The Tribune

World Day of Prayer is a unique organisation that is truly interdenominational and truly international; it speaks with the voices of women from all corners of the globe. Involvement in WDP creates a network of Christian women on a worldwide scale which also reaches into local communities. Preparations go on for months in advance. On March 1, women and men will be gathering to celebrate, using a programme of worship prepared this year by women in France.

When the women of the French committee met to work on the material for 2013, the theme chosen was “I was a stranger and you welcomed me”. The prepared service has a strongly French feel and flavour. France, like other European countries, receives many asylum requests. In 2011, 51,900 people applied for asylum in France. The presence of asylum seekers both

enriches cultures and can cause social difficulties. Behind each request, each statistic is the story of a life. Some of those stories will be shared in the service.

“We envisage a great annual wave of prayer, rising with the sun over the islands of Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand in the Pacific, and then sweeping across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean, until it comes to rest in American Samoa some 36 hours later. By then services will have taken place in over 170 countries,” said organisers of the global event.

Services in the Bahamas this year are being held in Andros, Eleuthera, Abaco, Exuma, Grand Bahama and New Providence. Children services are also being held at schools in these islands.

“By 2015, when the Bahamas will write the service, we expect that every Bahama island will be a part of the service,” said local organiser Sister Annie Thompson.

This year, in New Providence, the service will be held on March 1, 2013 at the New Providence Community Church, Blake Road. The speaker will be Rev. Claire Robinson, presbyter of Heritage of Redeeming Love and Providence Methodist Churches. Least coins (pennies) will also be collected for the ‘Fellowship of the Least Coin’. Refreshments depicting the cuisine of France will be served. For further information contact Sister Annie Thompson at tel: 323 5466, Mrs. Annette Poitier tel: 328 5962 or Mrs. Judy Munroe 323 4445.