California United Church of Christ hosted the World Day of Prayer event in California on March 6. The focus was on Cuba.
The Cuban World Day of Prayer Committee (WDPC) identified a number of issues important to their community through their worship services and wrote the program used by the groups gathered for the occasion.
The Republic of Cuba is an archipelago (group of islands) in the shape of a caiman (similar to an alligator). It is comprised of 4,195 islands, cays and islets, including many covered only by mangrove. Its surface area is 110,860 square kilometers. The largest Caribbean island located at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico; it is called "the key of the Gulf." The oldest cities date back to the 1500s, founded during the Spanish expansion. Divided into 15 provinces and 168 municipalities, Cuba has a population of 11,116,000. The capital, Havana, has about 2,000,000 inhabitants. A "cosmopolitan city," Havana was founded in its present location in the year 1519, becoming the principal center of the country's political, economic, cultural and social life in 1553.
The World Day of Prayer theme for 2016, selected by the Cuban WDPC, was "Receive Children, Receive Me," based on the Gospel text of Mark 10:14-15 - "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is such of these that the Kingdom of God belongs."
The women of Cuba invite all to seek Jesus with childlikeness and boldness. All are challenged and encouraged to wholly receive others, as Jesus calls us, into the Kingdom of God.
The program began with welcome by Carole Barbour, with music accompaniment by Mary Burger, and a program in which "leaders" and "girls" provided information about life and Christianity in Cuba, speaking as Cuban women and girls. Those participating in the program included, from U.C.C., Barbour, Burger, Melinda Bookout, Joyce Rohrbach and Grace Dampf; from Annunciation Catholic, Joyce Ziehmer, Margaret Bieri, Anastasia Muenks, Eva Muenks and Lucy Muenks; from California United Methodist, Linda Jensen; and from First Christian Church, Terry Brown, Debbie Staton and Jeanette Keeran.
World Day of Prayer began in 1932, with the theme of "Hold Fast in Prayer" from the country of India.
The countries and themes in some previous years were:
• 2015: The Bahamas, "Jesus said to them: "Do you know what I have done to you?"
• 2014: Egypt, "Streams in the Desert."
• 2013: France, "I was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me."
• 2012: Malaysia, "Let Justice Prevail."
• 2011: Chile, "How Many Loaves Have You?"
• 2010: Cameroon, "Let Everything That Has Breath Praise God."
• 2009: Papua New Guinea, "In Christ There Are Many Members, Yet One Body."
• 2008: Guyana, "God's Wisdom Provides New Understanding."
During the event this year, the singing of verses of "Sweet Hour of Prayer" were interspersed among different sections of the speaking portion. "God is So Good" was sung before the prayers for intercession. The closing hymn was "Jesus Loves All the Little Children."
The event is worldwide and involves different denominations of Christian women in over 170 countries. On the first Friday of March, a common day of prayer is observed each year. The ecumenical movement includes women from a wide variety of backgrounds.