Refledction on World Day of Prayer

Ever since I attended activities at our community prayer event a couple of weeks ago, my thoughts have gravitated to this form of communication with the Father. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in another group prayer experience.

The World Day of Prayer is held the first Friday of March every year. Women of many faiths from around the world observe a common day of prayer. Each year, the World Day of Prayer worship service is written by a different country. This year, Cameroon served as the host writer, using the theme Let Everything That Has Breath Praise God.

Geography, especially world-wide geography, is not my strong point, so I had never heard of the country of Cameroon. I have since discovered that it is an African country located in the central and western region of the continent. It occupies an area of 183 thousand + square miles and boasts a population of over 19.5 million people. Cameroon is one of the more highly developed countries in Africa socially and politically and benefits from the petroleum and timber industries as well as agriculture and modern modes of transportation. Still, most Cameroonian citizens survive as subsistence farmers and live in poverty.

Many musical instruments steeped in generations of tradition are used in Cameroon to praise God. Yesterday’s worship service reflected the Cameroonian love of music to express thankfulness to Our Almighty Father. As we in our community gathered together, we followed the outline of the Order of Worship prepared by the women of Cameroon. We praised God through prayer, song, scripture reading, and responsive readings.

It struck me during the service how much we can learn from women who live some six thousand miles away, despite our economic, social, and historical differences. Like us, they ask forgiveness for their contribution to the toxins that pollute our communities in the form of abuse, hatred, corruption, greed, and violence. They confess the times they have turned their backs on those less fortunate than they.

The Cameroonian women pray for the safety of their children and grieve when they are wronged or injured, abused or neglected. They especially beseech God’s help with the girl child, who has little value in their country within the family unit. She is perceived as beneficial only to a future husband. She is often denied an education and is expected to perform household chores and sell goods to help provide financial support for the family.

This small glimpse into the life of the Cameroonian woman gave me a much deeper appreciation of these Christian sisters who share a common Savior with me in Jesus Christ. Despite their downtrodden, impoverished life, they praise God with joyful hearts. They sing praises to Him during the long hours of toil. They thank Him for every entity that exudes life. They express their gratitude for each aspect of their land, from the fertility of the fields to the beauty of the landscape, from the changing of the seasons to the production of crops, from the sweet song of the birds to the slap of fish fins on the surface of the water.

I Thessalonians 5:17 gives clear instruction to “pray continually”. The World Day of Prayer event taught me ways to do just that by participating in a service that originated on the other side of the world - a world linked together by the common bond of our Savior who deserves unceasing praise from each of us.

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