{"id":6569,"date":"2021-03-04T16:13:35","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T16:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/burnheadchurch.ddns.net\/?p=6569"},"modified":"2021-03-04T16:16:02","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T16:16:02","slug":"world-day-of-prayer-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/?p=6569","title":{"rendered":"World Day of Prayer 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Friday (5 March) marks the World Day of Prayer, an annual international ecumenical prayer movement which is carried out by Christian women in more than 180 countries and in over 1,000 languages around the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Representatives from the Church of Scotland, including the Guild, sit on the World Day of Prayer\u2019s Scottish committee.<\/p><\/div>\n

Each year, on the first Friday in March, Christians are encouraged to pray for and with Christians of other countries and cultures, and to be enriched by their faith experiences.<\/p>\n

This year,\u00a0the annual World Day of Prayer service<\/a>\u00a0comes from the Christian women of Vanuatu \u2013 a group of 82 islands (65 inhabited) in the South Pacific Ocean \u2013 on the theme of \u2018Build a strong foundation\u2019.<\/p>\n

Through the specially created resources, the women of Vanuatu share their stories reflecting on their history and situation on the island today, including struggles with food production, the environment and children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n

\u2018A gift of wisdom\u2019<\/h2>\n

\u201cOne of the first things we learn with Vanuatu women is that, \u2018land to a Ni-Vanuatu is what a mother is to a baby\u2019,\u201d Ros\u00e2ngela Oliveira, the World Day of Prayer\u2019s international committee executive director, tells us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationship with land is at the foundation of the Ni-Vanuatu identity and spiritual strength. We listen to their voices through the worship service, which invites us to focus on the Bible story in Matthew 7:24-27.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus tells a story about the kingdom of heaven using the image of a house and the land on which the house is built. Choosing the land on which to build the house is an important decision for people in Vanuatu.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe combination of considering the terrain and the climate is crucial in a tropical archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean prone to earthquakes, cyclones, volcanic eruptions and rising sea levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vanuatu sisters praise God for fertile land, the sweet melody of the birds and for the sound of children. All of these together reflect their way of life and their everyday struggles with production of food, care for the environment and the education of children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose challenges are reasons to praise God for being the source of their strength while they pursue opportunities in education, keep children away from malnutrition and provide alternatives to young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn receiving their voice as a gift of wisdom, we share their hope and creatively engage our communities in \u2018informed prayer, prayerful action.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Representatives from the Church of Scotland, including the Guild, sit on the World Day of Prayer\u2019s Scottish committee.<\/p>\n

\u2018Build on a Firm Foundation\u2019<\/h2>\n

Elizabeth Burroughs, the president of England, Wales and Northern Ireland\u2019s committee, has written the following prayer for Vanuatu:<\/p>\n

Holy God, Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is in them: \u2013<\/p>\n

We join with the Christian women of Vanuatu in praise to you
\n\u2013 for fertile land and fresh air
\n\u2013 for the sweet melody of the birds, for land animals and the mysterious creatures of the deep
\n\u2013 and for the sounds of children playing.<\/p>\n

We thank you for the example of the Christian women of Vanuatu
\n\u2013 for their trust in you and
\n\u2013 for their fortitude as they struggle to provide food for their families and education for their children
\n\u2013 things that we in this country so often take for granted.<\/p>\n

We ask your forgiveness for our thoughtlessness, our carelessness and our lack of foresight which has led to the pollution of the environment and the current climate emergency, and is causing irrevocable damage to Vanuatu and to other low-lying Pacific islands.<\/p>\n

We pray that you will help us
\n\u2013 to listen more carefully to you and to your Word
\n\u2013 to build our homes and communities on its strong foundations
\n\u2013 and to work together towards a world where resources are used more sustainably;
\nwhere justice and peace reign; and where all your creatures can live in safety and harmony.<\/p>\n

We pray in the name of Jesus
\nAmen.<\/p>\n

Take part in the World Day of Prayer<\/h2>\n

If you would like to attend a special service, a list of some of the World Day of Prayer worship services taking place via Zoom and YouTube\u00a0is available on the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Or, if your church group would like to get involved with holding your own service this Friday, you can find an abundance of helpful materials\u00a0on the World Day of Prayer Scotland website<\/a>, including an order of service, a meditation, children and young people activities, and much more.<\/p>\n

You can also\u00a0follow the World Day of Prayer Scotland on Facebook<\/a>, where daily reflections from faith leaders in Scotland, including Rt Rev Dr Martin Fair, will be shared in the lead-up to Friday.<\/p>\n

Next year\u2019s World Day of Prayer will take place on Friday 4 March 2022, with a service written by the Christian women of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, on the theme of \u2018I know the plans I have for you\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Friday (5 March) marks the World Day of Prayer, an annual international ecumenical prayer movement which is carried out by Christian women in more than 180 countries and in over 1,000 languages around the world. Each year, on the first Friday in March, Christians are encouraged to pray for and with Christians of other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6569"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6579,"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6569\/revisions\/6579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/burnheadchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}