Prayer Request 1/3 - 1/9

Tuesday
"Regardless whether you believe it or not, I believe it anyway" is the top news quote in China for 2011. It was said by the China's Rail official after the Wenzhou high-speed rail collision. He gave the lame excuse of "the rescuers were burying the train with mud but insisting it was done to expedite the rescue", even though he was covering up the real reason. In the vast majority of churches in China, few people ever question the leaders. Words or explanations given are not to be questioned and dissenting voices are quickly suppressed. Let us pray for a healthy venue where voices or different ideas can be discussed and leaders are willing to foster an environment to allow such input in church.

Wednesday
Top news quotes are purposely chosen because people felt these statements were so ridiculous as to insult the intelligence of common people. Some of these include, "The price of houses shot up because people are too rich!", "My father is the law!", "You can call us cheaters!" and "10,000 yuan is no big deal". It is easy for many Chinese believers to feel rich because the general prosperity and run of real estate prices. Material wealth is the leading enemy of the growth of China's churches and the cause of spiritual decline. We pray for genuine thanksgiving for all believers, not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost. (1 Tim 6:17)

Thursday
There are many established house churches and urban churches, who are beginning to plan on having full-time salaried positions for church workers. In the past, pulpit preaching and even members caring were done often by those who were "burdened by the Holy Spirit" can no longer sufficed. Believers today demand a professional approach to church ministry. Let us pray for more full-time and committed church workers, especially those who are better equipped and trained. Selecting or designating one person to be salaried while all others are volunteered can be difficult during this necessary transitional phase.

Friday
Taiwan is a relatively small island but one can find temples, shrines, and churches everywhere. Officially thee are more than 30,000 registered temples and this does not include the private temples dedicated to the Earth God. When candidates are vying for election, the religious gathering places naturally become the battle grounds for candidates to drum up votes. The political candidates visit and worship at the major temples so they will not antagonize any of the people who worship there. It is difficult to avoid any discussion of political party affliction or political beliefs in churches, especially when some of the election issues are truly controversial. We want to pray for unity for all Christian churches, not politically or by denomination or belief but a true spirit of unity that all are serving Jesus as Lord and we are merely His servants with Him as our Master.

Saturday
Most of the religious groups in Taiwan know full well that politicians are trying to collect votes from their people so they usually remain politically neutral to avoid being entangled politically. Some religious organizations or churches make it clear that they are not politically inclined and decline any visits from candidates or endorsement of them. However, among the Christian churches the Presbyterian church has historically aligned itself openly with a certain political party. It is difficult when Christian churches are divided along political lines whether it is in China or in Taiwan. Let us simply pray that believers will have the humility of Jesus Christ to always see that others are better than we are. May the Lord heal the rift, the unspoken hurt and wounds that believers and even churches may have.

Sunday
In Taiwan, Catholicism, Christianity, and Islam, the so-called major religions of the world have relatively few followers in comparison with Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religions. Although some Christians object to the practice of idol worship, most Christians n Taiwan simply accept that it is a fact of life. Taiwan has several mosques but the number of practicing Muslims is very small and found mostly among the people from Indonesia working there. It is much easier for Christians to talk about sending missionaries to foreign countries than to share the gospel with idol-worshipping neighbors. We ask the Lord to stir our passion to witness for Christ and show Jesus' love to our neighbors by our actions. We also pray for revival in all the Chinese churches in Muslim countries, especially those in Southeast Asia like Malaysia and Indonesia.

Monday
The vast majority of the country's 100 million religious adherents are Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Taoists, according to government statistics. Ethnic regions such as the Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have particularly high proportions of religious people. We praise the Lord for the recent improvement of relationship and increased freedom in worship, this is true in most of churches throughout China. Government still strongly discourage conversion of Muslims and any church work in Tibet. Let us pray for the safety and growth of Christians there.



星期二
中國2011年十大新聞語錄，「至於你信不信，我反正信了」高居榜首。這是負責官員在溫州動車追撞事故發生後對在場記者說的。當時他解釋將事故車頭埋在土裏，是因現場搶險環境非常複雜，下面是一個泥潭，施展很不方便，所以把那個車頭埋在下面蓋上土，便於搶險。大多數中國教會是不容質疑教會領袖，或有反對聲音的。我們禱告教會能有健康的管道讓弟兄姐妹提供意見，分享看法，而教會領袖也願意聆聽各種不同的建議。

星期三
所謂的熱門新聞話語，是因民眾認為它反映了不合理現象，深具反諷意味。例如：「房價上漲是因為老百姓錢太多了」，「我爸就是國法」，「我們就是騙你的」，「一萬塊錢，不算大事」。近年來，有些中國信徒因著經濟繁榮，房地產上漲而自覺富有。物質富裕是中國教會增長的首要敵人，更是許多教會荒涼的一大主因。求主賜信徒有真正感恩的心：「不要自高，也不要倚靠無定的錢財；只要倚靠那厚賜百物給我們享受的神。」(提前 6:17）

星期四
許多具規模的家庭教會和城市教會，開始考慮聘請全職牧者。以往由較成熟肢體按聖靈感動講道和牧會，已不能應付現今廣大禾場上的需要。我們為神帶領全職且受過更好裝備和訓練並願意委身牧養群羊的同工來禱告，也為長執們能有智慧過渡這段教會的轉型期。

星期五
台灣面積不大，卻處處可見廟宇及祠觀。政府登記在案的廟宇就有三萬多，還不包括土地公廟。每逢選舉，香火鼎盛的主流宗教和民間信仰的寺廟、祠觀成了政治人物的必爭之地。為了拉攏信徒，政治人物爭相上香、朝拜，爭取更多選票。在教會裡一般談論難免涉及黨派或政治理念，尤其是具爭議的議題。我們禱告地上眾教會能在主裡合一，順服耶穌基督為元首，專注作主的忠僕，活出榮耀的見證，而不是政治上或宗派的較力。

星期六
台灣的宗教團體都知道政治人物來訪必有所圖，所以盡可能保持中立，婉拒一切政治人物在選舉期間的到訪，更表明不在政治上表態，以免捲入政治旋渦。但也有些宗教團體有顯明的政治立場，如台灣長老教會因為歷史的因素常年持特定的政治主張。教會因著政治立場不同而彼此劃分。讓我們單純地求告恩主，清楚明白教會在地上的使命，遵主耶穌基督的教誨，看別人比自己強；願主醫治彼此 (甚至教會之間)，因著立場不同所造成的嫌隙和傷害。

星期日
雖然天主教、基督教和伊斯蘭教是世界上的主流宗教，但這些宗教在台灣的信徒所佔比例卻遠不及佛教、道教以及民間信仰。台灣也有數座清真寺，信徒大都是來自印尼的外勞。有些基督徒拒絕一切拜偶像的事，但有些卻以此為現實生活的一部份。有些信徒關心如何差派宣教士到外國，卻對拜偶像的鄰居傳福音感到束手無策。求主給我們愛人靈魂的心，從近處著手把福音傳開，以愛的行動來見證主耶穌。我們禱告記念回教國家的基督教會，特別是東南亞的馬來西亞和印尼的華人教會，求主復興。

星期一
中國有許多宗教，主要有佛教、道教、伊斯蘭教、天主教和基督教。據宗教局不完全統計，各種宗教信徒已超過１億人，新疆與西藏兩個自治區是回教及佛教徒集中區域。近來中國教會與政府的關係緩和，各地聚會阻擾減少了，我們為此向主感恩。但政府仍強烈阻止穆斯林改教，教會事工在西藏也有極大的壓力，我們為這兩地區的信徒的安全和靈命成長來仰望神的保守與引領。