Basque Country Prayer Points for September 2024
Prayer Points and verse for the month:
Prayers points:
- This time of year, sees an influx of existing, new & Erasmus (Europe’s study abroad program) university students arrive in the city. It is becoming more difficult for students to find affordable housing. The city is also looking for solutions with the number of homes that are designated for tourism.
- Pray for students, home owners and the government as they work through solutions for affordable housing.
- A recent report is pointing to several different unhealthy habits that are causing problems for the Basque Hospital system. One of those factors is that ~50% of the population drink some amount of alcohol. Another factor is they are seeing that ~25% of young people (14-18) have smoked cannabis within the past year.
- Pray for the health of the public and the Basque hospital system as they explore solutions to provide better care to the citizens.
- Pedro Sánchez has announced his plans to move forward with a government with or without a legislative body in place. They are scheduled to meet between November 29 and December 1 to have elections and set the agenda for the upcoming legislative session. An important item will be a new budget since a new one was not passed for 2024 as they are using the one from 2023.
- Pray as the political leaders prepare to meet to have a legislative body to address issues for the citizens in Spain.
- The public hospital system continues to face criticism from the public. A new leader of the system has been appointed. They are working to hire more staff to address the needs of the system, though not enough staff exists. They stated it will be 3-4 years before the staffing needs are met.
- Pray for the leaders, medical staff and patients as they work through the current challenges in the medical system (Osakidetza).
- The number of workers that have two jobs has doubled over the last year. Various reasons were shared with one of them being the need for some to have a second job to be able to afford the increase in living expenses. Another was related to the change in employment contracts, along with the number of new jobs in the area. Data from the summer shows that spending stayed the same or went down compared to last year. Businesses also saw this summer about a 10% increase in credit card usage.
- Pray for the employees, families and businesses as they navigate these uncertain economic times.
The verse for the week:
For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13 NIV