June 3 is the Global
Day of Prayer for Children at Risk. Did you know
that one in five of the world's population is a
child at risk? That means that there are an
estimated 1.2 billion children at risk
worldwide.
You may be asking what constitutes an at risk child.
An at risk child is anyone under the age of 18
living in circumstances that may include: child
labor, war, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation,
disease, drug abuse, neglect, loss of family or
primary caregiver, and extreme poverty. Many of
these children have no way of changing these
situations for themselves. But we know a God who
can do exceedingly, abundantly; above all we can ask
or think.
This is a
serious prayer need that can be shared with the
kids in your home, prayer group, children's church
and Sunday schools. Kids do not want to be left in
the dark about things and really do enjoy finding
out more about the world. If you think this topic is
to heavy for the age group you are involved with
then pick one type of at risk kid, for example child
soldiers or orphans.
Kids see
injustice and want to do something to change what
they see. However many are not able to
physically do this but they can pray. They can pray
for children in Africa that are soldiers or children
in China that are orphans. They can even pray for
the homeless person they saw on the street. But they
can only do this if we are willing to talk to them
about these problems and train them about how to
pray for them.
For ideas of how to
get your kids involved in praying for at risk
children check out the kids page this month.
