Women's World Day of Prayer

TOMORROW (March 3), Women's World Day of Prayer, over 5,000 services will be held in Britain and this year the service is prepared by the Christian women of the Philippines. The theme is “Am I being unfair to you?”

This service has been translated into 1,000 different languages to be used throughout the world starting at sunrise over the Isle of Samoa, continuing until sunset off the coast of American Samoa.

This year’s venue is the Salvation Army Centre and commences at 2pm with community singing at 1.40pm, led by Lieutenant Rebecka Cotterill. There will be stories from people who experienced Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 which was a category five super typhoon, the most severe storm ever recorded to hit land and it claimed thousands of lives.

The Philippines are located on the Pacific Ring of Fire close to the equator and the population is approximately 100 million. There are three main islands: Luzon, Visayas and Mindaneo – but all together there are over 7,000 islands and 1,000 of these are populated. Many different languages are spoken but English and Filipino are the official ones.

Christianity is the main religion with more than 80 per cent being Roman Catholic. This was due to Spanish Colonisation. The Spaniards also founded schools and the University of Manila.

After the typhoon Pope Francis visited in 2015, he went to Tacloban where 90 per cent of the city was destroyed, 14.5 million people were affected and one million people were still homeless one year after the typhoon. The pope highlighted the need to respond to climate change. Primary exports from the Philippines are coconut oil, fruits and garments.

Why not find out more about the theme, the Philippines and the service.

And – the Day of Prayer is not just for women. Everyone is welcome to come to this most interesting service so please come tomorrow to the Salvation Army Centre, 2pm (1.40pm for singing) and enjoy fellowship with others.