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PTAP's Vision "To see the global church praying for the Arabian Peninsula so that the gospel and churches will be planted for every indigenous people in the Arabian Peninsula" |
famine (6)
Children are a gift from the Lord and parents want the best for their children. Thankfully, the wealth of the oil-rich countries in the Arabian Peninsula has helped children not to be in want. Unfortunately, it has also created a generation of boys and girls who struggle with health issues due to unhealthy fast foods and a sedentary lifestyle. Childhood obesity and diabetes are on the rise at an alarming rate. In contrast, children in Yemen are starving because of the effects of civil war. "Save the Children" reports that about 130 children could easily die each day from starvation and illness.
More information on the children of the Arabian Peninsula can be found in the link at the bottom of this blog.
and in this video:
Prayer:
Dear Lord, we pray for the children in the AP who are suffering because of the excesses in their lives. We pray that they will get the help they need to be physically disciplined with exercise and healthy eating. We especially pray for the children of Yemen who desperately need food and medicine. Oh God, have mercy on them! Even more importantly, we pray that those with excess and those who have nothing will hear about your great love for them. May they hear the Gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ and embrace the forgiveness of sins and the eternal life which you offer.
Yemen has felt the burden of injustice for the past three years with war, famine and epidemics which have ravaged the country. Please pray Psalm 12:5 over the people of Yemen: "Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise," says the Lord; "I will set him in the safety for which he longs." (NASB).
Young men are forced to join militias in Yemen due to threats and needing the money given them, to feed their families. Displaced people flee from their bombed out homes. Pray for the people who are burdened by fear. Pray that they will hear about the Savior who can give them peace and even joy, in the midst of fearful times.
In fact, the sin of hatred is strong in a land where tribes are fighting one another. Please pray that hatred will be replaced with forgiveness and love. This can only be done through Christ. Pray for the people, Ephesians 4: 31-31: "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ, God forgave you."
Furthermore, humanitarian tragedies have permeated. Each statistic represents a person who has suffered grief, heartache and hopelessness. Please pray that everyone will hear about a loving Savior who will take away pain and will comfort those who mourn. Pray that the physical needs of the people will also be met, that food and supplies will be allowed into the country and will be given to those who need them.
With the evil and hardships in Yemen, workers from Yemen have worked to help create a prayer guide for the country. Leaders in the AP have initiated a focus on prayer for Yemen during the month of February. We trust that many of you will pray and call others to prayer for Yemen during February.
CLICK HERE for a 4 week prayer guide.
Please feel free to edit it, translate it, and send it on to others. PTAP has put this together and give people permission to reuse this information in their own formats.
On the PTAP website, you can also find a word.doc version of this and also a powerful PowerPoint about what is going on in Yemen.
We are seeking the peace of the Lord to come to Yemen! Please pray with us and call others to prayer.
We pray for grace and strength for those in the community who have lost love ones in the civil war in Yemen, for strength for all the mothers as they continue with their responsibilities even in the middle of war times, for them to nurture and teach their children in the community in the ways of the Lord, being an example of strength and grace to their children.
We pray for those who teach, mentor and disciple regularly with the new believers, to seek the Lord as they prepare their lessons as they meet regularly. We pray for the Holy Spirit to speak to their hearts as they discover the Word of God.
Also, pray for those organizing retreats to hear the voice of the Lord, study, and prepare for the different activities, lessons and fellowships, that they will be building trust, and strengthening each other.
Pray for the leadership team as they make difficult decisions. Pray for the peace of God to be their guide as they make those decisions. Pray for them to discern the true followers, from those who may want to harm them. Pray against the plans of the enemy against the lives of the community families. Pray to send help to the leaders to support them, spiritually, physically, and emotionally.
Pray for the situation to improve, for those who have the power to stop the war to come to a peace term. Pray for the different villages where the conflict has increased. Pray for the protection of their families.
Pray for provision of food and water where the help has not arrived. Pray that the Lord would remove any obstacles from the roads for supplies to be able to reach their community, for them to have their needs met. Pray for the different AID projects, water, food, electricity, communication, education, transportation, media, and we pray for those who are providing, giving, organizing, leading, and working in the different projects. May the Lord multiply resources, for each and every project.
Pray for people not to lose hope but to put their eyes on the Lord, the only one that can solve conflicts, hunger, and any lack. Instead, pray that they would use that energy to work, to study, to help and encourage one another.
We pray for those who are seeking the Lord, to meet regularly with those who speak Truth and to open their spiritual eyes to understand, believe and make decisions to follow Him.
Pray for those who fear as their faith weakens, to focus on the Lord and nothing else. Pray that the Presence of God will be more real than the reality the community is experiencing through the war.
Pray Psalm 27:3-4 - "Though an army besiege me my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. One thing I ask form the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple"
Pray that the different believers will be able to meet once again, to strengthen each other, and encourage each other and most important to pray for one another, and to pray for the community of believers.
Pray 1 Corinthians 12 for the church--that there may not be divisions in the body of Christ, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Pray for a country that continues to be plagued by war. Starvation is a reality to many who live there. Pray especially for those who don't know where their next meal will come from. Ask that embargos will be lifted and that food will be brought to those who need it. Pray for crops to grow well and for farmers to be able to get food to market. Ask for God's mercy on this country.
The heat of the summer months is hard on those who live along the coast of Yemen, even in normal times. With power outages, shortages of drinkable water and the effects of war, the heat can be devastating. Pray for those who live along the Arabian and Red Seas and the Gulf of Aden. Pray that they have shelter from the sun and water to drink. Pray that are receiving the aid they need. Pray that peace will come to their land.
"When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, ..."
- 2 Chronicles 6:26-31
