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Houston is a massive, beautiful city and it is an amazing place with beautiful people from all around the world. Betty and I love this city deeply and are grateful to God for calling us here. What is also true is that the city has a dark underside. It's hidden behind the skyscrapers and the malls, but it's there and it is painfully real.
It shows up no more vividly than in the lives of vulnerable children who live in settings where adults do not do a good job of providing for them. We call them at-risk but that makes them sound like a group that can be objectified. They are not objects. They are beautiful, loving, creative children whose spirits are being crushed from neglect.
The challenge in having this conversation is that it can seem overwhelming. When you see the facts, the problem is real and large in Houston. And, if we don't solve it, the consequences - not just for our children but - for our society are pretty dramatic.
For the fourth year in a row, Mission Houston is joining a large and growing group of individuals, congregations, businesses and ministries to host the Annual Week of Prayer and Service for Children and Youth. It begins with a Faith Summit on August 16 at St. Martin's Episcopal Church and includes a prayer guide for each day of the following week. The guide allows all of us - no matter where we are - to pray in an informed fashion and in unity about some specific needs that children in our city face.
A part of the focus is to challenge individuals and groups to find some way to serve during that week of prayer. Believing that if we get a taste of what is possible if we all take on a part, we will grow in our capacity to serve the needs of our children.
I'm writing today to ask you to sign up to become a participating group.
I'm also writing to ask every person who loves children and wants to see Houston grow in its capacity to care for our most vulnerable ones among us, to join us for the Summit. Click on this link for more information and to register for this lunch meeting on August 16, 2012. If you are a mentor, a service provider, a children's advocate, a children's ministry leader, a prayer leader, a business owner, or a concerned parent, we urge you to join us for this Summit.
Houston is a beautiful city, and it is growing in its capacity to love the most vulnerable children among us. It will take effort for you to carve out time from your busy schedule to participate in this Week of Prayer and Service for Children and Youth. I urge you to make that effort. These children need you.
