Day Twelve and Thirteen

Preventing Trafficking from Villages
“What do you mean by crushing My people, and grinding the face of the poor?” declares the Lord of Hosts.” Isaiah 3:15

The per capita income in Romania has risen since the fall of Communism ($135/month in 1990 to $708/month in 2012), but this has not altered life in many villages. Most young people leave villages and head to the capital or other large cities or leave Romania altogether to find decent work. Unfortunately one industry that is still available in villages is human trafficking. People in Romanian villages without financial options can become perpetrators or victims. Family members, neighbors or friends make money from “selling” those who trust them, often not understanding what will happen to the victims and excusing the decision as a necessary evil.

• Pray for better job opportunities (small businesses, factories, organizations involved in development) in villages.
• Pray for awareness campaigns to take place that will help communities understand and face the issue.
• Pray that believers will be salt and light in their communities and will have the courage and wisdom to stand against this form of evil.

Preventing Trafficking of Abandoned Children

60,000 children currently live in government or privately-run orphanages in Romania (2014). Most of these children are not orphans but are considered abandoned children. Children in government-run orphanages are particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking. Traffickers can be in league with staff workers leaving the children with no protection.

• Pray that abandoned children would be protected and cared for by people of integrity.
• Pray that a healthy foster-care system would be developed in Romania. Pray that law enforcement and child protection officials would be free from corruption and work for the good of vulnerable children.
• Pray that the Body of Christ would seek to care for these children and offer hope and practical help in the name of Jesus.

“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.” Isaiah 10:1-2