Week of Prayer: Tuesday

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Global

Modern Day Slavery
Modern slavery controls, and in some cases claims, the lives of millions of people across the globe. Examples can be seen from bonded laborers in India and girls and women trafficked to Western nations from Nepal and other developing nations.

There are more slaves today than any other time in history.
• 27 Million: number of people in modern-day slavery across the world
• 800,000: number of people trafficked across international borders every year
• 1 Million: number of children exploited by the global commercial sex trade, every year.
• 161: countries identified as affected by human trafficking
• 32 Billion: total yearly profits generated by the human trafficking industry

The Victims
• majority are between 18-24 years of age
• an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year
• 95% of victims experienced physical or sexual violence during trafficking
• 43% of victims are used for forced commercial sexual exploitation, 98% of these are women and girls

Often our first question is what are we supposed to do with all of these overwhelming facts. Our first response should always beprayer (Philippians 4:6).

• Pray that there would be a global movement to end modern day slavery.
• Ask God to multiply the resources necessary to rescue those held captive, establish gospel centered rehabilitation facilities, and increase the number of law enforcement involved.
• Pray against the demand. People engage in this despicable behavior because of the incredible profit margin. Without the demand there would be no point in creating a supply.
• Pray for Cord of Hope. Intercede on behalf of the dancers in the clubs. There are many unspoken abuses that take place. Pray God would inject boldness into the women to search for the truth of the Gospel. Pray that they would realize they are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14).
• Pray for the future of Cord of Hope, especially in the area of partnerships. We are actively developing a partnership with STREETLIGHT. Take the time to look over their website and pray as the Spirit leads you.
• Make the connection! Understand that your potential dabbling in the industry of pornography is directly tied to modern day slavery. Pray for personal and communal purity. Pray for intentional and meaningful accountability. Pray for radical and sustained healing in this area that can only come through Jesus.

M3 (East Asia Partnership)
1. Closure of Companies: Two of us have been working hard at closing down our businesses in the city. Corruption (waiting for bribes) and incompetency (the local officials simply not knowing foreign company closedown procedures) continue to delay the process. Please pray for endurance, wisdom, and favor with the government as we press on. One of them MUST be finished by April, or else we have to start the process all over again.

2. Team: Pray for health, protection, wisdom, and joy as we press on in the task. We each have an abundance of contacts, most of whom are seekers. Pray for us to boldly proclaim the Truth and help our national friends understand Jesus and His connection to each of them. Pray for us as we continue to battle a variety of issues: health, visa, finances, distractions, etc.

3. Nationals: Our national brothers and sisters are continuing to do great work. Pray for them to stay focused on the main thing, ask for unity amongst the various churches in the city, and pray for God to call out believers to go to other parts of the province or beyond to start new work there.

Billy and Erika Tjernlund (Mexico)
Ministry:
• Pray for Billy and Erika as they work towards further language training, especially concerning “proper Spanish” versus “spoken Spanish.”
• They have been given access to two airplanes. Please pray for Billy as he furthers his training and understanding in flying.
• Another airplane was donated to them for their ministry. Please pray for finances needed to purchase an engine for
this plane.
• Please ask that the Spirit will continue to teach and guide them as they disciple the students God has given them. Pray that as they invest in others they will depend on the wisdom of Jesus and not their own.

Personal:
• Pray for Billy and Erika’s marriage to be strengthened, for their love for each other to reflect Christ’s love to the people around them.
• Ask God to hold Billy up. Pray that Billy will fully rely on God in the roles God has for him. Pray that his personal times with Jesus would be sweet, refreshing, and intimate.
• Pray that Erika would know and understand how deep Jesus’ love is for her. Ask God to speak to her about running and enduring the race marked out for her. Pray that Erika will know and experience the fullness of God and rely on Him for physical, emotional, and spiritual fortitude.

OtB
The construction of the OtB super kitchen is still not complete. We know God's timing is perfect, yet it is sometimes a struggle to trust in that as we and the dozens of Tijuana ministries eagerly await what will come from this kitchen.

• Please pray for continued favor with U.S. & Mexican customs, for more U.S. groups to come down who can knock out projects in a day that would otherwise take Eric and the pastor we hire at least a week.
• Ask for continued patience as Eric is pulled in many directions, serving other needs unrelated to OtB.

Please pray for more OtB staff/interns, specifically a male intern who can work with Eric. It is proving very challenging to build relationships, construct a super kitchen and administer OtB solo and without a consistent team.

Safety has yet to be an issue and we have felt God's covering from the beginning.
• We ask for continued safety for Eric as he is now commuting 5 days a week, for our family as we travel with him as often as we can, and for the frequent visitors and short term teams we often bring down.

Eric
With extra demands on top of a packed to-do list, I am being stretched, sometimes beyond a healthy point.
• Please pray for discernment as I attempt to create boundaries and limits as well as flexibility as God asks me to serve in some bizarre ways.
• Fellowship has been lacking in my life for some time now. Please pray that I make some connections with some solid Christians who share similar interests and are at the same stage of life.

Dejah
It has been an incredible year of growth and conviction, but action is past due.
• I ask for prayer to daily choose freedom from my sin, from that which keeps me from being the wife, mother, and servant He has asked me to be.

God has made it very clear that moving back to the U.S. side is exactly where He needs us to be. I am grateful for His perfect provisions and answers to prayer. It is a struggle though that I am not able to serve alongside Eric as much as I'd like.

Although we travel down with him maybe once a week, it is a challenge to maintain relationships and be a significant hand in this ministry and the community.
• I ask for prayer as I continue to struggle with my current role. I pray for boldness and intentionality with those He puts before me, especially with those whom God unexpectedly places in my life.

Family
This past year has been the toughest year in our marriage.
• We ask for your support and covering as we unite and shepherd Malena.

Praise be to God and to the faithful prayers of Second Mile, Malena's health (neurological) is doing very well.
• We ask for continued prayers over her health and overall development.