MAY 2020
Blessings of health and safety to everyone! We pray and hope you have not only endured these present times, but that it’s also been a time of newfound appreciation for what is most important in life.
This month is Foster Care Awareness Month where we want to highlight some points of needed prayer as it relates to human trafficking, and invite you to pray with us.
Some of the most vulnerable to human trafficking are children and teens who are placed into foster care, because of the neglect and/or abuse they endured while with their birth parents. They usually suffer from low self-esteem, depression, and hopelessness. Traffickers know this and will take advantage of their brokenness and give them the attention they crave, to feel loved, accepted, and provided for, until they gain the child’s trust. Whether this is done through the internet or through in-person relationships believed to be trusted, traffickers will take as long as needed to woo their victims, until they have alienated them from their support system. Or if the foster parents are abusive, it is much easier for the trafficker to move more quickly to enslave his/her victim.
With schools out so early this year because of the shutdown and shelter in place directives, many kids will tend to use their internet devices more, especially if parents are not home because of ‘essential’ jobs.
So how can we pray?
First – Pray that every foster child would know that God cares for them and that they are uniquely created and valued. Pray that they would experience the unconditional love and protection of a forever family whether through reunification with their birth family or through adoption. Pray that who they are placed with temporarily or permanently would be a good fit. Pray that the children would be healed from all past trauma, and that they would be able to grow and thrive in a safe environment.
Second – Pray that foster parents would not only have the love, compassion, and patience needed, but also the wisdom and resources to adequately meet the child’s needs while in their care. Pray that they would have knowledge of the signs of human trafficking and teach the child the dangers of this and how to keep safe. That they would recognize quickly any red flags indicating when a trafficker is targeting their child.
Third – Pray for thorough vetting and training of all members of the foster care team to ensure there are no loopholes that would put the child in danger of traffickers and pedophiles. Pray that all on the foster care team will be able to make wise choices and act in the best interests of the children they’re representing. Pray that God’s hand guides the judges who have to make decisions regarding the termination of parental rights. Pray that social workers and child advocates would experience joy in their work and that they would not grow weary in doing good. Pray that they would take their motivation from the gospel and its ability to do the impossible and transform lives.
Fourth – Pray for the birth families as they struggle to deal with the dysfunctions that caused the separation from their children. Pray that they would be able to overcome and experience forgiveness, healing and redemption in their own lives, to be restored to wholeness, so they can be successfully reunified with their children. Pray that they would receive the support they need to continue moving forward, leading productive and healthy lives.
And last but not least – Pray for the church, that they would be actively engaged in the child welfare system by becoming foster parents, and/or providing support to both foster care families and birth families through the judicial process. Pray that they too would have God’s wisdom, love and compassion. That they would set an example in the community by taking responsibility in caring for the ‘orphans’.
James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”
Psalm 82:3a “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless…”
John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you”
“Lord hear us as we commit to interceding for the children, their families and all who are committed to their care and well-being. We ask for your protection and covering over them. We take the authority you have given us to both bind and blind the enemy from having access to these children and declare that no weapon formed against them shall prosper. We pray for their healing and restoration, that they might become strong and healthy in the knowledge that they are unconditionally loved and valued, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
Thank you for praying with us!
Blessings,
Helen Perez
