Women’s World Day of Prayer 2020 in Great Yarmouth 

 7th April 2020


This years’ service in Great Yarmouth took place at Park Baptist Church, and was attended by  in excess of 40 people from many churches across the borough; together with 2 children from Playgroup to help light the candles.  The service was written by the Christian women of  Zimbabwe, who used the story of Jesus telling the man who had been ill for 38 years to "Stand up, take your mat and walk".  Elizabeth Saunders reports

 Those attending were asked to complete a card recording a commitment they wished to make; and then to consider later in the year the progress they had made

The accompanying booklet to this special service says: "We are part of a great wave of prayer encircling the globe, which begins as the sun rises over Samoa and ends 36 hours later as the sun sets over American Samoa".  The participants, who came from many different churches, were asked to reflect on how those words could apply to us
 
A song that was written for this service said:
"Walk away from sin, walk away from injustice...
Rise with your heart full of love"
 
We learnt that many women in Zimbabwe had to look after their families on their own as the men went away seeking work. Food for the children is difficult to find.  We were given small plaits to represent a part of the mat that we were going to leave behind as we made a written commitment to support our community with love, peace and reconciliation


The cover for the booklet produced for the service was designed by a very well-known Zimbabwean artist called Nonhlanhla Mathe