1 Way to Pray for China This Week
On June 1st, China suffered its largest peacetime boating accident in fifty years. The Dong Fang Zhi Xing cruise ship capsized on the Yangtze River with roughly 450 passengers on board. Fewer than two dozen people were rescued and most of the passengers were elderly and on vacation. Take time this week to pray over this tragedy. Below you can find prayer points and links to helpful articles.
How to pray:
- Pray for the grieving families. Many families had multiple members on board and are facing significant loss. Pray for the church to be present and to respond in powerful ways to those facing loss. Pray for Spirit-led connections so that the church has the opportunity to minister to families who have not yet encountered Christians. Pray for peace and comfort of everyone involved. Because counseling services are rare in China, pray particularly for those in psychological need to find wise and good counselors.
- Pray for stability. The families of those lost have not been given many details concerning the accident and have been very upset concerning their treatment both by the travel agency responsible for the trip and by authorities. Family members have started to protest. Pray for the authorities to act justly and wisely, and with respect for the families of deceased passengers. Pray for the families to also act wisely. Pray for both justice and stability to the glory of God.
- Pray for clarity. Precisely what happened is still unknown. Pray for the truth to be revealed and for it to help bring peace.
- Pray for God to be glorified. Pray for God to make his power and his glory known in this situation. Pray for many eyes to be opened to him. Pray for his name to be great in the wake of such a terrible disaster.
Articles:
“Yangtze ship disaster: 396 confirmed dead”
“Scenes From China’s Yangtze River Disaster”
“5 Things to Know About China’s Yangtze River”
“Yangtze Capsize: How the Three Gorges Dam is Helping Rescuers”
“Hundreds of coffins prepared as China realizes scale of cruise ship tragedy”