Prayer Request 5/29-6/4

Tuesday
Young couples 25-28 years old are buying the most homes in China. Typically, they are accompanied by their parents to make the purchase. The one-child policy means that two sets of parents can help buy the house which is usually beyond the means of the young people themselves. This financial dependency creates a lot of pressure when a young couple reveals to their parents that they have accepted Jesus. We remember all the believers whose parents oppose their faith and even threaten to cut off financial support.

Wednesday
Of the 80,000 Chinese who became citizens of the USA in 2005, 65,000 were from Mainland China. During that same period American families adopted 8000 Chinese baby girls. The number of American families with Chinese babies is increasing and some are attending Chinese churches for the benefit of their children. Let us pray for the spiritual growth of the English ministry in the Chinese churches.

Thursday
In rural China many marriages are still arranged or the couple is introduced through a "mai ren"--usually a lady who knows both families. In the cities, marriage introduction services are a booming business for people from high-income busy professionals to men with few assets. Since many believers come to Christ after their marriage, they face tremendous differences in values and priorities with their spouses. Some even have to discontinue service in the churches. Let us pray for all whose spouses are not believers yet that they will be patient and be good witnesses.

Friday
In China, millions leave their spouses to go work in the cities but many of those marriages do not survive the separation. In Henan where people routinely go to the cities for better-paying jobs, sixty to seventy per cent of the divorces involve those people. Many church workers and believers are separated from their spouses for long periods of time with devastating results. Let us pray for the guarding of the hearts of all who are physically separated from their families because of work or ministries.

Saturday
Studies show that women in Hong Kong and Taiwan have a better education than their counterparts in inland China but they lag behind in terms of political and socio-economic influence. In the Three Self Churches, ordained women make up twenty-four percent of the ministers. Let us pray especially for these female leaders in the church--for their walk with the Lord, physical strength, and their weekly sermons.

Sunday
An old saying in Jiangxi Province goes, "Parents favor the youngest son but the grandparents favor the oldest grandson." Apparently the One-child Policy has eliminated this century-old practice but Chinese farmers and people in ethnic minorities often have several children and blatant favoritism is common. Many believers were victims of parental favoritism and struggle now to appreciate the unconditional love of the Heavenly Father. Let us pray for all believers who harbor doubts of God's love and His amazing grace.

Monday
The emergence of mega bookstore chains throughout China, Taiwan and Hong Kong has revolutionized publishing and also the lifestyle of readers. An abundance of titles covering all subjects and soothing ambience have created a new generation of readers. On the other hand, Christian publishing has languished as Christian readership drops, despite bourgeoning numbers of titles (mostly translated). Let us pray for all who are involved in Christian writing and publishing, since few of them are able to generate sufficient profit to expand.

星期二
北京購房的中堅力量是25至28嵗的年輕夫婦。通常年輕人並無此購買力，最典型的情況是小兩口帶著父母一起看房。由於都是獨生子女，雙方父母都會願意幫孩子購買或供養房子。許多年輕夫婦在經濟上都要依靠父母，所以若他們信了主，要告知為信主的父母時，可能會遭受反對和經濟封鎖的壓力。讓我們為這些年輕信徒禱告。

星期三
2005年有80,000名華裔成爲美國公民，其中65,000人來自中國。同時也有8,000中國女棄嬰被美國家庭收留。收養中國嬰孩的美國家庭逐年增加，一些家庭更爲了讓他們的中國孩子能健全成長、受教，而參加當地的華人教會。讓我們為華人教會在英文和中文事工的平衡發展代禱。

星期四
在農村，許多人是通過媒人介紹和相親而成婚的，但現在城市則有專為忙碌單身貴族拉紅線的婚姻介紹所，是一個極賺錢新興行業。有許多信徒是在結婚後才信主，使得他們與配偶的價值觀不同，有些甚至因此衝突而停止上教會。讓我們為所有配偶仍然未信主的信徒禱告，求神幫助他們有堅固的信仰，同時有信心和耐心，以美好的見證帶領配偶一起同心奔走天路，承受永生的福樂。

星期五
有上百萬中國民工離開配偶往城裏討生活，許多婚姻在聚少離多的情況下宣告破裂。河南省涉及外出打工者離婚的案例佔案件總數的六至七成。許多教會工人和信徒也因工作與配偶長期分離，他們同樣面對許多婚姻問題。讓我們為這些因事工緣故長期離家在外的信徒禱告，求神保守他們的心懷意念。

星期六
調查顯示，臺灣與香港婦女雖然在平均教育程度上高於中國內地婦女，但在重要的政治、經濟和社會領域所佔的位置平均比例卻遠不及中國。三自教會中，按立的女牧師佔了傳道人的24%。我們特別為這些姊妹們禱告，為她們身心靈的健壯、每週的講道以及每日與神同行來向神仰望。

星期日
中國江西贛南有句俗諺「爸媽疼滿子（最小的兒子），爺奶疼長孫」。一胎化政策看似解決了問題，但事實上農村並不受此限制，大家庭裏，偏心的現象尤其普遍。很多信徒成長在這類被偏愛或不被疼愛的大家庭裏，掙紮於「神真會無條件愛他們？」的困擾中，很難體會與接受神全然的慈愛，讓我們在禱告中特別記念這些渴慕真愛的農村信徒。

星期一
大型的連鎖書局幾乎遍佈中港臺，革新的環境設計和出版改變了讀者的生活習慣，多元的主題以及類別更吸引了許多新興讀者、提升閲讀風氣。相反的，基督教出版和閲讀風氣卻每況愈下。大多數基督教文字出版者無法”獲利”來作進一步發展。讓我們為文字出版事工禱告，也求神幫助信徒重視閲讀來尋求更深認識神。