Praying for children to have life in all its fullness
The purpose of the World Weekend of Prayer is to give opportunities for children to pray for and with other children. What an impact we saw this year as children and young people prayed for life in all its fullness for themselves and other children from all over the world! As one pastor from a church in the Philippines noted, “the children led the prayers for the groups, guided and followed by the pastors and leaders. This empowers children in the church to express their faith, desires, hopes and dreams to God by communicating through prayer.”
This year, World Weekend of Prayer events were hosted by at least 21 Viva partner networks alongside many other partners that ran prayer events, with 222 website downloads of materials from 53 countries. We estimate that over 350,000 children and 250,000 adults may have participated in this year’s World Weekend of Prayer - not including those who may have heard faith messages or public prayers through marches or radio broadcasts. A report can be found here, which we hope encourages you as much as it does us.
Photos courtesy of Peace Team Cambodia, Clifford University Nigeria, and PCMN and its partner networks in the Philippines.
Viva’s World Weekend of Prayer holds significance and purpose in several key areas: it provides an opportunity for faith expression, encourages children's participation, and enables networks to organise advocacy events with a Citywide Influence. These three areas were explored in an article written earlier this year under the headings:
God delights in child-like prayers
Prayer builds confidence and creativity in children
The wider impact: prayer as advocacy
If you missed it, you can read it here - and you can also enjoy this video created by our partner, MCAN, for their WWP events, in which children address the potential issue of tribal segregation and bias that could arise in upcoming Tanzanian elections.
In addition to these benefits, the World Weekend of Prayer is a means by which Viva brings together a global network of networks. Not only does it connect Viva’s partner networks together as they communally engage children in prayer in their different contexts, but it also encompasses other key elements of Viva’s approach: it allows the expression of unity and diversity, emphasises the use of local resources and giftings, and encourages a global understanding of the needs of children.
Unity and diversity
Viva facilitates a global network of networks, bringing together networks of churches and organisations from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Different partner networks plan World Weekend of Prayer activities based on their individual and unique contexts, meaning they are united in their efforts to engage children more in prayer while also expressing their diverse cultures and creativity. We witnessed this in a special way this year through one suggested activity in the Participant Guide, called the Tree of Life. This encouraged children to write prayers or draw blessings that represent the abundant life they have in Jesus. These lovely images below from work led by our partner networks in Argentina, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Honduras, show how children in different communities were united spiritually and socially as they carried out a similar activity, despite being miles apart from each other.
Local resources and giftings
We also love seeing how children and adults in our partner networks use their local resources and giftings to maximise how best they can give opportunities for children to pray for other children. This year, networks used art, marches, and puppets to supplement and apply the ideas and resources supplied in the Participant Guide. The Elim church, a member of Red Viva El Salvador, participated in a radio programme titled “Moments of Prayer”, where, from Monday to Saturday, a boy or girl who collaborates in the church led prayer on the radio, accompanied by a responsible adult who provided information about the Biblical basis of the World Weekend of Prayer. There were also television broadcasts, and digital creativity was also evident in social media posts and videos created using the logo and wording supplied by Viva - we particularly love this video from Argentina!
Photos courtesy of Peace Team Cambodia, Red Viva El Salvador, MCAN, Tanzania and Elim Church, El Salvador.
Global outlook
Another benefit of the World Weekend of Prayer is helping children think and pray globally. Many networks bring an outward focus to their prayers, so that children not only ask God to help with their own concerns, but also pray for the regional, national and global issues that other children face. A pastor from our partner Venezuelan Renacseniv network noted, “It was a beautiful time where the children learned about the reality of other countries and cried out for the children of those nations.” The impact is individual as well as communal: at a CarNet Nepal event, one nine-year-old girl participated in the prayer event alongside her mother and friends and felt compelled to pray for less fortunate children. Additionally, she is now saving money with her sisters in their piggy banks to provide educational materials for children in need.
Photos courtesy of CarNetNepal and our partner networks in Cuba and Venezuela.
As such, the Viva World Weekend of Prayer:
Encourages children to grow in their faith through the means of prayer.
Invites children to actively participate in planning and leading prayer events.
Provides opportunities for networks to have a citywide influence as an advocacy strategy.
Expresses the unity and diversity of the Christian response to the needs of children at risk.
Maximises the use of local resources and the gifts of people working for and with children.
Helps children, churches and networks to play their role and express their identity as part of a global community.
This year, we saw once again that praying for and with children is one way to give them life in all its fullness. We look forward to continuing to develop and expand our World Weekend of Prayer, being grateful to God for His sovereignty, as we rest in the knowledge that He heard and will respond to each and every prayer.