How to Pray for Thailand now

Pray that first of all God will reveal himself to the people of Thailand in this situation. May many Thais will think about their lives, values that last and meet their creator.
Pray for Christians as individuals and churches that they would be a witness for God. Pray that Christians handle the situation not with fear but with trust in God and thus giving glory to God and be a comfort for people around them.
Pray for the relatives of the more than 500 who have died. May God comfort them and open a way for them to experience and know God.

On the way from Central Thailand to the sea the huge masses of water have to pass the capital city of Bangkok. There are about 12 Mio people living in the city (including surrounding subburbs). It is not possible to evacuate the whole city - so the government has asked people to take holidays in other parts of the country. As a result of that thousands have gone to visit relatives up-country.
During the last hightide (which slows down drainage into the sea) OMF Thailand headquarters has become surrounded by water but thankfully has not yet entered the buildings (water in the street leading to the headquarters is waist deep.
Please pray that the water will not rise further so that OMF Thailand headquarters could stay a refuge for some people of the neighbourhood who are presently staying at the Mission home.

Pray for the government. They need much wisdom in handling the crisis with severe impact on the economy.
Often people are angry about their neighbourhoods being flooded and destroy dykes to release the water into other areas. So all the dykes are now under the charge of the police.
More than 600,000 people have lost their jobs. Some „only“ temporary, some for good if their factories do not reopen after the floods. More than 14,000 factories are flooded. These people need our prayer and help as many of them are getting depressed.

People try to bring their belongings to higher grounds. Some neighbourhoods are completely evacuated which makes it easy for thieves. Please pray for protection.

Again and again our missionaries are going out to meet the needs of the people. Help needed differs depending on the situation: Missionaries brought drinking water, food and necessary supplies to the people as well as having programs for kids in evacuation centres or merely talking to the people and praying for them. Please pray for wisdom to discern what kind of help is needed where. To distribute relief items fairly is a big challenge.
In all our relief efforts we are closely working together with the „Samphan“-church association. And it is a joy to see how Thai Christians rise up to the challenge, go and visit each other for encouragement as well as reaching out to the people in need.

It is not clear for how long this flooding situation will last. While for some people/neighbourhoods it is only a matter of days for some people it is a matter of more than two months. For Bangkok the media are predicting about 4-6 weeks. Please pray for protection in flooded areas as well as evacuation centres that infectious deseases would not spread.
In many places drinking water supply was/is not sufficient - due to being in isolated areas, people stockpiling drinking water or disruption of supply lines. Please pray for the people still living on the second floor or even roofs of their houses.
Please also pray for people not yet affected. This as well is a very stressful time for some because life is interrupted by getting their belongings to the second floor (if available). Others are considering leaving the situation to go to evacuation centres or relatives up-country - when is the right moment to leave?

In some places in Central Thailand water is slowly receding. So for some collegues it is time to clean up their houses and helping their neighbours in doing so. Some of the houses were almost 2m under water.
For some people the houses are flooded only a few days. But when you do not know for how long the water will be staying and the toilets are not working it still is a difficult time.
Some collegues are still staying in Bangkok as their houses are not flooded yet. Others have have left as they are in higher risk areas or their houses are flooded already. The decision to stay or to go is difficult as a crisis is a good time to strengthen relationsships within the neighbourhood. So pray for the Lords wisdom and peace for the missionaries and Thai Christians when they have to make this difficult decision.

How can people around the world pray?

Pray for political reconciliation through this disaster. Unfortunately this has not happen yet. Much disruption in flood prevention and thus damage has been caused because the various sides involved are from different political backgrounds.
Pray for pride to break down. A well know Thai saying is that you cannot rely on anyone except yourself. The past weeks have painted the picture of human helplessness. May this draw people to the Creator-God.
Pray for the Church for compassion combined with wisdom
Pray that the general “Christian public” worldwide would grow from simple social awareness (interested in cases of disaster and emergency) to a deep spiritual awareness and concern.