Prayer Request 2/12- 2/18

Tuesday
The annual CCTV Chinese New Year Eve Special Presentation is the most watched program in China. For the celebrities invited to participate, including those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is the ticket to instant fame and lucrative contracts. Church work will pause in celebration of the New Year. We thank the Lord for all the diligent labor throughout the year by all the church workers; many will be thanked by their congregations with gifts, but many will only receive their reward from their Master later.

Wednesday
Starting in 2008, the government will cancel the May 1st public holiday, which traditionally is a mid-year time of vacation and family reunion. This means more people will travel or return home during the coming 2 weeks of Spring Festival (the 15 days of New Year). Churches usually will have outreach programs and invite neighbors for special meetings. We pray for great excitement for all these efforts and the sowing of good seeds. We too pray for good fellowship as out-of-town church members return to share their blessing with those who stayed.

Thursday
Chinese government has promised that the Olympics will be smoke-free but has not put forth any concrete plan to enforce this. Asking Chinese smokers to snuff out in public places has proven impossible, since they account for nearly 1/3 of population.Many Christians are unable to kick addictions of all kinds - smoking, gambling, pornography. Let us pray for transformation and molding by the power of the Holy Spirit among all believers.

Friday
A recent industrial explosion in Korea killed 40 workers, including 12 Chinese. There are 400,000 Chinese workers, mostly involved in the so-called 3-D, “dangerous, difficult and dirty” lines of works. Many of them are ethnic Korean minorities from China. There are Chinese churches and local Korean churches reaching out to these Chinese laborers. Let us pray for the church work among the Chinese in Korea and the Korean minority in China.

Saturday
Nearly half of the Chinese in America live on the West Coast. About 80% are first-generation immigrants and the remaining are American-born Chinese. Seventy percent have lived in America for more than 10 years.We lift up all the Chinese churches in America, especially the English-speaking ministries to the younger local-born generation who have little identification with their parents’ immigrant culture and their Chinese-speaking church unable to meet their needs.

Sunday
Sixty percent of Chinese Americans have higher education, second to 70% of Asian Indians. Indian and Chinese youth are often vying for college admission and scholarships. India and China are the two largest mission fields for the Gospel. But, Chinese churches traditionally have little interest in understanding Indian culture or considering outreaching to Indians. Let us pray for opening of eyes for the harvest field and diminishing of our national pride.

Monday
Massive migration has been taking place as young people leave villages to seek work in the cities. Such an exodus has greatly alarmed the viability and the future of China’s rural churches. Recently, some churches, seeing the steady loss of young believers, have provided Bible training for those who are going into cities, hoping they will start their own churches at their work sites and new communities. Let us pray for their training.

星期二
中央電視台春節晚會是中國每年最矚目的電視節目。對藝人來說(包括港臺藝人)，能在該節目露臉，無疑肯定其在演藝圈的重要地位，隨之而來也會獲得優厚的合約。春節期間，教會同工也有短暫歇息的機會，讓我們為過去一年勞苦服事的同工感謝神。有些同工能獲得會友們的致謝餽贈，但仍有許多同工只能等候主將來給他們的賞賜。

星期三
從2008年開始，中國政府將取消「五一」黃金周此年中旅行及探親的長假期。因此不少人改在春節時回鄉探親。很多教會也會在春節舉行一些特別聚會，藉此向未信主的朋友傳福音，求主大大使用這些事工拯救靈魂，並保守所撒下的種籽能在人心田裏生根成長。我們也特別記念從外地返鄉的信徒，願他們與弟兄姊妹們有美好的交通、分享主愛。

星期四
中國政府雖承諾舉辦一個「無煙奧運」，但至今還沒有提出任何具體的禁煙措施。中國差不多有三分一人口是煙民，若要在中國的公共場所全面禁煙，似乎是不可能的事。許多基督徒仍無法戒除種種惡癖，如吸煙、賭博、色情活動等等。讓我們切切為這些信徒禱告，求聖靈的大能更新改造他們，使他們得以脫離這些有損身心靈的嗜癖。

星期五
最近在韓國發生一樁工業意外，爆炸造成40多名工人身亡，包括12名中國人。在韓國有40萬名中國籍勞工，大多數從事所謂3D的「髒、累、險」行業：「高污染Dirty，艱苦Difficult和危險Dangerous」工作。他們不少是來自中國的朝鮮族。當地的韓國教會及華人教會都有向中國勞工傳福音的負擔，讓我們特別為他們的事工禱告，也求主記念向中國境內朝鮮族的福音工作。

星期六
美國華人將近一半人口住在西岸，其中超過八成以上是第一代移民，其餘的都是在美國本土出生的。有七成華人在美國居住已超過10年以上。讓我們為所有美國的華人教會禱告，尤其要記念專為本土出生年輕一代而設的英語事工。這些華人第二代很難理解父母的移民文化，而傳統的華語教會也難以滿足他們的需要。

星期日
接近六成的美國華人受過高等教育，僅次於排名第一的印度人(七成)。華裔青年與印裔青年在爭取大學獎學金上，更是互不相讓。中國跟印度都是世界上最大的福音禾場，但傳統的中國教會卻對瞭解印度文化及向印度人傳福音興趣不大，求主挪走我們華人的民族優越感，開啟華人對印度禾場的眼光，回應神在拓展祂的國度的異象。

星期一
為謀求工作，農村的年輕人大量往城市遷移。人口外流對中國農村教會的未來和生存力造成重大威脅。近來一些教會因應年輕信徒赴城市工作的趨勢，開始提供他們查經訓練，希望他們能將福音帶到工作所在地和社區、開始自己的新教會。讓我們為這些裝備培訓禱告，求主保守並使用這些信徒成爲廣傳基督福音的大使。