User Notes• Feel free to adapt this presentation as appropriate• Use the Haiti film to help people understand how the

church is transforming lives• Download the other resources for creative ideas• Pray for other global issues and organisations that

your church is involved with

Remember every prayer makes a real difference.

Thanks

‘You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before others.’ (Matthew 5:14, 16)

Global Poverty Prayer Movement 2011

Pray for Haiti

• Thank God for more than 100 schools that have been re-opened, and the 500 new homes built so people will no longer have to live under tarpaulin shelters

• Thank God for all the children who have attended clubs and learnt about health and hygiene and how to stay safe if another earthquake strikes

• Thank God for the church volunteers who reach out to grieving people such as Murielle and for the loving work of local churches in Haiti

• Pray for the 1.3 million people still living in tents in Port-au-Prince. We pray the new government will act swiftly to end the disputes over land ownership, so building can begin

• Pray that a new generation of leaders with integrity will be raised up in Haiti to serve in government, business and church

Day 1

The Lord has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to comfort and provide for those who grieve.

Isaiah 61

Pray for Water• More than half of people in the world now live in cities, and it’s a huge problem to supply

them all with clean water and adequate sanitation. Pray local authorities will consider the needs of poor people and put fresh water and good toilets at the top of their agenda.

• Tearfund’s aim is that by 2015, through local church programmes, six million people will receive hygiene education and three million people will have improved access to a toilet and safe water, making a significant and lasting difference to their health and well-being. Pray that with the help of our partners and supporters, we will make this goal a reality.

• Pray for girls like Stidia in Uganda. Jobs like collecting water, cooking and washing typically fall to mothers and daughters. If access to usable water is difficult, other important concerns – like education- are sacrificed. Tearfund is working to support vulnerable girls and women through local churches in Uganda.

Day 2

Pray for Hunger• Globally, every five seconds another child dies because of hunger and malnutrition. Local

churches in some of the world’s poorest communities are stopping this through improving agriculture.

• Pray for families like Mol & Tol’s in Cambodia as they prepare for the next harvest season that they would be able to use the new agricultural methods they have learned.

• Pray for farmers in countries like Cambodia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe as they are faced with unpredictable climate patterns. Pray that they would learn how to diversify their crops and reduce their vulnerability.

• As governments continue their discussion about climate change pray that there would be a united course of action to reduce carbon emissions and help poor communities adapt.

Day 3

Pray for Pakistan• Thank God for Tearfund partner SSEWA-Pak, which has provided emergency aid to more

than 25,000 people from the north to the south of Pakistan

• and for the Association of Humanitarian Development (AHD) that has distributed 2,000 kits of food, cooking goods, shelter materials and hygiene kits in the Thatta district of Sindh province

• And for the Diocese of Hyderabad is repairing school buildings that were damaged due to flooding

• Pray for the people of Pakistan as they rebuild their lives and that affected communities will feel God’s love, comfort and hope around them today

• Pray for the nation of Pakistan and asking God for his spirit to be among those affected and all those responding, bringing healing and transformation

• Pray for the safety of Tearfund staff and partners as they work in remote and sometimes hostile parts of Pakistan

Day 4

Pray for Natural Disasters• 2010 was the worst year on record for natural disasters.

• 150,000 people already die every year from the effects of climate change

• The area of the world stricken by drought has doubled between 1970 and the early 2000s

• By the end of the century, rising sea levels and crop failures could create 150 million refugees

• Pray that Christians will take a lead in changing their own lifestyles to have a positive impact on people and planet

• Pray for Tearfund and our partner agencies as we work with disaster-prone communities to help them prepare for the next disaster to reduce its impact

• Pray that all governments will play their part in finding the resources to help developing countries adapt to cope with the threat of climate change.

Day 5

Pray for vulnerable women• In most parts of the world women hold an extremely vulnerable position in society and this

gender inequality has tragic consequences. Pray for us as we work with local churches to restore relationships between women and men.

• At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Pray for women in Cambodia who are affected by bad relationships that they might find freedom.

• It’s estimated that between 500,000 and two million people are trafficked every year. Pray for our partners in India who are investigating and prosecuting brothels which traffic girls.

• Pray for girls who are rescued from trafficking that they would be healed from their abusive past and would have a hopeful future.

Day 6

Take time to restThere is a time for working, striving, moving, and there is a time for stopping, for resting.

It can be hard to rest sometimes, when there’s so much to do and think about. So much to worry about.

But God asks to walk with us through life. To help us carry our burdens, and even help us carry the burdens of others.

Through his Spirit, we can be in communion with him, so closely that it’s as natural as breathing.

Take some time just to be with God. Meditate on him, rest in Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, and share whatever is on your heart and mind.

Day 7

We pray because prayer is vital to releasing people from poverty, material and spiritual.

Because, when we pray, we’re transformed, and we can transform the world around us.

When the people of God around the world light up like this – united

as one global movement – together, we light up

the darkness.

www.tearfund.ie/prayer

Registered Charity No. 8600