Dear Ministry Friends,
I bring you springtime greetings from our Romanian partners at Missio Link International and from Missio International, Knoxville. Together we celebrate our risen Lord and hold fast to the promise his resurrection has ushered in. He is alive and we can rest in his loving care! What words of encouragement as we consider the devastation of the war in Ukraine, the still evolving pandemic, and the disproportionate challenges of poverty and exploitation that continue to threaten the children of Romania. Add to that our own struggles with sickness, relational conflict or simply the demands of the day, and it threatens to upend our confidence that we are yet in the palm of the Father’s hand. But Christ’s word to us is that we ARE nestled there, and no one is able to snatch us from that place of safety. May this image fuel our week of prayer for the children being cared for through the Children at Risk (CAR) ministries, that they may enjoy the comfort and security of his hold.
When I asked Lorena, MLI’s Exec Director, the best way to pray for CAR, she responded with much more than a laundry list of programmatic needs. Through her selected scripture, she leads us all to the heart of the matter, helping us recognize and intercede for the many ways that God works both through and in the lives of his people to display his redemptive plan for all of creation.
Each day on our prayer journey we will focus on one of the 5 CAR ministries. Each ministry will be linked with a heroic story from scripture that can guide us in how to pray for that ministry. We will meet heroes and heroines that experienced trauma, pain and disappointment in their short lives, like so many of the children served in the MLI ministries. They might have felt destined to fail …but God had other plans.
Please join us in reading through the following prayer prompts, but feel free to pray “outside the lines” as the Spirit directs you as we endeavor to join the work of God and share His Gospel story of restoration and hope in Romania and beyond. Thank you for joining us on this prayer journey.
Meet you at the throne,
Lauren Woodhull Clevenger
MI Knoxville
Day 1: Back to School
Hero: Young boy with lunch
“There is a boy here who has 5 barley loaves and 2 fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down”…and he took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them…as much as they wanted. — John 6:9-11
Abundant Father, thank you for the willingness of that young boy to share his lunch with a crowd and demonstrate to us all God’s ability to use the small and often overlooked to display His compassion and provision. We ask that you would multiply the goods and services provided by MLI to the impoverished families in the Back to School program, and draw them to yourself, the only one who can meet their material and spiritual needs.
Day 2: Deborah House
Day 3: Harmony
Day 4: Aspirations
Heroine: Orphaned girl
Orphaned girl named Esther was made Queen and saved her people from death.
The king loved Esther more than all the women…so he set the crown on her head and made her queen… Mordecai replied to Esther, “who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” —Esther 2:17, 4:14
King Jesus, we pray that the young women of Aspirations will continue to find favor before you. Knowing there will be times on their paths to independence that they, like Esther, will be called to step out of their comfort zones, we pray they will remember your goodness to them and be empowered to live more fully for you, bringing the hope and salvation of your Gospel to those around them.
Day 5: Mitspa House
Special Prayer Request
Please join us in praying for Lorena & her husband Daniel, as they walk the path before them, addressing her health challenges while trusting in God's goodness and resting in His peace.
Donate online to Children at Risk (CAR) or send a check to the address below with CAR in the memo!