Prayer is Love; I want to Love.
Name: Le Thi Xxxx
Information: I am a third-year college student. My mother died early, my father is often sick. My family life is very difficult. I go to school far away, do not have many conditions to help families as well as labour self-income. I hope you can help my family overcome their difficulties ahead as well as let me complete my studies and find a stable job to take care of my family. (2015)
Name: Nguyễn Xxxx
Information: I am a 1st-year student. My family have 4 children. My father died early because of illness, my mother worked, fed the whole family. I go to school far, no supporters to share the burden with mom. Make family life difficult. Please help me get some extra money for school, to continue my studies. (2015)
Name: Trần Xxxx
Information: I am a first year College student. My family have 8 people, my father has cirrhosis, my mother has to work for the family and medicine for my father. My family life is very difficult. I do not know if I’m eligible to continue my college education. May you help me to fund my college tuition fees. (2015)
Name: Trần Xxxx
Information: I am a first-year College student. My family has 5 children, the children are young, I am the eldest sister and want to go to school. Economic conditions are also unstable. My family farmed, often face the irregular natural disasters in many years causing damage to crops. I hope you can open my heart to help my family overcome difficulties. (2015)
Name: Gia Xxxx
Information: My family has 4 members and I am HIV positive since 2008. My family life is poor and difficult. We were abandoned, my stigma remained unchanged. My family lives alone. The children go to school, my husband is sick, I have to work in the field to feed the family. My house is far from other people, living in a deserted garden, lacking enough. May you please help me dig a well for drinking and tuition fees for my 2 children to go to school as well as health testing for the two children. (2015)
December 2017: Christmas Gifts for sponsored children.
I stopped outside a modern-day shopping mall on my way from a nearby Soup Kitchen.
It was around twelve on the morning of 7th July 2015. The boy, probably older than he looked, perhaps 13-14 years of age, was sound asleep close to the entrance of a busy high street restaurant and oblivious to everything going on around him.
The area he had chosen as his bed was dry and relatively clean. The ground had a slight upward slope to the restaurant door, perhaps with his arm, it acted as a kind of pillow!
Maybe it was exhaustion that led the boy to select this spot as his bed, or maybe he knew the canopy above would shelter him from the scorching midday sun. Either way, it didn’t seem to matter to him, nor sadly, the many pedestrians who passed by during his, by now, two-hour rest.
Then something unexpected happened. A passer-by, an old man, stopped and bent down beside the boy. He shook him by the shoulder and waited!
The boy slowly emerged from his deep sleep and as he did, the man, choosing his moment, forced something into the cupped palm of his hand.
The boy, seemingly alert to the man’s actions, continued stretching his arms and legs as he struggled to compose himself. Slowly he stood up and, in his daze, he watched the old man walk towards the restaurant door and enter. At the same time, he repeatedly stared back into the palm of his hand… his thoughts were his, alone!
Uneasily, the boy followed in the direction of the man but, after only a few paces, his path was blocked. He knew the rules, only customers were allowed inside the restaurant. As a street boy, he was barred and the armed Security Officer strictly applied the policy. Indeed, he didn’t have to do a lot to deter the boy, just show his uniformed presence.
The young boy waited for a time when he could catch the eye of the old man through the glass door. It seemed long in coming, but when their eyes met, it was overwhelming for the boy.
No longer dazed, he smiled, laughed, waved, jumped… and shouted, “Thank you, Sir,” “Thank you, Sir…,” while keeping his hand firmly shut.
Soon, the boy’s presence at the restaurant door was considered unwelcome. With a hand gesture and slow return walk towards the door, the Security Guard instructed the boy to leave.
Before the guard could open the door, the still joyous boy had walked back to his “old bed” and picked up a small unnoticed plastic bag!
The bag contained his sole belongings. He had placed it in the corner behind him while he slept. It was a small bag of cooked rice, shared with him earlier in the morning by another street child.
– Anne
Name: Ho Le Xxxx
My son is a congenital encephalitis sufferer, ethnic minority and living in an extremely poor situation. His neck is not strong like other children so, he cannot straighten or rotate his head back and forth. His father works as a hired labourer, caring for the whole family. His mother is his full-time career.
Request: Any contribution will be very welcome for my son’s care and for finding effective ways to heal me.
Name: Do Thi Xxxx
I am a paralytic. I was born paralyzed. Over the years I became a vegetarian. My parents are old and weak. They can not do anything to take care of my grandparents and their grandchildren.
Request: Please share with me and my family in this misfortune, so that I can be still alive with my parents
Name: Trinh Xxxx
I am a paralytic. I cannot take care of myself. I live alone and have been paralyzed for eight years. Everything that I need doing, I depend entirely on my neighbours. My family is very poor.
Request: Your help will help me to live a better life and support the people around me, who help me every day.
Name: Le Xxxx
I am a paralytic. I am 87 years old. I was paralyzed by a stroke 10 years ago. My family is very poor and we have a hard life. I am living with a dumb child. I cannot serve myself. Lack of care, my life and my child have no hope.
Request: May you share with me this burden and give us some hopes.
Name: Tran Xxx
I am a general paralytic. I suffer from paralysis, congenital heart disease, over 20 years. My family takes care of me. I cannot serve myself. My family is poor and very difficult. My father has to work hard, to feed the whole family.
Request: Please help my family to overcome difficulties, so that my mother’s burden can be released and she has more time to care for me.
Name: Tran Xxx
I am a general paralytic. I suffer from paralysis, congenital heart disease, over 20 years. My family takes care of me. I cannot serve myself. My family is poor and very difficult. My father has to work hard, to feed the whole family.
Request: Please help my family to overcome difficulties, so that my mother’s burden can be released and she has more time to care for me.
Name:Nguyen Xxx
I have been paralyzed for 7 years due to a stroke. My family is poor, my parents are old and my sister is sick. Life gets harder and harder.
Request: To have some hope of prolonging my life, please help me in support of my family and myself so that we can overcome this difficulty.
I am a paralytic, 91 years old and have been paralyzed for 11 years. I am completely helpless. I have a son with a disability. My daughter who already got married takes care of me. Seeing my daughter running day and night feeding the whole family and taking care of me, I am
Request: Please help my family.
I am a paralytic. I am 15 years old. I was paralyzed with a congenital brain problem. 15 years in one place. My family have many children. Life is more difficult when they all go to school unless
Request: Please help me and my family to overcome these economic difficulties.
Request: Can you help me overcome this pain and hardship?
It is closest to you. Begin your day by praying for those closest to you; your family, friends and work colleagues. They are in need of your help and care. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, “A sweet duty”.
2. Your Index or Pointing Finger – Teachers.
Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. Of course, that will again include parents but also, many in public life such as teachers and doctors. They need our support and wisdom to point them in the right direction. Always keep them in your prayers.
It is usually the longest finger. It reminds us of our Leaders. Pray for the Pope, other Church Leaders, Presidents, Business and Industry CEO’s, and the many who hold positions of high authority. Such people shape our lives and our nations; they guide public opinion and need God’s daily grace and His blessing.
Surprising to many is the fact, that this is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify! It reminds us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain – the poor, oppressed, victims of war and conflict… the list goes on and on! They need our prayers, day and night.
It is the smallest finger, which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. Jesus said, “The one who is least among you all, is the one who is great”. Your pinkie should act as a reminder to pray for yourself; the carer must also look after themselves.
In contrast to our hands being used to insult and injure others, it’s such a beautiful thought to think of our five fingers as Prayer Beads.
1 = Friends, 2 = Teachers, 3 = Leaders, 4 = The Poor, 5 = Ourselves
I still recall my Mother’s early childhood advice to me about my anger!
“Remember,” she warned, “When you point at someone, your thumb points back at you”. Interestingly, I later discovered that those I pointed at were my closest friends!