More than ever, the world seems unsettled and anxious and need your prayers as we say goodbye to 2018 and hope for a better 2019. With 2018 feeling like a roller coaster ride, it is not surprising that there is so much at stake in 2019. Something does not feel right this year and here is why we need your prayers!

• Even if you are not invested in the stock market or if you do not care about Wall Street, it can impact your life in so many ways. The chaos that is unleashed in 2018 is just a preview of things to come. In Singapore, our little-red-dot, is highly sensitive and vulnerable to global market instability. A financial crisis can mean loss of exports — which means loss of jobs — and that translates to hardship to many. We are also in the midst of transforming our economy as technology continue to change our livelihood. We are fortunate to have a steady government and a strong financial reserve — but we need to pray for calm and stability in 2019.
• Sir David Attenborough remarked at the Katowice climate change conference that – “Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change.” Singapore is not immune to this train wreck in slow motion with rising sea levels putting much of our reclaimed land potentially underwater — if we do not spend billions to protect them. Even worse, there is evidence that the world we live in has only a decade to reverse this — or face irreversible damage to the beautiful planet Earth. Pray that 2019 is a year where the world begins to take real steps to prevent the destruction of our planet.
• Children suffered a lot in 2018 and we should pray for them. It does not matter where they are, what color is their skin or what God they pray to or whether they are from rich or poor countries. There are so many things wrong with what we are doing to these innocent children. Thousands of children in Yemen are dying from starvation as they become pawns in the proxy war fought by many different countries. Closer to home, UNICEF stated that “380,000 children in refugee camps in Bangladesh are in peril, while hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children still in Myanmar are cut off from aid”. Even in the most powerful nation in the world, children whose families came to the US to seek a better life are separated from their families and kept in “tent cities” in the desert. We can do better. We must do better. Pray that children suffering all over the world can expect a world that can do better by them in 2019.
• Like most developed countries, ageing is another crisis happening in real time. It is a very real issue in Singapore. With over 900,000 over the age of 65 by 2030, Singapore is heading into uncharted territory. We will see over 100,000 dementia cases and tens of thousand needing nursing home beds. Our hospitals and healthcare system is being stressed in caring for an ageing population. You can see it at polyclinics and hospitals. Pray that our government will have the wisdom and compassion for an ageing Singapore as they make plans in 2019.

While we need your prayers more urgently than ever for 2019, take a moment to also smell the roses and to thank God for all the blessings of family & friend, health and happiness in 2018 — and pray for more of the same in the New Year! Merry Xmas and a Happy 2019.