PRAY FOR CHILD LABOUR

CHILD LABOUR – GLOBAL STATISTICS

· 246 million children are child laborers.

· There are 2.5 million working children in the developed countries, and another 2.5 million in Eastern European countries.

· The largest number – 127 million – of working children age 14 and under are in the Asia-Pacific region.

· The highest proportion of working children is in Sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly one third of children age 14 and under (48 million children) are in the labour force.

· 73 million working children are less than 10 years old.

· Every year, 22,000 children die in work-related accidents.

CHILD LABOUR – THE WORK

· 70% are in agriculture, commercial hunting and fishing or forestry;

· 8% are in manufacturing. (Factories, making carpets, clothes, glass, matches, fireworks, Brick quarries, Mines etc.)

· 8% are in wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels. Street Vending and Garbage dumps, collecting items to sell.

· 7% are in community, social and personal service, such as domestic work. (It is estimated that 20-60% of all working children are girls in domestic service. Because these girls work out of sight within private households they are extremely vulnerable to physical, mental and sexual abuse)

· 8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, Soldiers, prostitution, pornography and other illicit activities.

· 1.2 million of these children have been trafficked.

CHILD LABOUR – HOW TO COMBAT?

· Reduce poverty so there is less need for children to work.

· Increase adults' wages so there is less need for children to work. Adults need a living wage.

· Improve working conditions so that children's health and safety are ensured.

· Shorten children's working hours so they can attend school.

· Ban hazardous and exploitative work such as bonded labour, sex work, military conscription, mining and all work that exposes children to toxic substances or extreme temperatures.

· Make education more attractive and relevant to children's needs.

WITH CHRIST I AM A HERO

WITH CHRIST I AM A HERO

“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves but our competence comes from God.” (2 Cor. 3:5)

Many people, even believers suffer of severe inferiority complex and are unable to overcome it. The first step that a believer should do for overcoming his/her inferiority complex is to realize that he/she is in Christ. There is absolutely nothing inferior about Christ. Since we are in Him and He in us, it follows that there can be nothing inferior about us! When we have the assurance that Christ lives in us, then we will overcome the inferiority complex by the awareness – “ I no longer live but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). The Bible is full of numerous promises which are meant for us to claim whenever we fall low in spirit. Let us confess these promises in faith. Let us speak positively of our position in Christ. Colossians 3:3 says, “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God”. So let us declare and confess boldly, our fellowship with Jesus. A wrong confession will imprison us, but a right confession will set us free from the bondage of low self esteem.

When we are weak, let us declare, “Let the weak say, „I am strong‟” (Joel 3:10). When we feel defeated let us say, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14). When satan puts a doubt in us that we have failed as Christians, then let us confess, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). When we are afraid, let us declare, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8: 31). Let us say with apostle Paul, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37) and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Dear friends, when the Lord leads us to do something for Him, let us not be immersed in our inferiority complex, but step out fearlessly, trusting that He will give us the ability to do what has been assigned to us. If we do so, we will certainly excel in our job far better than our counter parts. Amen.

PRAYER: Loving Father, give me the courage to come out of my shell of fear and low self esteem. Help me to remember that it is not my own ability that I am relying upon to achieve something but it is Christ within me. I am always more than a conqueror. In Jesus‟ name I pray. Amen

GIVER OF GOOD GIFTS...

GIVER OF GOOD GIFTS...

One of my favorite Scripture passages is Matthews 7: 9-11. It says, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread will give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him.” We come to understand two important things through these verses. Firstly, we understand that our Lord is a loving Father. The love He has for us is incomparable. And secondly, we understand that He always gives us only the good and the best.

OUR GOD - A LOVING FATHER:

Imagine a small child hungry and impoverished standing in front of his father with an empty plate or a bowl asking him for a piece of bread...! Will the father in his good sense throw a stone in the plate and threaten him to eat? Or imagine a child asking eagerly his father for a piece of fried fish...! Will the father have the mind to give him a fried snake? Not even the most brutal and inhuman father would do so. God has put into the hearts of parents a compassionate inclination to provide for their children. Even those that have little conscience of duty will have some tenderness for their own flesh and blood. How then, will our heavenly Father who is rich in mercy and full of love give harmful things to His children? The Bible compares the loving kindness of our heavenly Father to that of earthly parents. Psalm 103:13 says, “As a father has compassion on his children so the Lord has compasssion on those who fear Him..” In Isaiah 66:13 the Lord says, “As a mother comforts her child so will I comfort you.” In Isaiah 49:15 the Lord says, “Can a mother forget a baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget I will not forget you.” Our heavenly Father’s love, tenderness and goodness far excel those of all earthly parents. His love has no comparison. His thoughts are far above their thoughts. If all the compassion and kindness of the most loving fathers in the world were crowded in a container yet compared to the tender mercies of the Lord they would be but a candle to the sun or a drop of water in the ocean. Our earthly fathers have taken care of us and we in turn have taken care of our children. Much more than all these God takes care of His children.

OUR GOD - GIVES ONLY WHAT IS GOOD FOR US:

Secondly, God always gives us what is good. The earthly fathers are evil - the degenerate seed of fallen Adam. Yet, they give good gifts to their children according to their needs. Whereas our heavenly Father is all knowing, He is ever loving, and ever living. He is wise, and He knows better what we need, what we desire, and what is fit for us. Psalm 84:11 says, “Nothing does He withhold from those who walk blameless. And Psalm 85: 12 says, “The Lord will indeed give what is good.” We do not know what is good for us, but He knows. Sometimes in our foolishness we ask for something that may be harmful for us. It is good for a child to ask for bread that is necessary for his life, and fish that is nutritious for his well being. But, if he in his childishness asks for a stone or a snake or a sharp knife to play with, or wants to touch a flame the father, though kind, denies his request right away. For he knows these are disastrous things. It is so with our heavenly Father too. When we ask that which will do us harm He bluntly refuses to give us what we desire.

OUR GOD - THE ONLY SOURCE OF GOOD THINGS:

In our daily lives, we are confused about many things. We indeed pray to God for His guidance before taking major decisions - before choosing a life partner, before accepting a new job, before getting admission for our children in a school, before fixing up an appointment with our physician for the treatment of a disease... but even after prayerfully receiving all these, we get confused whether we are on the right track. How strongly the verse encourages us while we are in such situations! When we have asked our heavenly Father for fish or bread how then can we become anxious that He may give us snake or stone? James 1: 17 says, “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows.” So once we pray for His guidance and blessings, let us steadfastly put our trust in our loving Father and rest assured that He will give us those things that are best suited to us in every single detail. Amen.

WILL YOU PRAY FOR US ONCE A DAY? WE WILL BE THANKFUL IF YOU CAN, FOR WITHOUT PRAYER SUPPORT, WE WILL BE BIRDS WITH JUST ONE WING!

Something Special...

Dear in Christ...

Praise to JESUS...

I have Good news to you that God has blessed us with Beautiful daughter BENSI DEBORAH.

Thank God... by God's grace one new member joined in our family on 12-12-2010 at 8.57pm... So these days are the one of the happiest days in our lives. Due to her entry we all become old. I pray God should protect the baby in this world...

Thank you for your prayers. May God bless you.
with love and prayer,
Pastor T. Benjamin & Hepsi Benjamin