Prayer Request 8/31 - 9/6

Tuesday
The biggest traffic jam took place on the highway between Beijing and Tibet, lasting 10 days and 100 kilometers long. Beijing residents are buying 2000 new cars a day and officials predict the average speed in the city will drop to below 15 km/hr. Too many cars and too little roads are causing Beijing to be known as the worst traffic-jam city in the world. Let us remember the Beijing churches in prayers. Traffic and parking spaces are becoming the limiting factors in church growth. House churches are particularly affected because they usually meet in office buildings or apartments. May the Lord give church leaders special wisdom in how to minister to many young professionals and young families in the city.
Wednesday
In Manilla eight tourrists were kidnapped and killed causing a lot of anger about the way the Philippine government handled this case. The locals often refer to Manila as "The Kidnapping Capital of Asia" We pray for Chinese churches in the Philippines that are guarded by gun-carrying guards, much like the Chinese stores there. We pray the believers will have the burden of sharing the gospel with not only the Chinese but also with the local Philippine people and even the Muslims. We pray, too, for the 150,000 laborers in Hong Kong and those minstries and churches with an outreach to serve their spiritual needs.
Thursday
In August of 1980 Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Shantou in Guangdong Province became a "Special Economic Zone" and ushered China into the modern economic boom. This month, residents of Shenzhen received a birthday gift of "red packets"--a year's worth of free medical insurance.Health insurance is a luxury for all of the pastors, especially those in the house churches since t6he unregistered churches often lack the legal and financial ability to buy such coverage. We pray for good health both physically and spiritually for all of the church workers, especially those who serve in spite of being ill.
Friday
Shanghai is the economic capital of China. It has the highest personal GDP ($11,000 US) and has the second largest stock market (next to Wall Street) in the world. However, it has the largest exchange of gold in the world. Shanghai has the world's largest seaport and the busiest airport in Asia. We know that people often suffer spiritually because of material riches. In fact, we should pray that churches will not become lukewarm like the Laodecian church which was rejected by Christ in Revelatioin 3:14-18.
Saturday
It is well known that international name-brand goods and clothing are a lot more expensive in China than in other places even though they are made there. A pair of Levi's can cost three times more in China than in the United States. Famous foreign preachers have many followers in China who adore them and try to imitate their church growth methods. We pray that God will raise up a generation of Chinese Christian thinkers, preachers, and leaders who will model Christ with humility and passion.
Sunday
In spite of government efforts to improve safety, large scale mine accidents continue throughout China. With the nearly daily coverage of mine disasters and casualties, it is noted that the people in China have become numb to these reports of coal mine accidents. It is easy for believers to feel the same way about disaster relief, the recent flooding, and the earthquake last year. We pray that churches in China will become active and reach out to the needly not only when major disasters strike, but that they will always have compassion for the poor and disenfranchised in their neighborhoods.
Monday
A unique Chinese way of getting justice is for people to kneel in front of a government building to protest corruption by the officials and demand that their grievances be addressed by said officials. Such actions once covered by the media often swiftly bring down the "bad" person. In China when a church has a leadership problem, the church usually splits and many of the people in the congregation quit going to church rather than finding another one to attend. Let us pray for those churches that have split or have gone through division. May the Spirit of God bring healing to all involved so that disenchanted believers will learn to focus on God rather than on men.

星期二
京藏高速公路最近發生了十天大塞車，車輛排隊長達一百公里。按照現時北京市民每天新購二千輛機動車計算，平均車速將會降至每小時十五公里以下。北京由於路少車多，已成為世界上通勤最擁堵的城市之一。我們為北京的教會禱告，交通堵塞和極其有限的停車位是限制教會增長的因素之一。尤其是家庭教會，因聚會點多處於辦公樓或公寓內，受影響更甚。願上帝賜下智慧，幫助教會領袖知道如何服侍教會中許多年輕及白領階層的家庭。
星期三
馬尼拉發生香港遊客被綁架事件，十五名人質中，八死七傷；人質事件以流血收場，使華人世界彌漫著悲傷與憤怒。公眾質疑菲国政府處理手法不得當，馬尼拉更被當地媒體稱為「亞洲綁架之都」。菲律賓的華人教會、商店向來需要聘請持槍警衛保護，我們求主賜下平安給菲國眾教會。也給他們廣傳福音的心志，不單向華人，也向當地人，尤其是菲律賓的回教徒。香港有十五萬菲律賓籍勞工，我們也記念那些關注他們靈命的事工與教會。
星期四
1980年8月廣東省深圳，珠海和汕頭共同成為“經濟特別行政區”，帶動中國經濟蓬勃發展。每位深圳市民在特區生日均獲贈一封“紅包”，免費享受一年醫療保險。受惠人數達一千萬。對於絕大多數教會，尤其是家庭教會的牧者而言，醫療保險是種奢侈品。沒有註冊的教會往往受法律和財力限制沒能力購買保險。讓我們為教會事奉者的身心靈健康禱告，也特別記念那些抱病為主勞苦的神僕們。
星期五
上海是中國的經濟首都。它具有中國最高的人均國內生產總值（$11,000美元），也擁有世界上第二大股票市場（僅次於華爾街）。而且上海有世界最大的黃金交易所，還擁有世界上最大的海港和亞洲最繁忙的機場。人們往往因物質上的富裕而帶來屬靈上的貧窮。讓我們禱告主，幫助像上海教會般富裕的眾信徒，除了照管好神所託負地上會朽壞的財富，更能用以換得天上永恆的獎賞，拒絕淪為不冷不熱的「老底嘉」教會而為基督所棄（啟 3： 14-18）。
星期六
眾所周知，國際名牌商品和服裝在中國的價格比在世界上其他地方昂貴得多，即使這些商品其實是中國製造。例如，一條利維斯牛仔褲在中國的價格就比在美國貴 3倍以上。著名的外國傳道人在中國也會有許多的追隨者，崇拜他們並且試圖模仿其教會增長模式。我們禱告主興起新一代的中國基督教思想家，傳道人和領導人，都能效法基督的謙卑與激情。
星期日
儘管政府努力改善安全，大型礦井事故仍然在整個中國頻發。由於幾乎每天都有關於礦難和人員傷亡的報導，人們注意到中國人已經對這些關於煤礦事故的報導產生了麻木。 基督徒也很容易對救災，近期的水災和去年的地震感到麻木。讓我們禱告求主使中國的教會能更加活躍地關懷周遭有需要的人，不僅在有重大災害來襲時，在平時也能時常關懷他們所在社區的窮人和權益被剝奪的弱勢群體。
星期一
在中國，一個獨特的尋求正義的方式是，人們在政府大樓前下跪，抗議官員的腐敗，並要求政府能解決其不滿。一旦行動被媒體報導出來，腐敗官員就會迅速被撤職查辦。在中國，當一個教會出現領導問題時，教會通常會出現分裂，許多人從此離開教會卻不是加入另一個教會。讓我們為經歷過分裂之痛的教會禱告。求神的靈醫治所有受傷害的信徒，幫助他們學會專注於神而非尚未完全的一群「蒙恩罪人」。