Informed prayer, prayerful action

Angela Almond highlights the impact of the World Women's Day of Prayer

In a very practical outworking of Churches Together, 17 women representing a dozen different denominations met together recently at Dunford House in Sussex to plan the Women's World Day Of Prayer (WWDP) service for 2016.

Images from last year's WWDP service at Kirby Muxloe Free Church

It may be 15 months till the day itself, but the National Committee worked hard to ensure that the materials sent from the host country (in this case, Cuba) are ready for those who will lead services, Bible studies, and children¹s groups on the given theme, which for 2016 is ­ Receive children, receive me.

More than 5,000 services are held each year on the first Friday in March, throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland and Eire have their own committees).

Men women and children participate ­ in worship, prayer, drama and craft activities. From the offerings taken, more than £250,000 in grants is sent to different projects both globally and in the UK.

It means that every day of the year, someone somewhere is blessed by the work of the WWDP Movement.

Thanks to the generosity of those who attend the WWDP each year, we have been able to fund a diverse range of Christian charities, helping in the fight against sex trafficking and Female Genital Mutilation, providing solar powered lighting and safe cooking facilities to families high in the Himalayas, supplying educational materials to schools in Africa and India, using up-to-the-minute technology to make the Bible accessible to young people in France, providing sports facilities for disadvantaged British children, sending disaster relief to the Philippines, and helping those fighting Ebola. The list is endless.

Through our website, Facebook page, and other activities throughout the year, we hope to involve more people ­ whether old or young, women and men, in this global movement, which has "Informed Prayer, Prayerful Action" as its strapline.

For almost 90 years, this global ecumenical movement, led by Christian women, has worked and prayed for peace and justice in our world.

The 2015 theme is: Do you know what I have done to you? (John 13: 1-17)

Find out more at http://www.wwdp.org.uk/.

Angela Almond, of Kirby Muxloe Free Church in Leicestershire, is a Baptist member of the Women's World Day Of Prayer National Committee