Prayer Request 9/27--10/3

Tuesday
During the past two years 1,379 college graduates have gone west to Xingjian, a region where many of the Chinese Muslim minorities live, to work as volunteer teachers and helpers in community development. This year 818 others will join them. In this area ministry on university campuses is booming. Many who go there to teach English bear good spiritual fruit. Let us remember the work there, especially that among the Muslims .

Wednesday
"Military training" is a requirement for all new high school students both male and female. While many parents are weary of this physically demanding training, it is the best time for the Party to recruit new members. More than a thousand students will enter twenty seminaries this month. "Political Doctrine" will be a part of their curriculum. Let us pray for spiritual revival for all of the seminary teachers and students in China .

Thursday
The mandatory retirement age for men is sixty but for women it is five years earlier. Should women be forced to retire at the age of fifty-five? Several lawsuits are being watched closely as women demand a higher retirement age. Many women retire to care for their grandchildren, start a small business, or play the stock market. Chinese churches have yet to involve many men and women who are 50-65 years old and available to serve in the church. Let us pray for this group of ready workers and their Bible training .

Friday
In the last three years Beijing has added nearly one million mingong (migrant laborers--nearly ten percent of the people living there) to its population. Seventy-seven percent of them come from neighboring provinces, have worked on the 2008 Olympic construction projects, and are fifteen to thirty-five years old. The city faces a potential crisis when this construction phase finishes and is followed by mass unemployment. Let us pray for the efforts of the Beijing churches to reach out to this group of migrant workers .

Saturday
Experts say that seventy percent of Chinese parents lack adequate parenting skills. Overprotective parents lead to a generation of young people who have bad temperaments and are unable to tolerate setbacks. Such a deficit is already reflected in the high teen suicide rate in China. There are neither religious teachings nor campaigns to condemn or prevent suicides and suicide crisis services are available only in Beijing, Fujian, and Anhui. Let us pray for a loud voice from the church to answer this crisis which has risen to epidemic proportions .

Sunday
About seventy to eighty percent of divorces in China are caused by an extra-marital affair. The Women's Federation recommends a reasonable and rational approach by using a trial separation and broader social acceptance of this reality(extra-marital affair damaging marriages). Believers face the same pitfalls and sins in their marriages. Let us pray for divine protection, badly needed marital counseling, and strong teaching from the pulpits .

Monday
Government admits the gap between the rich and the poor is approaching a dangerous level. Average urban income is $1,000 a year, while countryside still averages $300. Simmering discontent of the poor has provoked protest and violent labor clashes recently. Chinese believers fall in between these two extremes as well. Let us remember the poor and needy believers, their unfaltering faith in Christ and how urban churches can assist .

星期二
「建設大西部計劃」實施兩年來，共有1,379名大學生志願到新疆各地，在回教少數民族群衆中從事支醫支教支農等促進發展的服務工作。今年新疆將新增派818名大學生志願者。新疆當地的校園福音事工興盛，許多英語老師都經歷了福音所結出美好的果子，讓我們歸榮耀給主並繼續在禱告中記念他們，尤其是回族工場。

星期三
新學期開始了。有些學校規定新生不分男女都要參加軍訓。家長們則致力找出五花八門的理由為孩子請假，逃避高度體能的訓練。軍訓是共產黨招收新黨員的大好時刻。本月將有超過千名學生進入國內20所公開合法的神學院，神學院課程將包括學習「政治理論」。讓我們為國內神學院的教授和學生靈命的更新和茁壯代禱，求主親手陶冶裝備衪的工人。

星期四
一55歲企業女幹部狀告單位強制她退休，是對女性勞動者的性別歧視，有違憲法、勞動法男女平等的規定。國內目前男子退休的年限是60歲，比女性多5歲，近年輿論上對有關議題的爭論十分熱烈。許多人退休後往往照顧孫輩、經營小型企業，或玩股票，中國教會尚未發展出針對這群50-65歲的事工。讓我們為神國度這股蘊藏的資源被開發和裝備來禱告。

星期五
中國首都北京外來流動人口3年內增加了100萬 (多屬建築勞工，占全市居民的10%) 這些從鄰省遷來從事奧運工程的外來民工中，77%是15至35歲的青年人。等工程告一段落後，這些面臨失業的人，極有可能將形成阻礙北京社會治安和經濟發展上的隱患。讓我們為當地教會針對外來民工的福音事工來守望代禱。

星期六
中國心理專家認爲： 70%家長的教育方式不合格，導致年輕人整體適應力差，抗挫力差。其中30%是過分保護， 30%是過分監督，還有10%是傳統的嚴厲懲罰。目前這代青少年成長環境較優越，又缺乏反對自殺的宗教或法律禁令，以致國內青少年自殺率高居不下。全國僅有北京、福建、安徽設有自殺防範熱線，讓我們禱告眾教會能發出強大的迴響，防堵此一時代流行的危機。

星期日
中國離婚率持續上升，70%到80%離婚的起因為婚外情。全國婦聯認為，這是因為社會大眾採取接受與包容婚外情的態度。讓我們常在禱告中紀念中國信徒的婚姻關係，他們也面對相同的試探與誘惑，求神保守他們全然為聖。並預備婚姻輔導，也使用傳道人傳作為神教導強而有力的出口。

星期一
中國政府承認貧富差距已經越來越大。城市居民年收入為1000美金，農村居民卻停留在300美金，最近有許多農人工人示威抗議與衝突，就是為了表達對貧富懸殊的不滿。同樣的，中國信徒之間也有這樣隱形看不見的鴻溝，讓我們在禱告中紀念窮人和信徒，為著信徒們堅定不移的信心，也求主使用城市教會能夠成為農村信徒的幫助。