Prayer Concerns for the Week of June 23, 2014
Burma
Ever since Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948, ethnic minority states have struggled to obtain independence from the government of Burma. Three years ago, fighting between Kachin Independence Army (KIA) fighters and Burma Army troops erupted, ending a 17-year ceasefire. More than 100,000 people have been displaced in Kachin state because of this fighting. Human rights groups report that government forces have tortured civilians in order to extract information about the movement and strength of the KIA and deprive them of civilian support. These abuses have undermined current Burma government attempts to forge a ceasefire agreement with the KIA. Fourteen other ethnic-minority guerrilla forces have signed ceasefire pacts with the government, but the KIA’s deep mistrust of Burma’s military has stalled that process. The Burma Army ignored a presidential order to cease its offensive against the KIA in December 2011. http://tinyurl.com/koe2qdf
· Please keep the Kachin ethnic hill tribe people in prayer as they flee Burma Army attacks. Pray for those who have been displaced from their homes and communities and are now in temporary IDP (internally displaced people) camps or staying with relatives in distant cities.
· Pray for children who’ve been separated from their families. Pray for those who have been conscripted into the Burma military or KIA forces. Pray for children who have been tortured or abused by the Burma Army and for those who have been forced to serve as porters or human land mine sweeps.
· Please pray for parents who have lost a child or children when their villages were attacked by the Burma military. Pray God will comfort them in their season of grief. Pray for God’s peace and comfort for a mother, Jay Ya, whose young son drowned as they crossed a fast-flowing river while fleeing the Burma Army.
· Please pray for peace and reconciliation in Burma’s conflict zones. Pray for freedom and justice for the ethnic hill tribe people of this beautiful country. Pray all its children may have the freedom to attend school in peace, have access to medical care, be recognized as citizens of Burma, and hope for a future filled with opportunity.
· Pray for a change of heart within Burma’s government and military leadership. Pray they will recognize the sovereignty of God and the sacredness of all human life.
Iraq, Syria
Rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have taken control of large portions of Iraq and eastern Syria in a campaign to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, to this whole area. This offshoot of al-Qaeda is considered far more brutal than al-Qaeda and governs a nation-size tract of territory stretching from Aleppo in Syria to Fallujah in western Iraq and Mosul in the north of Iraq. ISIS is trying to establish a caliphate that is based on strict, medieval Sunni Muslim precepts. They consider Shi’ite Muslims, the majority of Iraq’s population, to be heretics deserving of death and target civilians with shockingly brutal punishments such as beheadings and amputations. An estimated 500,000 Iraqis have fled the violence in northern Iraq—up to half of those fleeing are children. http://tinyurl.com/nqmlkzg http://tinyurl.com/mawzfhx http://tinyurl.com/q55yxgt http://tinyurl.com/ogzwsm6 http://tinyurl.com/ory3mjz
· Please pray for children and families affected by ISIS’ attacks and brutal behavior. Pray for those who have been displaced from their homes, villages, or communities because of the fighting.
· Pray for children and families sheltering in schools, hospitals, and mosques in Mosul. Pray God will provide for their most immediate needs as many don’t have access to sanitation, drinking water, or shelter from the heat.
· Please pray for children and families trapped in their homes in Tal Afar, near Mosul, Iraq, by heavy fighting between ISIS forces and Shi’ite police and troops. Pray for the safety of these children and pray they might escape the fighting. Pray God will provide for those whose supplies are running low.
· Pray for peace in this region. Pray for a change of heart in those who kill and destroy to fulfill their warped goals.
