Beginning on 1 March 2018, the World Council of Churches is encouraging its fellowship and partners to join the Lott Carey Foundation 31 Days of Prayer for Women’s Empowerment, which is also the 6th Anniversary of Global Women’s Prayer Guide.
The guide features 31 days of prayer that support justice and equality for women. In an introduction, Dr David Emmanuel Goatley, executive secretary-treasurer of Lott Carey, writes: “Some believe in the practice of prayer. Others, however, believe in the power of prayer.” Lott Carey, based in the USA, has a goal of extending Christian witness around the world to create a global Christian missional community.
In a prayer for women who are survivors of gender-based violence, TaNikka Sheppard, president of the Baptist Women of North America, writes: “God of righteous anger, enduring mercy, and abounding love, in this extraordinary moment – when women are boldly stepping out of the imprisoning shadows of shame, stigma, and fear to tell their stories of gender-based violence and sexual harassment –we cry out for our sisters, mothers, and daughters whose voices are still being strangled by the grip of sexism, racism, classism, corruption, and marginalisation.”
Another prayer, written by the Rev Dawn Gikandi of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, reads: “Inspire us to leave our numerous comfort zones, challenge the systems, and improve the status quo in order to make life more fulfilling for each other.”
The prayers also express hope for change and for a better future. The Rev Monen Jacquelynn Duoe, music minister at the Effort Baptist Church in Monrovia, Liberia, writes: “May the way in which we live our lives draw someone closer to you and bring you glory and honour.”
* Read 31 Days of Prayer for Women’s Empowerment here
* Lott Carey Foundation http://lottcarey.org/
* The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, by the end of 2012 the WCC had 345 member churches representing more than 500 million Christians from Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other traditions in over 110 countries. The WCC works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church.
* World Council of Churches http://www.oikoumene.org/en
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