You may feel that what you’re doing to touch the world seems inconsequential, but you can truly transform lives with simple steps.
The world’s poor can seem faceless and faraway, lost in confounding numbers and dry facts. The chronic nature of their suffering, the geographic reach of it, can leave us feeling helpless. But God has named the poor and brought them close. They are our neighbors with a universal ZIP code, and he asks us to love them as we love ourselves.
We start, as always, with prayer. For those geographically distant, our thoughtful prayers can bring them closer—to ourselves, and to God. Pray through the following photographs. Take a first glance at the people and circumstances, noting emotions and relationships. Then, look deeper, asking questions, letting your heart be touched and your prayers be amplified.
Take heart: With God’s grace, no loving step you take is too small to have a lasting and limitless impact.
D.R. CONGO
Mothers, each with a record of her child’s medical history, gather to weigh their young children as part of a community health program in Lume, Democratic Republic of Congo. Low weight is one of the first signs of malnutrition. Hunger is an ongoing challenge in communities disrupted by violence—such as Lume, which for years has been under attack from the Lord’s Resistance Army. According to the World Health Organization, 31 percent of children under age 5 in the DRC are underweight.
At First Glance
- Consider each person in the photo. The mothers might be anxious that their babies’ weights will be low, signaling that they are not healthy. What might the community health worker (in the green shirt) or small boy at lower left be feeling?
- The babies’ clean booties and the medical history cards seem to indicate a diligent attention to health, despite a precarious community life. What more do these young children need to thrive in Lume?
Look Deeper:
- This event is taking place outside, rather than in an indoor clinic. Pray for adequate shelter for the families and protection from violence.
- Do you remember the emotions of taking your children to the doctor? How might you pray for these women?
BOLIVIA
Asteria helps her daughters—Nathaly, 3 (left), and Aracely, 5—read Easter cards sent to Tiraque, Bolivia, from their sponsors in the United States. The girls love the letters and cards they receive, Asteria says. “[They] just want to play with them and show them to everybody.” Both girls attend the World Vision Early Stimulation Program, a preschool where children eat a nutritious meal and learn to read, write, and count. Asteria was only able to attend school through 7th grade, but she hopes that her daughters will complete their education and become professionals—perhaps doctors.
At First Glance:
- Notice the concentration on Aracely’s face. She is just starting school and learning to read. Imagine a loving card from your sponsor being one of your first “primers.”
- Pray for Aracely’s continued education and that of all children in her community.
Look Deeper:
- Thank God that these children are sponsored, and pray for your own sponsored child.
- Imagine Asteria’s thoughts as she reads the cards. How would you feel to have a person from across the globe praying for your children?
THAILAND
Som Muangprom, 14, and her brother, Boy, 10, survey the polluted Khlong Prem Canal that flows sluggishly alongside their home in Bangkok, Thailand. Its waters—once crystal clear and teeming with fish—are an oily black, filled with both industrial and human waste. Each month, a group of young people and World Vision staff travel by motorboat down this smelly waterway to broadcast anti-pollution messages to those living and working on its banks. Som, sponsored by a couple in Canada, is often the voice behind the microphone. World Vision is also pioneering several projects with Som’s family, to organically filter the water.
At First Glance:
- Look at the juxtaposition of the healthy children and the polluted canal. Pray that the trash and waste in the canal do not cause health problems for Som and Boy—and everyone else in the community.
- Notice the buildings packed one after another alongside the canal. With such density, where would children play?
Look Deeper:
- With businesses contributing to the pollution, the problem seems too large for local residents to solve, let alone young people. Pray for the resources that Som and Boy need to change their community.
- What problems in your community need to be addressed? Pray for boldness to speak out and seek a solution.
How will you pray for these photos?
ZAMBIA
KENYA
The Power Behind Our Prayers
May our prayers not stop at these vibrant photos. Each issue of World Vision magazine introduces readers to people in different corners of the world—all of whom are touched by the work of World Vision, all of whom need fervent prayer.
Each face we gaze at, each smile we encounter, is a person of great value—someone who may also have great needs: for sufficient food, better shelter, and medical services; for educational opportunities, sustainable livelihoods, and spiritual peace.
God, you say that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16). We do not feel righteous, but we long for powerful prayers for the people we have met on these pages. So forgive us our sins, especially our indifference. Thank you for your great love for us and your desire to work through us to touch others you love, in other parts of the world. Amen.