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Incidents of violence in the home continue to increase dramatically – in number, frequency and severity. News reports about the incidents have become common: a 50-year-old woman was burned alive by relatives in India; a 25-yearold woman’s uncle arranged her marriage and watched as her husband sold her into prostitution; females who seek education are targets of acid attacks or gunshots to the head; another wife who dared to move with her children to a shelter is killed at work by her angry husband.
Praying for . . . Women Affected by Domestic Violence
L E A S E P R AY F O R
. . .
1. Women and girls who are being abused in their homes. They are God’s children, and they don’t deserve such horrible treatment. Ask the Lord to help them find friends who will encourage them to protect themselves. 2. Project Hannah’s ministry–awareness, prayer and the Women of Hope programs–transforming families by instilling the mind-set that violence is not acceptable behaviour and that each person is a special creation of God, deserving honour and respect.
Domestic violence happens at the hands of both male and female abusers. Mothers as well as fathers sell their daughters or force them to undergo female circumcisions. Husbands and mothers-inlaw torture and scar wives with acid or boiling water for “dishonouring the family.” Caregivers abuse the elderly, the young and the handicapped.
3. Changed hearts in mothers, as well as fathers, who force young daughters to marry too early or to undergo female circumcisions. Pray that parents will cherish their daughters and provide the care that they need.
Violence happens in every country, level of society and religious group. Some people accept acts of violence in the home as the normal way of dealing with family members. In some cultures even women believe that a woman deserves a beating from her husband if she doesn’t obey him. Too many abandoned wives believe they must submit to their adulterous husband if he returns for sexual favours and to take what little money she has earned. Many wives fear their husband more than any other person.
4. Christians to hold their pastors and church leaders accountable for the way they treat their wives and children. “Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money” (1 Timothy 3:2-3). 5. Pastors and church leaders to be willing to speak out against infidelity and abuse by church members and to encourage those being abused to come to the leaders for help and safety. Pray that they will be firm with the abusers and follow through to make sure that the abuse stops.
Domestic violence in Christian homes is still a taboo issue in many churches. Too few church leaders have provided safe places for abused women. Whether by brutal words, controlling behaviour, or physical and sexual abuse, violence by a family member, caregiver or loved one is humiliating and devastating.
Women of Hope broadcasts in more than 60 languages. PH’s monthly prayer requests are used in 70 languages.
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January 2013
6. Abusive family members to accept that their anger and violence is not the victim’s fault. Pray that family members will seek help and be willing to do whatever it takes to stop the abusive behaviour. Pray that the abusers will be changed by God’s mercy.
PROJECT HANNAH “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). 7. Those who experience domestic violence in Christian homes where they are wrongly taught to submit to a family member who uses violent words or controlling behaviour or who abuses them physically or sexually. “The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates. On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot” (Psalm 11:5-6). 8. Women who are considering suicide to escape the torture and humiliation of abuse in their homes. Pray also for women who are forced into polygamous marriages and treated as servants. 9. Parents to teach their children that alcohol consumption can lead to abusive, foolish and reckless behaviour that can devastate families and destroy lives. 10. Battered women who deny or minimize their abuse to protect the abuser. Pray for them to understand that they are hindering the abuser from getting needed help, and that they are also enabling the abuser to continue to harm them and possibly others. 11. Women to know that God loves them and does not condone the abusive behaviour of fathers, husbands or others who mistreat them. Pray for women in the Ivory Coast and other countries who are mistreated by their husbands who are pastors.
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12 12. Women and girls w who have been sold in into prostitution by fa family members to fin nd a way to escape. “‘ “‘Because of the op oppression of the weak an and the groaning of th the needy, I will now ar arise,’ says the Lord. ‘I will protect them from those who malign them’” (Psalm 12:5).
or because they are not employed and do not own any property or have any money of their own.
13. Women who are suffering from AIDS because they were raped or because their husbands were unfaithful. Pray that they will know God’s love and comfort and that they will get the medicine and food they need.
19. Reinforcement of laws against violence and trafficking of women and girls into prostitution. Pray that the abusers will be caught and punished and that their arrests would be made public to warn others that these acts are not acceptable.
14. God to be the protector for wives who have been abandoned or divorced and need food and shelter. Pray that those who unfairly lose custody of their children will find comfort and help from Christians.
20. Parents to lovingly teach their daughters the importance of staying pure until marriage and of marrying Christian men who will respect and cherish their wives and help them be the best they can be for God’s glory.
15. Isolated women and girls in Mennonite communities in Bolivia and other countries. They are not allowed to talk even with other women about the horrible sexual abuse and domestic violence that happens in their homes. They are not allowed to express anger or to question the sinful acts that have happened to them, so they cry alone. Pray for the Low German Women of Hope programs heard on CDs, radio and the Internet (https://www.box.com/ shared/g78f2ufygj). 16. Women who stay in abusive relationships because they fear losing their children to the fathers,
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17. Police officers to be more supportive of women who are being abused at home, that they will treat the violence not as mere disputes but as crimes deserving punishment. Pray that judges will convict abusers and demand they seek treatment and pay restitution. 18. More shelters and low-cost housing to become available for battered women trying to start over and build a safe home for themselves and their children.
21. Abusers to be made aware that they do not own their wives and children and therefore cannot “do whatever they want with them.” Pray that communities will hold abusers accountable for their actions and will teach men to love, cherish and care for their family members. 22. Young girls who are forced by family members to marry because of poverty or debt or so the family can buy a television. Pray also for girls who desire to commit suicide because of the debt their dowries or weddings will cause their parents. Pray that attitudes
will change as people are taught that these abuses are 28. The 100 million abandoned and runaway against the law and not acceptable. children who live on the streets and often beg, steal and prostitute themselves in order to survive. Many 23. Caregivers of children, the elderly and the turn to drugs and glue-sniffing to escape the pain of handicapped to seek help before their frustrations hunger and trauma of desertion. lead to violent words and actions. 29. Praise the Lord for the men who are listening 24. Parents to cherish their children and to teach to the Women of Hope program and attending prayer them to honour God and respect others. Pray that groups. They are thankful for help in understanding fathers will teach their sons not to abuse girls verbally, the women in their homes and churches. Pray for physically or sexually. them as they strive to be godly husbands, fathers and brothers. 25. Children who witness domestic violence between their parents. Many of these children 30. Laws against so-called “honour killings” to develop severe emotional problems, such as memory be passed and upheld. In some countries, those and concentration deficiencies, distrust of adults, who kill their female relatives in defense of their excessive worry, guilt, shame, anger and aggressive family’s honour are exempt from prosecution and behaviour. punishment. 31 31. Authorities to protect w women and children who ar are abused and threatened, re resulting in their not having to leave their homes to be sa safe. Pray that abusers will be se severely dealt with so that they ca cannot further harm others.
26. Women and girls who go to school despite knowing that other girls have been killed or harmed simply for wanting an education. Pray for Betel, who had acid poured on her after she finished her university studies in Ethiopia, and pray for her sister, who gave up her job to care for her. 27. Battered women who blame themselves and think they lack spirituality because they have been told that they are not praying hard enough or being good enough and that they therefore are to blame for their own abuse. Pray that Christians will not twist Scripture to explain, excuse or justify abuse between family members.
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