Pray for: China

Something I started doing back in college but stopped doing was picking a country, learning about it, and then praying for the needs of that country. I think too often here in America, we get trapped in our little bubble and seem to think that we are the most important thing in the world. This is not a good thing because it is absolutely against what we learn in the Bible. The message of Jesus Christ is for all people, not just for "your" people. So to start this off again I, for obvious reasons, chose China to focus on.

President: Hu Jintao

Population: 1.33 billion

Capital: Beijing

Religions: Officially athiest, Buddhist (3%), Christianity (3%)

Issues: Despite recent talk of the booming economy in China, 80% or roughly 1 billion of their population still lives below the poverty line. Christianity is increasing albeit mostly underground. The government now allows it to be practiced, but only under their conditions and under their watchful eye. Which brings me to another issue. The government is very controlling of what their people know and of what outsiders know about their country. I would say pray for the government to begin to take care of all of their people better, that the President would take great pride in his enormous task, and that Christianity would continue to spread.