Prayer Ruquest 10/28-11/3

Tuesday
Many of the smaller restaurants in Hong Kong are expected to close soon because people have cut back on eating out. During the SARS scare three thousand restaurants there closed. The recent financial turmoil is hurting the city known for its Cantonese cuisine and restaurants. Many Chinese mission agencies are based in Hong Kong and giving for missions is expected to be lower this year than in the past. Let us pray for the many projects that will be postponed or even cannot be carried out now as the giving decreases.

Wednesday
There are 70,000 Hong Kong based factories in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province. It is estimated that because of the recent financial meltdown a quarter of these factories will close before the Chinese New Year in 2009. Many of them are no longer profitable. Massive layoff will have rippling impact socially and the churches in the region along with the ministries targeting factory workers will be affected. Let us lift up all those who are trying so hard to evangelize factory workers and equip them with Bible training before they return home.

Thursday
Taiwan has always been a hotbed for Chinese popular music and artists. Artistic freedom, a matured media industry, and access to a global Chinese-speaking audience make Taiwan a favorite launching pad for budding performing artists. In terms of contemporary praise and worship music, groups from the United States are very popular inside China. Many Chinese believers sing praise songs from memory. We thank God for all the hymns whether traditional or contemporary written by Chinese people.

Friday
The number of so-called "Olympic babies" (babies born this year) will reach eighteen million. The sex-imbalance is getting severe since Chinese couples prefer boys over girls. In Guangdong Province alone there will be 4.6 million men unable to find wives by 2020. We pray for all the children born into Christian families this year, may the parents have wisdom and commitment to raise this new generation to know Him and serve him faithfully. We continue to lift up all those who serve the young ones in Sunday School ministries in China.

Saturday
If we take a close look at who got the fifty-one medals China earned in the Olympics, we see that a large majority of them were earned in individual events. In fact, the larger the team the more poorly the team performed. Historically, Christianity in China is well-known for individual pastors but very little collective effort of a church or a group. Individualism still dominates the church landscape till this day. Let us boldly ask the Lord to raise up groups of believers and churches for His Name sake.

Sunday
Traditional Chinese music is usually performed by an individual showing that person's own private interpretation and years of practice. Rarely is excellence measured as a group effort like in the West it is found in symphonies or quartet music. Chinese Christians tend to admire a few well-known deceased preachers and consider them as saints. However, all of these individuals had a very short ministry and were mostly one-man ministries. Let us pray for humility for all believers and a willingness to submit to others so there will be a true fellowship of the saints.

Monday
Chinese are hardworking individuals but it is difficult for them to work together. It can usually be described as "one-man show", "no second act", and "three is a crowd". This mentality is often seen in churches also. Let us pray together for the revival of all churches, not just a few urban churches, not in just a few provinces or a few outstanding churches, but for the whole church in China.


星期二
經濟不景氣，人們減少出外用餐，預料香港許多小型酒樓將陸續停業。回顧「非典病毒」流傳的幾個月内，就有3,000家酒樓餐舘倒閉。此次金融海嘯將大大打擊這個以廣東美食和酒樓聞名的城市。許多宣教機構建基於香港，而今年宣教機構預測所得的資財認獻將會不樂觀。奉獻減少，宣教計劃將無法如期進行，事工方向也不明朗。我們要特別為宣教機構禱告，願主親自引領、充份供應保守各項事工的運作。

星期三
廣東珠江三角一代有七萬家港資企業。許多在最近的金融海嘯下持續虧蝕，估計其中四分一將在農曆新年之前關閉。大規模的裁員將對社會造成深遠的打擊，地區教會及以工人為對象的事工也將受到波及。我們為致力向工厰勞工傳福音的教會和同工們禱告，求主賜下智慧、能力，藉他們使工人們在回家之前能獲得足夠的裝備。

星期四
台灣一直是培育中文流行音樂和演藝者的天地。由於藝術創作自由，成熟的媒體產業，並接觸全球華語聽眾的平台,台灣成了具潛質年輕演藝者一展所長的理想平台. 在中國，當代敬拜讚美的音樂，以美國團體的作品備受歡迎。也有很多中國信徒唱詩讚美仍是光靠記憶。讓我們為由華人基督徒所創作的作品，無論傳統或當代的詩歌，都獻上感謝。

星期五
在中國，今年誕生的「奧運寶寶」預料達到1,800萬名。由於中國夫婦重男輕女，性別失衡越來越嚴重，估計到了2020年，單是廣東省，找不到妻子的男人將達到460萬。讓我們為今年所有誕生在基督教家庭的孩子禱告，盼望父母有智慧和決心，培育這新的一代能認識神並忠心服事祂，也讓我們繼續為負責國內青少年主日學的同工們代禱。

星期六
中國在奧運會獲取的五十一面金牌，細看之下，絕大部份是個人項目。人數越多的團隊，表現越是不佳。一直以來，中國基督教會多以享負盛名的個別牧者事工見稱，很少出現由教會或組織帶動的團隊事工。奉行個人主義在今天中國教會仍相當普遍。讓我們放膽懇求上帝，為祂自己的名，興起更多參與集體事工的教會和信徒。

星期日
傳統中國音樂一般由個人獨奏，著重突出個人風格及造詣。罕如西方國家，以交響樂隊或音樂四重奏等團隊音樂的卓越表現來衡量成就。中國的基督徒往往對少數享負盛名的已故牧者推崇備至。然而這些名牧多是個人事工，事奉工期較短。讓我們祈求眾信徒願意謙卑、順服其他主的牧人，聖徒間也能擁有真正的契合。

星期一
中國人非常勤勞克苦，然而卻很難彼此互助合作。古語有云：「一鼓作氣，再而衰，三而竭」。中國人薄弱的團體意識在教會可見一斑。讓我們求神復興教會，不僅是幾個城市教會，幾個地區或是幾個出眾的教會，乃是使全中國教會都普遍復興。