“Come, everything is ready” – with the invitation from Luke 14, 15-24, the Word Day of Prayer (WDP) services were celebrated all over the world united by the prayers written by women of Slovenia. On Friday March 1st 2019, the Slovenian women celebrated the 2019 service and the 20th anniversary of the very first WDP service held in Slovenia simultaneously.

In 1999, Ljudmila Smid, a Slovenian migrant worker in Switzerland, first encountered the WDP movement while working there. When visiting with a group of Slovenian migrant workers back home, around the first Friday in March, she took the initiative to organize a local WDP celebration. She encouraged Greta Rothmeier Klancnik to invite some friends in Rogaska Slatina to the first worship. They were inspired by the movement and continued to organize services every year.

In 2001, the first WDP service organized by a German speaking parish was held in the capital, Ljubljana. The two groups connected and expanded their community by inviting women from different parts of Slovenia to a preparatory workshop. By 2002, the service was celebrated in four places and the movement started to grow.

The impact of this new movement was marvelous. For most of the women, it was the first time they could meet other women on an ecumenical level. Together they read the bible and shared their experiences of wisdom, joy and sorrow which lead them to prayer. To have women preparing a worship service, and more than that - an ecumenical service, was innovative in Slovenia. For many women WDP has had an immense impact on their growth in faith and self-confidence. 

Learning annually about a different country from another region of the world has helped to open up their hearts and minds, to widen their horizons and to share their own lives with others. “Informed prayer – prayerful action” moved the groups to identify people in their surrounding areas living in difficult situations and organize help for them.

Being the writer country for 2019 was at the same time a challenge and a gift for the young WDP movement in Slovenia. After three years of hard work, the invitation has spread all over Slovenia - “Come, everything is ready.” The committee raised support for people and groups in need. The movement was officially acknowledged by church authorities. It is growing and celebrations were held in 8 places. They are on the way to being registered as a non-profit organization.

I have been a part of the process since 2001, and at this moment, I am overwhelmed and grateful for the gift of WDP and its impact on the Slovenian women. The little seed planted twenty years ago has grown into a wonderful tree with branches of ecumenical sisterhood, encouragement, and awareness of the responsibility for God’s creation. 

​- Corinna Harbig, former WDPIC chairperson and member of WDP Slovenia

The 2019 WDP theme “Come, everything is ready!” reminds me that we have to answer the invitation each day. The invited had said "Yes" and then, when the time came and their host had gone to great trouble and expense, they turned their backs on him.

Our decision to be faithful to Christian values, build ecumenical relationships, and promote World Day of Prayer is not to be taken for granted. Sometimes it is easy, but sometimes it is hard to keep promises. The theme motivates me, as Chairperson of the committee, to use my talents, time and energy for what God has planned.

People all around the world were praying with and for Slovenia. Armenian women in Aleppo, Syria and 3,000 women in South Africa – just overwhelming! I get goose bumps when I imagine that. God was already working and many miracles have happened since the start of the preparations in 2016 in Slovenia.

Being the focus of the WDP program, challenged us to expand our circle, which meant involving people who could help with the writing of the worship service materials and songs, to take pictures that represented Slovenian life, to organize activities, and to promote the celebrations.
 
As a result, two new WDP local groups were formed and two new children services were celebrated. We hope that more blessings are still to come. Also, we feel ready now to take a new organizational step. We want to grow from an informal WDP committee to a registered legal organization in Slovenia. We feel we can reach out to regions that we are not yet present in and increase participation of young women and new moms.

Our prayers are turning into action through partnerships with different organizations and groups that impact the lives of women and children. A nice relationship grew especially with Home for Mothers and ASPI centre for people with Asperger syndrome. We also are involved with the Trauma Healing project in partnership with Bible Society of Slovenia.
​
One can see the impact of being a writer country just by realizing how WDP Slovenia is evolving, growing, consolidating, and building communities… like a red carnation flower blossoming from a small bud. 

The WDP women of Slovenia invite us to pray with them. Many communities got together to learn and listen with women from Slovenia. Now, the table is set and the invitations were sent. Who would come?

We pray that we will have the wisdom to live in the moment of the feast and rejoice in it. We pray that our hearts will be ready to receive the invitation of Jesus, an invitation to love each other, and to be welcoming. Here is the challenge that Jesus presents us this year: open the heart to those whom you know nothing about. Will we dare to open the door and welcome whoever in our context is like "the lame, the blind, the crippled and the poor"? (Luke 14:15-24)

The WDP Slovenia committee has been engaged in preparations for the celebration since April 2016. Members of the committee, including current president Tanja Povšnar Vrečar, share with us in excitement:

“We want to show Slovenia in all its beauty and needs. We will be present around the world in the prayers, minds and hearts of so many. United in the same prayer, though different languages, we will worship the same God and build this international sisterhood. What a joy to do this all together!

Slovenia is a small country in Europe with a relatively well established economy, with unemployment rates down since the beginning of our WDP worship service material preparation. We have access to education and health services. But still in need to be with God, with our families and with ourselves. We get busy with our lives, forgetting to accept Jesus’ invitation to the feast. Thank you for the reminders. Please, keep us on your list of invitees and let us be the hosts for those who are vulnerable. We wish you a great celebration on the 1st of March!”

Jesus’s message of love is radical and it is expected that we – Jesus’ disciples - will put the teaching into practice. We join you in prayers that the Holy Spirit will be at work at the heart of our services and that we will be able to leave our places of celebration feeling blessed for having taken up such a challenge!
​
We wish you a blessed and happy feast!

- Laurence Gangloff (Chairperson) & Rosângela Oliveira (Executive Director)

The Pacific Region is just as diverse in its culture as well as its geographical terrain. The beautiful islands of the pacific are a vast contrast to the inland deserts and plains of Central Australia. 

​WDP Committees across the Pacific are preparing to celebrate World Day of Prayer, Slovenia 2019 - “Come -Everything is Ready!”

The preparations in my region of Australia are well under way. The last Monday of October each year, brings dedicated women, mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters together to pack and distribute the materials for over 200 planned World Day of Prayer services. Programs are printed with the order of service, youth and children’s programs, advertising posters and music sheets and CD’s are packed for distribution.

​Many of these services are held in communities in remote areas, where WDP is welcomed on the first Friday of March as a chance for the community to come together for fellowship. Many services are followed by a feast. This gives the community an opportunity to share and feast on God’s word in an ecumenical setting.

The invitation has been sent, for WDP 2019, just like in Jesus’s parable, Luke 14:15-24. In Jesus’ story many people turned down the invitation to the banquet, because the timing was inconvenient. We too can resist or delay responding to God’s invitation, and our excuses may sound reasonable – work duties, family responsibilities, financial needs, the list could go on. Nevertheless, God’s invitation is the most important event in our lives.

Let’s join in prayer that the invitation for World Day of Prayer, Slovenia 2019, is accepted across our nations, that the banquet table is full, so all can feast on God’s word.

- Vicki Marney, WDPIC Pacific Regional Rep

El Día Mundial de Oración es una celebración que nos da la oportunidad de conectarnos de manera concreta con mujeres del mundo. Es una conexión espiritual, novedosa, creativa que rompe fronteras y permite conocer un país y su realidad, pero creo que principalmente cada año, él nos conecta con la esperanza.
 
Hoy donde el mundo aparentemente está más conectado en medio de tantas redes y tecnologías y en donde la mayoría de la población tiene acceso para conocer otras realidades, se vive la contradicción de la desconexión. Estudios han confirmado que entre “más se está conectado” menos “conectados estamos, con nosotras mismas, los demás y la naturaleza.
 
Desafortunadamente a esa desconexión, se agrega el hecho de que en los países de nuestra región las posturas políticas, las crisis económicas y los fundamentalismos también están separando y dividiendo a la sociedad.  Estamos enfrentando la intolerancia e irrespeto a quien piensa o es diferente y como consecuencia genera una pérdida de relaciones entre los seres humanos, el individuo, la sociedad, las iglesias y la familia.  El Día Mundial de Oración es como una semilla de esperanza pertinente a la conexión y acción en medio de estas realidades que están tomando fuerza.  
 
Cuan apropiados son los temas que Surinam y Eslovenia nos plantean.  “Toda la creación de Dios es muy buena” (Surinam) y “Vengan que todo está preparado” (Eslovenia). Miles de mujeres  durante el 2018 y para el 2019 estamos siendo retadas a que volvamos la mirada a la creación, a la diversidad y a todo lo bueno que Dios creo. Salgamos a la realidad que nos rodea y está ahí en nuestros patios y lugar donde vivimos.   Valoremos y respetemos la diferencia de la humanidad que enriquece la vida. Cuidémonos mutuamente afirmando nuestras diferencias como parte de esa creación. Animémonos a entrar en contacto directo con toda la creación que es muy buena, disfrutémosla y cuidémosla para brindarla saludable a las futuras generaciones.
 
Desconectémonos de lo que nos distancia y conectémonos unos con los otros y otras.  Dejemos de discriminar a quien es diferente y piensa diferente, invitémosles a nuestra mesa. Abramos nuestra mente, nuestra casa, nuestra mesa a aquellos que están más vulnerabilizados como la gente migrante. Escuchemos sus historias en vivo. Abrasémonos. 
 
Juntas como movimiento del Día Mundial de Oración y más allá de las fronteras humanas construyamos conexiones que lleven esperanza.

- Rebeca Cascante Gómez, CIDMO Representante Regional de Latinoamérica

The Writer Country Workshop for Vanuatu 2021 was held in Port-Vila, Vanuatu, from April 9th to the 13th. The workshop officially started the writing process and the world will discover the global result on March 5, 2021. 

Between 2018 and 2021, a continuous process made up of meetings, writer groups, reviews, translations, adaptations, celebrations and finally, reports, will take place. 

For the women of Vanuatu, the time has come to gather together, to work ecumenically and to develop what was started in April 2018. A decision was made among the committee that every Sunday morning they would come together in personal prayer and make this WDP writing process a priority.
​
​It was such a privilege to be part of this workshop! As the theme “Build on a strong foundation” and the focus “Live Wisely” were explored by the women of Vanuatu, who had come from across the nation to participate, it was not hard to be excited for what God has planned for these women and the nation of Vanuatu in 2021.

For many participants, this had been their first opportunity to represent and lead their denomination. As friendships where established, it was wonderful to see the denominational barriers broken down. To hear the voice of Vanuatu women, their joys, their hopes and their struggles. God has chosen this group of women to be heard across the world in 2021.

Women attending the workshop shared their stories of having to leave their homes under threat from volcanic activity. Some had travel plans disrupted by a cyclone looming off the coast. We learned so much about our sisters and are eager to continue this journey with them and share their stories. 

Let us join these women in prayer, as they continue to work on the materials for 2021 and remember that….

Coming together for World Day of Prayer we are all just sisters in Christ and Gods children.

​Women from different islands and different denominations have gathered together this week to begin developing the WDP Vanuatu 2021 service and bring the voices of the Vanuatu women to the rest of the world. WDPIC Chairperson, Laurence Gangloff, WDPIC Executive Director, Rosângela Oliveira, and WDPIC Pacific Regional Representative, Vicki Marney, led and facilitated the meeting.

The writing of the worship service and resource material is an ecumenical and collective process. Each participant of the workshop is a potential member of the writing working groups. And each member of the extended community in the country is a supporter of the process through their prayers and wisdom.

This workshop is the beginning of an exciting journey to study and understand the Bible text, develop the theme, and create a stimulating service for World Day of Prayer!

On March 2nd 2018, women around the world launched the program written by World Day of Prayer Committee in Suriname with worship services and educational activities. The theme is “All God’s Creation is Very Good!” It invites us to reflect on how we treat the Earth, the animals, and how we relate to each other as human beings. It highlights the importance of each and every aspect of God’s creation and our responsibility to be the caretakers of creation as God intended us to be.
​
Below are just a few of the stories, more will happen over the year. The worldwide experience of the program will be published in the 2018 Journal.

In Suriname, many gathered for the service to pray, sing, and share in unity with the world. 

Dear sisters and WDP friends,

Soon, we will sing joyfully with all the community “The day thou gavest, Lord is ended…” Finally the day has come after this long preparation! For most of the National Committees and local groups, the preparatory work started one year ago, but for our Suriname sisters, the writing process began in 2014.

Together, WDP Suriname and the WDP International Committee developed the collaborative conversation to have the worship service resources prepared. Now, you are also part of this collaborative conversation as your community engages with the theme “All God’s Creation is very good.” 

During one of the preparatory days attended by Laurence, a lady told her “this is the happiest service! Thank you to God, to the Suriname sisters, and to the ones who started the process.” So for sure, the 3rd stanza will reflect what we are doing around the globe!

“As o'er each continent and island
the dawn leads on another day,
the voice of prayer is never silent,
nor dies the strain of praise away.”

In the letter from WDP Suriname you will learn of their committees latest actions. They informed their government about the World Day of Prayer but also the major climate issues raised by the celebration. Prayer into action! Thank you, sisters, for showing us the way. 

We hope you will also take time to play the environmental game with children and learn, through simple practical examples, how to care for God’s creation.

Now, let us celebrate, share our joy and get involved. We are part of God’s creation, and remember that “All God’s Creation is very good!”

​God Bless you, God bless your service!

Laurence Gangloff, Chairperson
​Rosângela Oliveira, Executive Director

Click here to download the Spanish & French versions of the letter:

The World Day of Prayer 2018 is soon to be celebrated around the world on Friday the 2nd of March.

Suriname as the theme country is very excited and also humbled to be the center of all your prayers.
​
We enjoy and thank you all for your interest in our country, culture, music, artwork and the service. It was very beautiful to see and hear about all of your preparations for the different services. The Suriname committee is very proud and enthusiastic as well, and we have also brought this celebration to the attention of our government.
 
However, along with the enthusiasm to celebrate we must also reflect on the fact that we have to take better care of our environment and of God’s creation. God prepared and created a world for us that was very good. Unfortunately we did not appreciate what we got as a gift, and treated it very poorly. Today we, and also the whole creation, suffer from the damages that we have brought to it mostly because of our greed and strive for comfort and/or convenience.
 
The earth where we have to live in is suffering. Our rivers, oceans and air are polluted, the ozone layer is damaged, and many countries suffer from terrible disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis and so on. Even the animals in the rivers and seas get wrapped up in our plastic waste. Beautiful creatures go extinct because we do not care enough to stop hunting them. Many children are born with disabilities because of the pollution in the rivers and the air. In the various visits we brought to the government we also expressed our concern for our environment.
 
Today and every other day, we the women of the Suriname World Day of Prayer committee want and will take a stand to plead for God’s creation.
 
We will confess our shortcomings before God and ask Him to forgive us and to help us be better care takers of His very good creation.
 
 “All God’s creation is very good”
(Genesis 1:31)

Rosana Pindon
WDP Suriname Chairperson