- Rosângela Oliveira   
Executive Director, WDPIC  

World Day of Prayer Croatia’s preparation for the celebration on the First Friday of March took place under special circumstances due to the Coronavirus pandemic. As mentioned by Kata Lenđel, “Having faced the challenges of isolation and recent earthquakes which severely hit parts of Croatia, experiencing isolation and the impossibility of meeting one another, as well as constant fear of new quakes, the National Committee of WDP Croatia initiated online gatherings.”

Given the unusual situation, WDP Croatia sensed a genuine need for mutual prayer and used the benefits of virtual meetings and social media to come together. At the beginning of 2021 they started a cycle of online prayers which they called “Together in Prayer”. Brigita Hengl says “we focused our prayers on gratitude, repentance, faith, supplication, and trust. Together we meditated, sang, and recited the Lord's Prayer. We tried to find comfort and peace, strength, and inspiration for continued action, daily challenges, and successful preparation for the prayer with women in Vanuatu. We felt especially close to them as we are also exposed to natural disasters, like the earthquake that-ravaged parts of Croatia in December 2020. In addition to the spiritual message, we recognized the importance of developing social and geo-political strategies to build a healthy and just world for all.”

On February 24, they held an online Bible study on the theme Build on a Strong Foundation, Matthew 7: 23-27, led by theologian and philosopher Juliana Mladenovska Tesija. This online event was attended by participants from Croatia and neighboring countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Serbia. Finally in March, their worship service was held virtually over Zoom. Despite the special situation experienced this year, they felt enriched with new experiences and opportunities provided by the digital world, including the use of the hashtag #vanuatuwdp2021 on WDP Croatia’s Facebook page to promote prayers.

Sanja Sabljak highlighted a moment during preparatory meetings where one WDP sister shared her thoughts: “I was consumed by true fright and excitement facing the task of preparing a prayer that will be pronounced and supported by my fellow sisters from WDP. It looked like a good opportunity to share with them my most intimate beliefs and contemplations about God, my favourite Bible passages and hymns. This experience enabled me to test what can be shared about God's greatness, thanksgiving, penitence, faith, requests and confidence among sisters. I liked what I learned, and it encouraged me profoundly. It meant that I have matured in my faith. In my church, women don't often have an opportunity to lead common prayer which is the reason why this event was even more intense and beautiful. Sharing one's faith in common prayer was for me a moment of immense joy and intimacy in spirit with sisters. I am thankful for being given the opportunity to not only participate, but also organize and create the prayer meeting.”
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One great component of getting women to pray together within the World Day of Prayer celebration is to unite them in the spirit of Jesus Christ. Encouraged by such joy and peace given to us by the Lord through these online prayer meetings, WDP Croatia commits to continuing “Together in Prayer” into the next year.

Text adapted from reflections by WDP Croatia members: Kata Lenđel, Brigita Hengl and Sanja Sabljak

- Vino Schubert, WDPIC Regional Representative Asia

Sisters! What a great celebration we had with the Ni-Vanuatu sisters on the World Day of Prayer! 

Each one of us, from our corner of the world, proclaimed out loud that we 'Build on a Strong Foundation.' On the first Friday of March, many WDP committees and churches prepared a celebration that could be experienced online, while others organized in-person services under the restricted health guidelines. Like a balm of hope in a world tired of loneliness and losses, the celebrations were filled with enthusiasm and creativity, resilience and dedication. 

There was so much joy in connecting with familiar friends or new friends from another city or country during the celebrations. New partnerships were created with young people and local churches who provided the technological assistance needed for WDP worship services online. There were new opportunities created as people unfamiliar with WDP attended the services or watched a video. The movement has learned how to use the new technologies of communication to organize their meetings, plan activities, and to hold the celebrations. We thank God for giving us the tools to come together as #WDPUnitedInPrayer!

You may watch a WDP worship service video by visiting the WDPIC YouTube channel playlist. We also want to remind you to email us the Annual Report of your National/Regional Committee. Your country's experience will be published in the 2021 WDP Journal. Click here to download the Annual Report Form.

Looking forward to the 2022 program, we are connecting two special moments for the movement. Firstly, the worship service program prepared by WDP England, Wales and Northern Ireland with the theme 'I Know the Plans I have for You' (Jeremiah 29:1-14) will be celebrated on the first Friday in March. The materials are ready and have been distributed to all WDP National Committees. Please, contact WDPIC if your National/Regional Committee does not have the worship service materials.

​Secondly, the WDP International Committee Meeting is to be hosted by WDP Scotland, under the theme 'New Heart, New Mind. Called to Hope' (Ephesians 1,18) in June. There is a common thread within these two themes. Both Bible texts speak about hope during troubled times, trust to overcome uncertainties, and openness to accept the new.

In March of 2020, we were caught by surprise with the World Health Organization's declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic while we were praying with our Zimbabwe sisters, and in 2021 we adapted to our new situation and prepared alternatives to in-person services to pray with our Vanuatu' sisters. We want to bring this spirit of preparedness and resourcefulness to the International Meeting in 2022.

Therefore, considering the current COVID-19 pandemic across the world, the uncertainties of 2022, the new complexities and requirements for international travels, the wellbeing of WDP leadership, the economic impact of the crisis, and financial responsibility with the future of WDPIC and WDP National/Regional Committees, the WDPIC Executive Committee has decided to hold the International Meeting using an online format in 2022 in lieu of an in-person gathering.

This means that the International Meeting will be held with delegates and guests around the world, regardless of their location. We will use video, audio, and text to connect and collaborate via an internet connection. We will build on the technology we already use like emails, mobile chat (WhatsApp, etc.) and web conferencing (Zoom, etc.) to accomplish the purpose of the International Meeting (WDPIC Constitution). We will share, decide, vote, network, listen, talk, report, learn, sing, pray, plan and more without being physically together. It will be a unique experience full of blessings.
From May to November of 2020, WDPIC sent to the National/Regional Committees Newsletters with the information about the International Meeting and the ways that the Committee can participate. From May to July 2021, we are expecting to receive the response forms from each National/Regional Committee. Visit the Meeting 2022 tab to download the forms (English, French, Spanish). Here are the deadlines for the committee's responses:

1.     May 3, 2021 - Delegate registration 
2.     June 1, 2021 - Nominations for Chairperson and Regional Representatives
3.     July 1, 2021 - Nominations for themes and writer countries for WDP worship service

We ask the National Committees and the delegates to continue reserving in your calendar the week of June 12-19, 2022 for the International Meeting while we adjust the program and procedures to an online format. We count on the participation and support of your National/Regional Committee to sustain in prayer the international sisterhood of WDP. 

We are greatly thankful to the WDP Scotland committee for all that they have already done to welcome us in person in Edinburg, and their understanding of the implications of the global situation on the original plan. We will continue our conversation with them on alternative ways to host the International Meeting. The 2022 WDP themes set the tone for an action-oriented and future-forwarding meeting. Thus, we hold onto our strong foundation trusting that God's plan is to call us to live and act in hope. 

The angel said to Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome: "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you. They went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mark 16:6-8). 

The Gospel of Mark (chapter 16) shows a group of courageous women go to the tomb in the early hours of the morning with the intention of anointing Jesus' body. The announcement of Jesus' resurrection made by the angel surprised them, even terrified them, and left them speechless. This is quite expected, for who could understand resurrection? Perhaps, the witnesses of Lazarus’ resurrection would (John 11). But for those women, they were just silent: "because of their fear".  ​

I like to think that they did their part anyway, since we will soon be able to proclaim the liturgical formula "Jesus is risen - He is risen indeed - Alleluia! ".  

But what does it mean to proclaim that Jesus is risen during a pandemic which has spread so much suffering, death, fear, and insecurity? What changes can we bring about so that our fears can be transformed into a song of trust and praise? The gospel invites each of us to search faithfully for  an answer. Knowing that Mary Magdalene, Mary and Salome have found their voice - have found Jesus - it gives me hope for better days.  

To all of us who are involved in the World Day of Prayer, I dare to say that prayer is one of the ways that allows us to rise up and proclaim with confidence that "Jesus is risen!" Another way is the WDP motto: “Informed prayer. Prayerful action” which guides our commitment to concretely live out our faith.  
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I love the refrain of the French hymn “Tu nous appelles à t’aimer” (You call us to love you) by the composer R. Fau: 

“You call us to love you 
 by loving the world where you send us to,  
O faithful God, give us, 
 by loving the world, to love only you! "  ​

May we smile at life on this Easter morning of 2021!  
Dear Friend, feel blessed! ​

- Rosângela Oliveira, WDPIC Executive Director 

Let us celebrate the World Day of Prayer in 2021 prepared by the women of the Vanuatu islands!   
 
The 2021 theme “Build on a Strong Foundation” is an invitation to return to the foundations of our faith, which can also be expressed as the foundations of the World Day of Prayer--“Informed Prayer– Prayerful Action.”  
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The health situation in each country, each region, each town, and village is still under the impact of the pandemic and the restrictions to slow the transmission of COVID-19. We cannot ignore it, but rather be responsible in our celebrations. ​

What have we learned over the year of 2020 that can be used for the 2021 WDP celebrations? 

1. Celebrate WDP at home with your family. Perhaps it will be an opportunity for your family to discover why you are so committed to this prayer movement. 
2. Have a conversation about Vanuatu with close friends, at home, or over the phone. It may become an opportunity to discover how to pray with simplicity like the beginning of the WDP movement. Use the video “Let’s talk with Vanuatu” to prompt the conversation. 
3. In places where physical gatherings are allowed, adjust the activities to follow the local health protocols to reduce the spread of COVID-19. For example, keep the event small, wear a face mask, stay at least 2 meters (6 feet) apart, avoid touching, and wash your hands often.   
4. Connect online to worship together. Each WDP National Committee is offering alternatives to the local groups to celebrate. We invite you to connect with the people you met before during WDP activities, or search the committee’s website for more information, and find out how to get the materials to celebrate in a creative way. Make it simple! Focus on what links us together as #WDPUnitedInPrayer. 
5. Pray with the Vanuatu women and WDPIC Executive Committee by watching the worship service video recording. Visit WDPIC YouTube channel to watch the video online and share it with your social media friends. Have in your hands the order of service published in your language by your WDP committee and join in prayer.  This is another way to encourage prayers with our sisters living in faraway places. 
6. The offering is usually given during the worship service. This year, each National Committee may have created new ways for giving, like online donations via their website or by mailing a check. You are invited to connect with the WDP committee in your country to learn how you can send your offering that will allow WDP to continue its commitment to support the community in need. The WDP offering is a sign of our “Prayerful Action.” 

This is a time to be reminded of at least two of the WDP Guiding Principles. WDP services are an invitation to receive the prayer and to be creative in organizing it accordingly to the current pandemic context we live in. Also, all have something to give and to receive. Through the WDP offering women share their resources with women and children around the world. Be creative and be supportive!  

Final invitation - tell us your story! Email it! Tag @WDPIC on Facebook! Tag @worlddayofprayerinternational on Instagram! Fill out the annual report form! Share your experience so the world may discover the commitment of WDP women in the healing of our communities.  

May the celebration with our sisters in Vanuatu be anchored in the memories that move us to “Build on the Strong Foundation.” 

Greetings to you, greetings to you, greetings to everyone. 
God will bless us in our worship. He will guide us. He will bless us. 
We are here in His presence, we are one in God’s love 
Greetings to you, greetings to you, greetings to everyone. 

This is one of the songs composed by the women of the World Day of Prayer Committee of Vanuatu for the worship service program in 2021. This is how we started the virtual “Singing WDP Vanuatu Songs” event. Edith Toth and her music team, from WDP Romania, led all four songs composed by the Vanuatu committee. 

The virtual event was held to create a space for WDP leaders to come together in global sisterhood to fill the spirit with joy, faith and love in preparations for the annual day of prayer on the first Friday of March. We are all living under the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is the context in which the national committees and the WDPIC office find themselves, busy creating virtual resources for the celebrations at home or for small groups. A WDPIC video of the worship service was being produced and led by the WDP Vanuatu Committee and the WDPIC Executive Committee, with greetings from several committees and would be made available soon, informed the executive director. 
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The total number of registrations for the virtual event held on January 28, 2021, reached 107, and around 80 participants joined the event. There were participants from the seven regions of the world, from the earliest hours of the day to late at night depending on their time zone. It already captured what March 5th represents: being united in prayer around the world from dawn to dusk. ​

It is time to get together as a nation and family. 
Let’s forget our differences and let us work in unity 
Let’s build Vanuatu with love and unity 
We are family, we are one 
We are Ni-Vanuatu ​

“It is time to get together” was the song that introduced small group conversations. In more than 20 small groups, the participants reflected on what time this is for them and in what ways they build it with love and unity. Sharing the conversation in the chat, a group with participants from Germany, Lebanon, and the Philippines wrote “We are united through God's love and spreading hope and love through serving each other, and that is renovating our souls.” While the group with participants from Romania, Lebanon and Australia felt blessed for sharing in prayer, singing and reaching out to one another, as well as the group with women from Barbados, Albania and Taiwan who felt good for the chance to share with each other. 

The group with participants from France and Scotland wrote about the ways they will celebrate this year and how the virtual communication make them feel like one family, and that they will continually pray for Vanuatu and sisters and brothers from everywhere. WDP members from Germany, Palestine and New Zealand commented on how happy they were to share their different ways of spending time, but especially about how the unity of WDP has made them come together and not feel alone. 

Sharing WDP practices and preparedness for this year's celebration were also commented on in the chat. The representative from Canada wrote about the new things they are learning almost daily: “We are promoting virtual services in the light of COVID restrictions. We have produced a video which will be available mid-February for the local coordinators to order it on a USB or DVD, while the print services are available for download through the website. Every second Friday, one of our members holds a short prayer service on Facebook.” 
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A group with members from Cameroon and Denmark shared their WDP practices and also the group with participants from France, Japan and Scotland. They reflected on the new ways to celebrate WDP, the need to get better at technology, but also how the time of the pandemic has created opportunities for more connectedness to each other and to God. The expressions of joy, excitement, fellowship, creativity, unity, hope and accompaniment were present all over the chats and smiling faces on screen.  ​

Be good listeners to God’s Word. Be obedient to His ways. 
Put God first in all you do. Build wisely for eternity. 

With that song, we rejoined from the small groups to a common prayer. The song then was turned into a litany, with prayer responses prepared from the participants. Let us pray. 

Edith Toth (Romania) - Be good listeners to God’s word. Be obedient to his ways 

Vino Schubert (Sri Lanka) - As James instructed us not to “merely listen to the word, and so deceive ourselves, but do what it says (James 1:22); dear Lord, we ask you to make us conscious of the fact that obedience involves more than just listening to Your word – but taking action to fulfil Your instructions.  

All – God, we are ready to listen to you  

Edith Toth (Romania) - Put God first in all you do. Build wisely for eternity 

Inge-Lise Lollike (Denmark) - Keep me daily building on the rock 

All – Help us to follow the way of Jesus 

Edith Toth (Romania) - Be good listeners to God’s word. Be obedient to his ways 

Merita Meko (Albania) - When Jesus came to die in order that we may live, You put us first; and because of Jesus’ blood shared for us, we were reborn by grace! Help us live in Your grace. Help us surrender to Your Holy Name, Lead us into Your right path and may we all live according to Your promises!  

All – Give us strength to follow You, oh God. 

Edith Toth (Romania) - Put God first in all you do. Build wisely for eternity 

Cindy Vanuaroro (Vanuatu) - As we struggle with these confusing times, it is possible to think only of now, give us the wisdom, courage and faith to run the race in fighting the good fight, finishing the race and keeping the faith for eternity. Thank you for helping us to build each other up in love for eternity. 

All – Hear our prayer, loving God 

With creativity, Edith and her team, introduced some gestures to the song Children Arise and Build.  

Children arise and build on the strong foundation now. Jesus, the strong foundation. 
Vanuatu arise and build on the strong foundation now. Jesus, the strong foundation. 

We are very thankful for the contribution that WDP Romania through Edith Toth and her music team offered to us. As in the words of Ruth V. E. Phillips, from Barbados “The children with Edith are beautiful. It was a pleasure seeing them enjoying themselves with us. There is hope for the World Day of Prayer! Hallelujah!!” 

To conclude the virtual gathering, Laurence Gangloff, WDPIC Chairperson, introduced our prayerful action: wearing black we said NO to rape and gender-based violence as in the #ThursdaysInBlack campaign. Our witness was posted on WDPIC Facebook and Instagram on January 28. 

With all microphones on and the overlapping laughs and greetings, one by one left the virtual meeting room, leaving behind their thankful comments in the chat. With you, I leave the blessing left to us by Manon Naidoo, from South Africa: 

“Blessings to each country. This has been a very supportive meeting with unity. Spending this time was awesome. Love.”  ​

- Rosângela Oliveira, WDPIC Executive Director ​

On the first Friday of March the World Day of Prayer movement comes together united in prayer and action in the local communities across the world. This year is no different. We will pray together, but not as we were used to. We are living under the COVID-19 pandemic, and WDP cares for the wellbeing of our communities.  

In many places the restrictions for in-person gatherings to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are keeping the churches and schools closed for worship services. In places where in-person services are allowed, there are a series of restrictions and guidelines to congregate. WDP committees must abide by the local health protocols to keep people safe. This is one of the prayerful actions we can collectively offer to our communities. 

During the pandemic we have learned that we can be physically separated but still connected. Slowly we introduced the technological learnings acquired during the time of the pandemic to our own WDP activities. Many WDP committees hold their board meetings or workshops via online conferencing, or continuously catch up with each other over mobile chats or social media. Many studied the Bible and prayed together over the phone or online. This practice will continue as we prepare to pray together with Vanuatu on the first Friday of March. We may be astounded at this new way, like the crowds were at Jesus’ teaching (Matthew 7:29); but, creatively, we can affirm that we are #WDPUnitedInPrayer and we hold onto the motto “Informed Prayer. Prayerful Action.” 

If you want to join a WDP service or send your offering in response to your prayers, we encourage you to connect with the WDP National Committee in your country. You can check their contact information by visiting the WDPIC website or emailing the WDPIC office. Some committees are planning to livestream the worship service, others will hold a service via mobile chat, and in the few locations where it is allowed, a small service following the proper health protocols may be possible.
  
Additional to the WDP plans for national and local celebrations, World Day of Prayer International Committee (WDPIC) recorded a video of the worship service led by the WDP Vanuatu Committee and the WDPIC Executive Committee, with greetings from several WDP Committees.   

The video will be released to WDP National Committees, and posted on the WDPIC YouTube channel and social media. Be sure to visit our site by the first Friday of March. The service in the video is in English, but it can be followed using the materials available in your language by the WDP Committee in your country.  
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Separated but connected, let’s pray together with family or friends over the phone or via online platforms, alone or in small groups. Let’s participate in the action by giving to WDP to empower the communities. Let’s stay together to “Build on a Strong Foundation.” ​

- Rosangela Oliveira, WDPIC Executive Director

We are starting 2021!  

Usually on the first day of the year, we look towards the future and ask ourselves about what this year holds to us. 

In the Lectionary of today there are two well-known recommended Bible texts for meditation. Together, they can offer a vision that we are prompted to have in the beginning of the year: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 and Matthew 25:31-46. 

In Ecclesiastes, we may find comfort knowing that there is a season for everything. It may help us deal with the anxieties of battling the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of the first vaccines available and the alarm over an outbreak of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus. It sounds like “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (3:4).  

The reflection about our time continues in the reading of the final judgment in Matthew: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” (25:35-36). 

“When was that time?” we may ask ourselves in our meditation. As World Day of Prayer, we hope that our services are one of those times that we cared for the other in prayer and action.  

As we look forward to the year of 2021, let’s make it a time of trust in this God that is with us always and in all seasons. Let’s be #WDPUnitedInPrayer. 
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We wish you all a Happy New Year! ​

- Rosângela Oliveira, WDPIC Executive Director