Team Prayer (long)

Father God, thank you for this incredible journey you have made possible for us to be part of. Thank you for our leader, Tim. Please give him wisdom, patience and the ability to lead us into a foreign land. Please give him the knowledge of knowing your will for decisions he will have to make on behalf of the team. Please be with each team member and help us to work together as a cohesive unit, utilizing each of our God-given strengths for the good of the mission. Please help us to lift up one another and support each other in Christ’s love.
Please be with our loved ones at home in our absence. Watch over them, protect them and give us peace in knowing they are safely in your hands. Help us not to worry about how things are going at home, but to focus on you and our work on this trip.
In our devotional, we learn that our hearts are to be broken and re-molded to be more like yours. Let us be pliable in your hands, Lord. Help us to have a meek and servant spirit. As a team, inspire us to lovingly assist each other with our unique assignments and to act as accountability partners throughout the trip.
Help us each to memorize 1 John 2: 5 and 6: “By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, I abide in him, ought to walk just as he walked.”
Also from our devotional guide, I pray for our team to be “lights to the nations and to bring good news to the people.” I pray for the condition of our individual hearts- Please prepare us and empower us to be instruments of change for the people we are ministering to.
God, you are amazing, and we know that without you we can accomplish nothing. Please help us to convey your almighty presence and hope for a better life. Help us to accomplish our tasks by walking as Jesus did; in obedience of the Ten Commandments. Let us exhibit love, respect, mercy, grace, patience, forgiveness, gentleness, humility and acceptance of others.
Lord, we ask that you would help us keep our priorities in check.
In Luke 4:16-21 the bible tells us Jesus was sent to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and to set the oppressed free.
Please put the right words in our mouths to convey this very relevant and important message to the people we will meet. Help us to know how to best leave those we meet with a favorable impression of the life Jesus can offer them. Help us to plant seeds in the hearts of individuals who may not know you but who may someday become not only followers but disciples as well.

Specific Requests
Christina- Please alleviate her work pressures and overwhelming deadlines.
David- Give him the ability to square away work details and preparation for trip. Ask that God would put a protective wall around the team so we can spend the 2 weeks focused on you and your work.
Ashley- Health (ability to fight off illness)
JoLee- Patience before trip, ability to resist being irritated
Stephanie/Bonnie- Anxiety about leaving family for 2 weeks

IJM
Father, we lift up those disciples working on the frontlines for IJM, to bring rescue and aftercare to the victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. We pray that they would have success in prosecuting the perpetrators of these crimes.
We pray that IJM would continue to make strong headway in the area of educating children and women to learn how to protect themselves against these crimes and to spread awareness to the most remote villages.
We pray for the hearts of those in government positions and law enforcement. Please help them to make the tough choices to resist monetary bribes for ‘looking the other way.’ We pray for tougher laws to be passed and enforced, making Cambodia and Thailand less attractive to those looking for sex. We pray for the salvation of all involved in the trafficking industry.
Our team has been asked to pray for Thailand’s citizenship attorney as he prepares for three new cases. We pray that he will collect the necessary information from IJM clients to present compelling cases before the court, and that the court will judge fairly.
We have been asked to pray the IJM is able to locate girls who left the shelter where they were brought after their rescue operations. We pray for their safety, and that God would lead them back to the shelter where they may safely work through the complex trauma they experienced. Furthermore, these young girls are key witnesses whose testimonies are needed in the prosecutions against their traffickers. We pray that they would choose to be involved in this case, so they may be a part of preventing these traffickers from harming other girls like them.
Psalm 82:3, 4: “Be fair to the poor and to orphans. Defend the helpless and everyone in need.Rescue the weak and homeless from the powerful hands of heartless people.”

Additional IJM prayers from team………..
· Please be with IJM staff as they train local police powers with wisdom of how best to serve the people in need of assistance.
· Increase educational opportunities in this area, to become self-sufficient, gain resources to rescue kids.

CHO
We pray for our partner and the CEO/Director of CHO, Mr. Chomno In. We thank him for helping us answer questions about the area, the culture and the people we are going to serve. We thank him for already making us feel welcomed. We are grateful to him for helping us learn how we may best be utilized within the communities CHO serves. We pray for Chomno and his staff and their incredible dedication to their work, “Helping to create strong, independent, hope filled communities.”
Lord, we ask that you would bless the various CHO projects. We pray for the success of the skill training in the areas of motorbike/welding school, sewing, animal husbandry, agriculture, micro-loan and HIV/Aids awareness and prevention. We pray for the school on a mat, that more children would learn the importance of education and have the opportunity to attend school. We pray for more anti-trafficking training may be provided for public school teachers.
We pray for the Hope Transformation Center and the children of Poipet, that they would be treated with justice and love.
We ask that the necessary finances would become available for building expansion and renovation. We pray that once complete, the center will have the ability to serve a greater number of individuals in need. We pray for the safety of the staff and women at the center, during the recovery period. For those women who have been rehabilitated and are entering back into society, we pray for their personal safety, emotional recovery, that their core needs are met, their fears are reduced, for physical healing and medical assistance, for their self-esteem and self-worth, their ability to enter into healthy relationships and most importantly, for their salvation.
Father, please assist CHO as it aims to share the gospel through all of its programs, though also specifically aims to grow the local church. In the next six years, CHO’s goal is to have sixty churches along the long border with Thailand, equipping these churches through the training of church leaders.
Lord, please be with our team as we minister to those at Safe Haven. Please help us to know your will for us there, carefully choosing our words and monitoring our actions in order to lead others into a relationship with you. Help us to also convey respect and praise for those working there, being careful not to step on their toes but to provide them with the support they need to continue their good work. We pray that our interaction with the children is comfortable, positive and uplifting. We pray that the children will have fun, laugh and play, forgetting if even temporarily, the difficulties they endure. We pray to leave a positive impression of The Lord with them, in a way that they can relate to and have interest in. We pray that each child would have the desire to learn more about you, Jesus, and the life that only you can offer.
Matthew 11:28: “If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest.”
Isaiah 43:2: “When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you, and you won't drown. When you walk through fire, you won't be burned or scorched by the flames.”
Additional CHO prayers from team……..
· God please go ahead of us and help us to keep our commitments
· Women’s Seminar: Effective communication, reduce language barrier
· Strategy/Leadership Seminar: Make big impact, help us to best identify their needs and empower them with the tools to be self-sufficient.

Soldier Camp
Father, we pray that you would be with the CHO staff that serves the soldier camp. We pray for their success in teaching the bible to the soldiers and their families. We pray that you would wrap your loving arms around those families being consoled by the CHO staff. We pray for the education of the wives and children and the provision of skill training.
As our team visits the camp, we ask that you would utilize us to assist the families as needed. Please give us opportunities to encourage, comfort and provide some fun group activities for the children. Let us learn more about their individual needs so that we may continue to pray for them after we leave.
Joshua 1:9: “I've commanded you to be strong and brave. Don't ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the Lord you God and I will be there to help you wherever you go.”
Additional prayers from team……
· Raise recognition of CHO and their importance there.
· Help us to differentiate between what we don’t know and what we need to know.
· Help us to put aside our pre-judgments.

Slum Ministry
Dear Lord, please be with those who minister to and receive ministry in the slums. Please protect them and keep them safe. When the people are feeling helpless, please intervene with your message of hope. We ask that funds would be made available and used wisely for the purpose of assisting those in need.
We pray that people who have received help and support from the slum ministry would go on to lead productive lives, encouraging others and giving back to those they received help from.
We pray God that you would utilize our team to serve wholeheartedly, as needed in the slums. Give us the courage and ability to love on the people living there. Please let us leave a lasting message of the gospel with those we meet.
Isaiah 30:18: The Lord God is waiting to show you how kind he is and to have pity on you. The Lord always does right; he blesses those who trust him.

NightLight
Lord, we pray for Rebecca and the staff of NightLight who have made their life work a mission to help others. We pray for the NightLight team as they build relationships and provide hope, intervention, rescue and assistance to women and children exploited in the sex industry. We pray that they are successful in offering alternative employment, vocational opportunities, life-skills training and physical, emotional and spiritual development to women seeking freedom. We ask that you would help NightLight continue to build support networks internationally to intervene and assist women, men and children whose lives are negatively impacted by the sex industry.
In Bangkok, we pray for Rebecca and her team as Nightlight operates as a business (NightLight Design, Co. Ltd) and a non-profit (NightLight Foundation). We pray that the business would be profitable so they are able to expand and reach a larger audience. We pray that women working in the bars are receptive to Rebecca’s message of hope for a better life. We pray that she would continue to have positive conversations with the women, and not experience resistance by the bar owners.
We ask that Rebecca’s personal needs are met as she lives and continues to do God’s work in Bangkok. We pray that more and more women would consider coming to work for NightLight, making bags and jewelry as an alternate form of employment. We pray for Rebecca’s health and safety as she lives within the red light district in order to be close to the women she serves.
Lord, we especially ask that opportunities are made and doors are opened for Rebecca and others to share your offer of salvation with the unreached population she encounters. Please open their hearts and give them the courage to make the literal leap of faith.
We ask that you would have us remember the do’s and don’ts of assisting Rebecca in visiting the bars. Please protect us and help us to confess our sins and receive cleansing to not leave a foothold for Satan.
Ephesians 3:20, 21 says: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be in glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!”
Isaiah 9:2 says: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
Additional prayers from team members………
· Please be with Annie and the other team members who are traveling- We pray for their safety and renewed energy during their time away.
· Please replenish Rebecca and help us to love on her as we are there.
· Help us to meet Rebecca’s needs as she hosts us and helps us learn more about how we may help Nightlight.

In closing, as taken from our devotional guide, please bless us as we journey to Cambodia. We pray that the Holy Spirit would speak deep into our souls as we seek an understanding of how you would have us live. May we walk as you walked, say what you would say, and do what you would do- reflecting at all times your will. May we listen to how Jesus would have his church engage in the issue of Human Trafficking in Cambodia. May his kingdom come- On Earth- as it is in Heaven….
(Recite together as a group.): 1 John 2: 5 and 6: “By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, I abide in him, ought to walk just as he walked.”