There is a shortage of skilled workers in the hotel industry, maintenance and repair, health and safety services, day care centres and schools. Nationwide there are 100,000 child care and 40,000 teacher positions vacant. There are many causes: higher birth-rate, immigration, increase in all-day care services, increasing requirements for social inclusion and language training, and inadequate preparation for the large number of workers from the 1960s baby-boom generation who will retire in the 2020s. Teachers, trainers, educators and carers, under stress due to heavy workloads, are taking time off due to illness. Germany’s education system needs a fundamental overhaul to equip children for life in the coming decades. Many of the teaching methods and educational materials are antiquated and no longer suitable to give children a healthy identity, self-confidence, assertiveness, team spirit, joy and resilience for the demands of the current world.

Dressed in the colours of Ukraine, Vladyslav Bondar, a ballet dancer, moves delicately across the stage of Rotterdam's mediaeval St Lawrence Church. He is performing with the United Ukrainian Ballet at a Salvation Army Christmas party - a setting far removed from the war in his homeland. ‘I wanted to fight for Ukraine.’ Vladyslav said after the performance, knowing it could have meant the end of his career as a professional dancer. But instead of taking up arms, he joined over 70 other Ukrainians who make up the United Ukrainian Ballet - a dance company formed directly in response to the outbreak of war. Fellow dancer Oleksii Kniazkov said, ‘Every Ukrainian has his own battlefield. And the stage is ours.’ Their dance is a dance of defiance.

Proverbs 29:2 says, ‘When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.’ As 2023 unfolds forty different nations will be nominating new leaders or restoring 2022 leaders. We can pray for voters to make wise choices. Where there has been bribery and corruption previously, pray for honest and fair elections in 2023 to ensure that integrity and policymaking is for the good of all. Pray for leaders and their advisors to be level-headed as they handle the strains of public office. Ask God to raise up people who will make good and just decisions, and for Christians in leadership to bring salt and light into all they do and say. Where there is unrest, ask God to raise up peacemakers. Where there is Christian persecution, pray for freedom from coercion and harassment. For a list of countries and their election dates, go to Elections 2023.

The Chinese New Year in 2023 is celebrated on 22 January. Prayer Alert intercessors are invited to join thousands of believers from many churches and Christian ministries across the world who will be uniting online for a 24-hour prayer meeting. Your prayers will be covering key cities and regions of the Buddhist world. The time is ripe for asking the Lord of the Harvest to send forth labourers to every unreached people group in these cities and nations. It is an opportunity to unite and intercede as one, exalting Jesus Christ as King throughout the Buddhist world. Chinese New Year is a special time for families to gather together, and you are invited to pray for an hour (or more) during this 24-hour period for all the Gospel movements throughout the Buddhist world and China. See also