所有家庭教會而言，「是否堅持不註冊入案」是個很難的決定。祈求上帝賜智慧，引導他們作出合神心意的抉擇。我們也特別為未獲發有關證件，仍在尋找合適崇拜地點的教會禱告。

星期五
自1987年第一間肯德基餐廳(KFC)於北京開業迄今，已發展成連鎖餐廳之冠，遙遙領先對手「麥當勞」。肯德基餐廳進註中國600多個城市，其中400個是完全沒有其他西式餐廳與其競爭的。論到中國教會成長及同工培訓方面，當中只有20至30個大城市是倍受關注和資源充沛的。許多城市中的教會，並沒有足夠的屬靈上和物力上資源供應的。這些鮮為人知的教會亦不常在祈禱中被提及。願主親自堅定他們的信心，加添他們的能力；也幫助我們學習在禱告中時常記念他們。

星期六
官方估計，農村中完全一無所有的「絕對貧困」人口還有1,437萬。政府一直嘗試拉近貧富間「有」與「無」的差異，可是貧困地區，學校就連基本的設施和教師都嚴重缺乏。在教會裏或不同教會之間，貧富差距也非常明顯，我們禱告富裕的信徒能常存感恩、謙卑的心來榮耀神；也為物質上貧窮和待業者能堅定不移地信靠神。我們再次在禱告中記念居於貧困地區但在主裡富足的弟兄姊妹。

星期日
中國發起了「千人計劃」，要以十倍的薪酬，吸引海外最傑出的人才回國做研究工作。歸國人才享有的優厚待遇，成了一些沒出國的學者們的隱痛，往往與海歸產生很多嫌隙。農村教會和城市教會也存在這種結構性分歧，很多農村教會的牧者雖有牧者身份，但微小的薪酬，實在不能應付家庭開支。他們必須一邊牧養信徒，一邊打工賺錢。讓我們以禱告記念他們，願神賜他們智慧，懂得平衡生活與牧養；每天與神同心同行。

星期一
一位國際足聯(FIFA)經紀人說：亞洲球員普遍自信心不夠，中國球員尤其差。歐美球員身材高大，柔韌性好，因此在對抗性較強的足球賽中往往能占到便宜。相比之下，亞洲球員的在比賽中容易受傷，尤其是在天氣比較寒冷的比賽。許多中國信徒對分享福音毫無自信，認為個人生命未臻完全，不夠資格傳福音。恐怕謙卑承認自己的軟弱，會羞辱了主耶穌。求主賜給信徒信心，聖靈的能力，讓我們能夠剛強壯膽地為主耶穌做見證，和別人分享得永生的好消息。