an organization called mãos dadas which means 'hands together' has a world wide prayer task force to focus on vulnerable and exploited children. france, my roommate and partner in ministry at the CADI formerly worked with mãos dadas and has a real heart for social injustice...boy is she in the right place, right?!
as a way to focus our attention this week, we watched a portion of the film All The Invisible Children during our staff devotion time. the movie is an anthology of 7 short stories of children in vulnerable situations around the world. the characters in the brazilian story have uncanny similarities to children i know in frei; they play the exact same roles in front of me day after day. in fact, if i'm honest, i'm almost used to the reality of life in this favela.
with the amount of children suffering in frei (not to mention around the world) there is no way i can make a dent in the damage that is being done; but i was reminded this week of when Jesus rebuked the disciples for shooing away the children in mark chapter 10, he took them in his arms and blessed them. that tiny group of children mattered to Jesus that day, just like every single child on the planet matters to him now. they may be invisible to you, and even to me, but they are not invisible to Jesus.
i have way too many stories of malnourished, uncared for, and abused children and i ask that you very earnestly take some time today to pray for them.
pray for their physical, emotional, and spiritual development. pray for the adults in their lives to protect and cherish them. pray for their salvation!
