My friend Rick Duncan shared a post from the youth pastor at his church who contacted a youth worker in Newtown, CT. Here's the original post:
We are all still reeling from the school shooting that happened this past weekend. This afternoon, I had the privilege of talking with a youth pastor from Newtown, CT. He works with children and teenagers in his community just minutes from where the shooting happened.
There was a lot that he and I talked and prayed about. Here are a few of the prayer requests that he said that I could feel free to share.
1. For his personal healing. Help him find joy in suffering.
2. Many of the families in their church were friends or associates with victims families.
3. That God would use this tragedy for His Glory. Provide a spiritual awakening in the town.
4. The town is crawling with media and it’s proving difficult to try and live any semblance of normal living.
5. The church wants to help and is trying to find their role in the healing process.
6. There were kids from the youth group that had recently gone off to college that had known Adam Lanza.
7. Healing for kids and teens who are trying to reconcile so much during this time.
8. For Christmas joy. Newtown is a town that always makes a big deal of Christmas and many people have taken down decorations because of the guilt they feel for celebrating.
9. How to address the youth group kids in the coming days, weeks, months.
10. Wisdom for the youth ministry network of 8 guys in the area.
I’d encourage you to take a moment to pray for these 10 requests. Feel free to post in the comment page any encouragement that you’d like to share with him. I’ll be emailing him this post.