China

Day 10

Definition:  China is the  world's most populated country with over 1.3 billion people, 637.5 million of which are women.

The age old bias towards boys, combined with the one-child policy imposed since 1980, has produced the largest, the highest , and the longest gender imbalance in the world. 

Women, who are up to 9 months with their second or third child, may be taken to the hospital by regional population control officials for induced abortions.

A portion of the book:  "I have buried the memory of you deeply within.  My heart feels like a hardened tomb, cold, filled with no light.  But every year around this time, the time of your birth, a memory tremors through my body, sharper, more painful than the contractions that delivered you into our cruel world.

Your father was so excited that day, he was sure you would be a boy.  we drove for hours by us a week before your arrival, winding through rice fields so we could get help from a better doctor.  Your father held me to the bed, buried his face in my chest, cried with me after he quietly nodded his head at  the doctor who took you out of the room.

I wanted to scream at the doctor, "Just one!"  That's all you were, just one more girl, surly there would have been room and food enough in this country.  But no.  It is a cruel world.  Who am I to defy its rules?" (30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless)

God created man in his own image...male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27

Oh, Father, reveal your truth to the Chinese people that one gender is not better than another.  Please Father let the value you have for women reign their hearts.  hear the cry of mothers all over China mourning for their lost daughters.  Be merciful Father. 

Female Labors

Day 9

Definition: Female labors are women who work too long, too hard, and too much, especially in back breaking manual labor.

The majority of women earn on average 3/4 of the pay of males for the same work. 

On one hectare farm in the Indian Himalayans, a pair of bullock's works 1064 hours. a man works 1212 hours and a woman 3485 hours in a year.

     A portion of the book:  The women of the village would laugh about it, look up from their work as they cooked around the fire, and push their tongues through spaces once filled by teeth and smile.  They tried to prepare me for the day when the village midwife would put a knife between my legs and cut me.
     "You"ll scream until you fade into dark dreams, then wake up groaning in pain.  The most pain you will ever know."
     "You'll pray to God that you could die.  It is one of the times in your life you"ll wish you were born a man."
     "But you won't have to work for a week."  And then they would all laugh.  Around the circle they would go, energized by each other's playfulness after another tiring day, each new comment like another stick thrown into the fire, until they felt warmed and comforted by the laughter.
     "A week of rest, of sleeping, of nothing."
     "You'll feel restless with so little to do."
     "But oh, you'll remember that week, daughter.  When you're out in the field planting seeds with your own hands, bent over the dry earth."
     " When you're walking all that way from the river with a jug of water on your head, the sun beating down on you."
     "When you're fetching firewood, or watering the goats."
     "When your husband chooses to lie with you at night--"
     "or in the morning, or in the afternoon!"
     "When you bury another baby in the ground, you"ll remember that week of rest."  The women sitting around the fire would become quiet.  Some busy again with work.  Some would stare into the fire.  Their faces betrayed their fatigue.  Skin weathered by wind and dryness and sun.  Bodies taut, hands strong and muscled. 
     "You'll wish you could bite that stick between your teeth and welcome the pain, if only to a have a few days rest." (30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless)

Who is like our God who rescues the poor from those too strong for them? Psalm 35:10

Can you imagine?  I can't.  What if I was born into that?  Why was I placed here?  In such a place of privilege and freedom.  I don't know and I don't understand, but I know we have a responsibility to help, to pray, to educate others, to help save these women.  We can make a difference even if it is just for one.  Imagine if you were that one.

Purdah

Day 8

Definition:  Purdah is the practice of the seclusion of women from public observation by covering their bodies from head to toe.  It is also a state of social isolation, which confines women to their homes.

Purdah is frequently carried to such extremes that women suffer from softening of bones, eczema and ulcers due to lack of sunlight.

In Bangladesh, woen have been attacked with acid because they were brave enough to be seen in public, transgressing the traditional boundaries of purdah.

Purdah includes the restriction of women's access to medical care.

A portion of the book:  "As Nailah entered the world, mourning and disappointment were all around her.  Rejection was written all over their faces.  Her father's pursed lips, silent curse; Grandmother and the other women's rigid shoulders, frozen in silence, heads bowed, looking at the ground; Uncle kissing father's cheek, holding him by the shoulders, whispering; Grandfather, with tears in his eyes.  Nailah's birth was a disaster because she was a girl. 

Mother's faceless face, covered in dark cloth ; another passage and another birth awaiting Nailah.  A covering to surround Nailah like the placenta that followed her out of her mother's body like a shadow, that once held her, hid her from her family's expectant view.  A layer to shadow her whole life behind walls meant to protect her modesty and the family's honor, behind closed doors and separate chambers.  A new skin to cover her skin, to hide it from sun, from wind, from roving eyes, the unchaste.  A dark layer to hide her tears and the smile few will ever see." ( 30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless)

Oh Father,
The oppression that these women face is beyond anything I can imagine.  The rejection from the whole family , just for being a girl?  How can it be?  The way Satan has permeated this society with these evil traditions is frightening.  Oh Father, that you would send your light into these dark places.  That the light of your love would bring release for the captives that you would reveal your love and perfect plan for their lives.  That they would know just how much you love your daughters. That doctors in these lands would speak out against these practices.  I pray you would open the eyes of the men in this society to see just how precious and valuable women are to you.  That these women would see themselves as you see them.  Oh Lord, begin to break down these strong holds that soon a generation of women would be able to feel the sun, wind, and rain upon their faces.
In Jesus name, Amen.

Eating Disorders

Day 7

Definition:  An eating disorder is a compulsion where a person's eating habits damage their health.  The eating may be too excessive (compulsive overeating), too limited (restricting), or cycles of binging and purging.

95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.

Eating disorders have been diagnosed in girls as young as seven.  81% of 10 year olds in the United States are afraid of being fat.

The average American Woman is 5'4" tall and weighs 140 lbs.  The average American model is 5'11" and weighs 117 lbs.

A portion of the book..."She thinks the problem is her body, but really it is in her mind.  She cannot see how thin she has become with self-hatred, how the skin of her face pulls tightly over her cheek bones and eye sockets, how her hips have all but disappeared.  She is miserable at the sight of herself. always unsatisfied, seeing herself as "too fat" when in reality, she has brought herself almost to a point of weightlessness.  She cannot hear her body's groaning; she has made it hungry but will no longer feed it.

She remembers the first time she put her fingers in the back of her throat, heart beating anxiously and how the fingers were like a gun and she hesitantly pushed the weapon further down her throat.  Then suddenly her stomach was empty.  She and been afraid at first, but it was simple and she painless, really.  The next day it was easier, she knew what to expect, knew that her stomach would cramp and tighten as she bent over the toilet, that if she ran the water at the sink people at the house could not hear.  It was her little secret.  She told herself she would only do it a few times a week, would continue exercising and only purge occasionally, just as a way to help her body rid itself of calories, to get control of the fat before the fat took control of her." (30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless)

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save, He takes great delight in you.  He will rejoice of you will singing and quiet you will his love.  Zeph 3:17

Dear Father, I pray these girls facing eating disorders, would be found out.  I pray people would open bathroom doors and see, really see the pain these young girls are in and help them seek help.  Open ours eyes to see those that are hurting right before our very eyes.  Oh Lord that these girls would see themselves as you see, beautifully and wonderfully made.  i pray that their minds' would be renewed by the power of your word.  Let us not turn a blind eye to the suffering around us, but let us rise up and help those in need.

Refugees

Day 6

Definition: A refugee is a person who flees his/her home to escape invasion, oppression, or persecution.  They genuinely risk serious human rights abuses.

75-80% of the world's refugees are women and children.

Women and children refugees are vulnerable to violence and exploitation by military and immigration personnel, bandit groups, male refugees and rival ethnic groups.

A portion of the book..."The girl told Hawa that if she and her children wanted safety inside Chad, she would need asylum.  That's why Hawa agreed to visit the girl's uncle who helped people like Hawa: women who couldn't read or write.  Asylum is why Hawa agreed to his price, only because she needed his help to complete the form. 

If Hawa had learned to read and write, she would have printed, in neat, clean letters of her own:

Name:  Hawa Fentale
Sex:  Female
Age:  24
Country of Origin:  Sudan
Family Members:  Husband (deceased)
                              2 children (female aged 3, male ages 8 months)

But Hawa cannot write.  She can only look at the government form that weighs heavily in her hand and wonder what other question remain.  Hawa waits through the night unaware that there is a child growing in her womb, a child that does not belong to her dead husband.  Between pangs of hunger and cries from her children, Hawa imagines what life will hold when her family is given asylum in Chad, and how as a stranger and a widow she will find a home.  In the morning, she will bring the white government form to the girl's uncle again and pay his price so she can answer another question."  (30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless)

As I read this book, I am overwhelmed with gratefulness that I was born into this nation.  A nation that values women and nation that seeks to protect those who are defenceless.  While in so many other places women and children are shamelessly exploited for others personal gain.

 Father God we know you are compassionate and we ask you pour out your compassion on these people who are displaced and seeking to find asylum.  Father raise up compassionate aid workers to help those in need and we pray your judgement would fall on those who seek to exploit the helpless.  Oh Lord have mercy upon these peole that they might know you and the freedom that comes from being a child of God.  I pray protection over them. Amen.

Pakistan

Day 4

Pakistan has over 81 million women who suffer some of the worst cases of gender-based injustice.  Female literacy is 23%; school enrollment is 16%; maternal mortality  rate is as high as 340 per 100,000 live births.

99% of the babies which are thrown into gutters, trash bins and on sidewalks in Karach are girls.  They are considered a burden on society.

Daily up to three women die from "stove deaths;" one out of three of these were pregnant.  This usually occurs after a history of marital abuse for not giving birth to a son, disobedience , or allegations of adultery.

The more I read this book, "30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless" the more grate full I am that I was born here in the United States where women are valued.  I can't imagine the oppression and violence these women endure and it is deemed acceptable, even normal behavior. 

A portion of the book:  Zafran Bibi was marries 13 years ago to Naimat Khan.  Three years into the marriage he was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years.  She had to live with her in-laws, harassed occasionally by her husband's brother, Jamal.  When she complained about his advances her mother-in-law blamed her.  A few days later Jamal raped Zafran.  Her in-laws discovered she was pregnant and accused her of adultery with another man called Akmal.  This got Jamal off scot free, and Akmal was thrown into jail.

Zafran still went to the police with her father-in-law to file a report.  She stated that she was raped while cutting grass a short distance from her house.  But even her lawyer portrayed her in court as a women of low character involved willingly in a sexual relationship.  She got death by stoning for her ungodly behavior while the rapist was released.

Lord, I pray you would set these women free.  I pray for the missionaries living in this area, the ones who are trying to bring your light into such a dark and evil place.  I pray they would have the strength to preach your words.  I pray that many would receive Jesus as their savior and know true freedom.  I pray that this distorted code of honor would come to an end.  I pray you would open the eyes of the world, to raise up an out cry against these practices and oppression.  Oh Lord, I pray our heart would break for the things that break your heart, that we wouldn't stay wrapped up in our own little world but that we would reach out and help others in need. In Jesus name I pray Amen.

Abortion

Day 5

Definition- It is the medical termination of a pregnancy at any point before the full delivery of the baby.

Approximately 46 million abortions take place each year worldwide--almost 2 every 3 seconds.

The average is 1 abortion per woman worldwide.

Careless abortions account for 80,000 maternal deaths globally per year.

This one really breaks my heart.  As a mother who has dealt with infertility.  I can't say I really fully understand abortion.  I do know that, it is a complicated multi-faceted problem, that creates death and destruction for both the mother and child and it's devastation has far greater reaches than I can imagine.

I believe abortion has it's root in the Satan, the father of all lies, he lies to women telling them they can't have their child for a multitude of reasons and gradually the women begin to believe the lies or they are pressured by someone else until they give in and have their babies aborted.  The aftermath is crushing, they realize what they have done, maybe they don't admit, it not even to themselves, but the pain and hurt is there as a constant reminder, and only God can heal the gaping wound.  My heart breaks for these women so many of them believing the lies of Satan and then the guilt and shame that must come.  I feel so inadequate to even type one word about this subject.  All I can do is weep and pray for these women and children.

God delights in forming babies in their mother's womb. Psalm 139:13