The Greymouth Ministers' Association is broadcasting a request to people in churches throughout New Zealand and around the world to pray for the West Coast community as it deals with the Pike River coalmine crisis.

On behalf of our community, we request prayer for the following:

• For the families of those underground.  For the Holy Spirit to come and bring comfort and peace to individuals and families, to ease their anxiety, to enable them to persist in patience. To seek out help and support as and when they need it and not to give up hope.

• For those directly involved in the rescue for wisdom in their decision making in the way they go about the rescue, support the families, handle the media and so on. May they be ready to listen, consult and work well together and that they too are supported.
• That God's people will follow the leading of God's spirit in offering comfort, care and support to those in need.
• For things beyond human control for example for a supernatural reduction in gas levels, for a barometric high to develop over the area, for mist and wind to reduce to enable safer flying for the helicopters, and so on.
• For the media that they will be a compassionate and gentle in their quest for information. Not intrusive and invasive. To see the people and not just the story.

• Pray for the pastors and clergy of the community, for wisdom in handling the media, sensitivity and compassion in dealing with families and strength for the duration. Pray especially for Rev. Tim Mora chairperson of the Greymouth Ministers Association, and for all the clergy of every denomination who are ministering in the region.

  (For the Anglican Church, these clergy are Tim Mora, the Vicar of Cobden-Runanga and Regional Dean of Mawhera; the Revs Marge Tefft and Robin Kingston - Marge is the Vicar of Greymouth and Kumara, and Robin is Assistant Priest of that parish, as well as Archdeacon and Vicar General for the Diocese of Nelson - and John and Dawn Stringer are priests at Reefton and Grey Valley.)

• Pray for those struggling emotionally, for those with survivor guilt, unresolved and now re-opened grief from previous mining tragedies and for those providing counselling and comfort.
• And to pray for those trapped underground. Assuming that they are alive and together that they would support and sustain each other and make wise decisions of their own around survival and if they have not survived to begin preparing the hearts of families for the worst. That they will be surrounded by those who can support them if and when news of the worst kind finally comes.