Worldwide Prayer Meeting
Prayer Focus:
Hong Kong & Macau Territory
Victoria Harbour Hong Kong
We welcome you to today’s Worldwide Prayer meeting. Thank you for taking the time to join your heart and your prayers with us as we pray for the needs of others in the world. May God bless you as you seek His blessing for other people.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, Thank You for those who serve You in so many ways. I want to thank You who meet people face to face when they are in deep need. I think of the disaster workers who rush into the most desperate situations with warm food and comforting words. Then there are the ones who open the doors each night and show people to a clean bed and a good meal. Bless the ones who interview people who describe their heartbreaking circumstances and to whom we give our help, which sometimes seems so small compared to what they need. Thank You for the people who go visit the ones whose bodies or minds won’t let them be out among us anymore. Guide the ones who do the intake as people seek a place to start their lives over again. Thank You for the ones who answer the phones and give directions to where people can go for what they need. Bless these dear people today, Heavenly Father, as they represent You. And Lord, let me represent You well today. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The Hong Kong Staff Band shares an arrangement of a Salvation Army classic, "They Shall Come from the East, They Shall Come from the West." The video was produced during the pandemic shutdown.
Background of the
Hong Kong & Macau Territory
Hong Kong was forcibly taken from China during the Opium Wars to give the British access to China. The lease for Hong Kong expired, allowing the People’s Republic of China to resume control in 1997 under the Hong Kong Basic Law guaranteeing existing legal, political, and economic structures for another 50 years. Although there has been some tension between the citizens of Hong Kong and the Chinese government, Hong Kong remains one of the most free and open societies in Asia.
A huge port, banking and financial center, Hong Kong is one of the richest cities in the world and one of the most densely populated. Its tourism and prominence as a shopping hub attracts millions of visitors a year. The role of Hong Kong has diminished somewhat, as other cities in China have gained more prominence but it remains prominent as an international destination and in its influence.
Religious freedom is guaranteed. Traditional Chinese religions, including Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Chinese folk religions, and blends of these claim the largest number of adherents in Hong Kong, with non-religious being the second largest group. Christianity comes third with over 12% of the population. Although Christians comprise this small number, most of the schools and social organizations are run by Christians as well as 25% of the hospitals, allowing it to have considerable influence.
Macau was originally a Portuguese settlement, rented from the Chinese in 1557 until becoming a colony of Portugal in 1887. It reverted to Chinese control in 1999 as a Special Administrative Region with a large degree of economic and political autonomy.
The economy is dominated by gambling and tourism, mostly from mainland China. As such, it is highly vulnerable to the rise and fall of the Chinese economy. It has a reputation as a “City of Sin” with rampant prostitution and drug abuse, closely associated with the gambling industry.
There is freedom of religion in Macau, but Christians comprise only about 3% of the population. Fortunately, there is unity among the churches but with the economy and so many involved in the gambling industry, it is a very difficult field of labor.
The Salvation Army was requested to begin work among girls and women in Hong Kong following a meeting at Government House in 1930. Work was pioneered by Majors Dorothy Brazier and Doris Lemon under the direction of the North China Territory. Work was closed during the Japanese occupation in the Second World War but reopened soon after hostilities ceased. Early in 1948, a separate headquarters for the Army in Hong Kong was established under the Salvation Army Ordinance.
In 1988, disaster relief and community development projects were carried out in mainland China. In 1999, Lt. Sara Tam pioneered work in Macau, with the work being officially registered there in July 1999 and commenced in September.
In 2017, The Salvation Army Hong Kong was officially registered in boy Kunming, Yunnan and Chengdu, Sichuan (China) and an International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO).
Facts, Stats and Leadership of the
Hong Kong & Macau Territory
- Total population to fish and disciple: 8,124,210
- 29 officers, 2,955 employees
- 21 retired officers
- 16 corps, 1 outpost
- 2,470 senior soldiers
- 22 adherents
- 493 junior soldiers
Leadership
Colonels Philip and Deslea Maxwell - Territorial Leaders
Major Minny Chan - Chief Secretary
Prayer Requests for the
Hong Kong & Macau Territory
Praise:
- We thank God for the reactivation of our ministries across Hong Kong, Macau and China.
Please pray for:
- Increased stability and peace within the region: Hong Kong, Macau, and China.
- The strengthening and realigning of the Army’s ministries in the wake of the emigration of personnel to other countries.
- Candidates and ‘second career’ officers.
- The refining of the Territorial Strategic Plan 2025-2030.
USA Southern Territory
Prayer Requests
- The family of Major Aubrey Mills, who was Promoted to Glory this past week
- Lt. Colonel Carolee Israel, Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development/Territorial Officer Development Secretary
- Soundcast
- Jon Avery, Social Media Strategist, Communications
- Ashley Kimble, Territorial Client Information Specialist, Social Services
- Monique Bishop, Office Manager, Property
- Major Bradley Caldwell, Pastoral Care Coordinator, EBC
- Cadet Jeremy Warf
- Major Jay Spalding, Divisional Candidates’ Secretary, North & South Carolina Division
- Colonel Sue-Ellen Betts, Secretary for Personnel, NHQ
- Lt. Colonels Allan & Fiona Hofer, officers, soldiers, employees, and volunteers of the Potomac Division
- Eschelon
- Prayer is requested for those who need comfort but don’t know where to find it and that they might know to find it in the Lord.
Something to Consider
Animal Facts
- Otters “hold hands” while sleeping, so they don’t float away from each other. I hold my wife’s hand so she doesn’t get lost. It seems like I otter do it.
- There are more than 1.4 billion insects for EACH HUMAN on the planet, according to recent estimates. My windshield is used each summer to even the odds.
- Koalas can sleep for up to 22 hours a day. They serve as models for teenagers.
- A group of parrots is known as a pandemonium. Somehow, this doesn’t surprise me.
- A flea can jump distances 200 times their body length. Which goes to prove, you can’t flee a flea.
- Cats were domesticated 9,500 years ago in Ancient Egypt. This is a lie. No one has ever domesticated a cat. They only allow us to share space with them.
- The Donald Trump caterpillar looks identical to the ex-president’s hair. Making butterflies great again.
- There are an estimated 8.7 million species on earth and more than 80% of them are undiscovered. If 80% of them are undiscovered, how do they come up with this statistic?
Although we are at peace with a few of the animals of the world, we are at odds with most of them. Not so in the God’s kingdom to come when He restores all things on Earth as they were meant to be. So, I leave you with this final animal fact that is also a promise from Isaiah 11:6-9:
The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
What better hymn to close with than “All Creatures of Our God and King, Alleluia!”
Benediction
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (Romans 15:13)