March 7, 2014

The World Day of Prayer

The World Day of Prayer takes place every year on the first Friday in March. Christian women from all over the world join together to plan and organize events, and suggest a theme and focus for prayer and prayerful action. 

The World Day of Prayer began after the devastation of World War I, when women were convinced that world peace was tied to world mission.

I enjoy looking at the materials they produce every year. This year the woman of Egypt have set the theme, which is "Streams in the Desert" - inspired by Isaiah 43:19- “I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert”. The mission is the world water crisis.

Agenda today:
1. Visualize:
I live in an area with abundant water, and looking out on all the rain pouring down today I find it hard to grasp the reality of water scarcity. So today I’m going to sit for a bit and imagine what it would be like to live
 in a desert. I’m going to picture walking in a desert with a can on my head to collect water from the well.

2. Study up on the water crisis:
From the WDP site

“In many communities around the world today, water remains scarce. In places where water is not easily accessible, girls often are sent for water and must walk miles, carrying gallons of water home to their families. This makes them vulnerable to rape and other violent assault, and many girls miss school because of the time it takes them to collect water in the morning. Lack of clean water is one of the world’s chief causes of disease, and lack of sanitation causes the death of an estimated 5,000 children each day.”

“An estimated 2.4 billion people in the world lack adequate sanitation and 1.1 billion people are without access to safe water. There are 1.6 million deaths per year attributed to dirty water and poor sanitation.

Here in the United States, 40 percent of our lakes, rivers and streams are too polluted to be safe for aquatic life or swimming. Our national tap water infrastructure faces a troubling $23 billion annual investment gap.”

Corporate Accountability International invites you to learn more about water issues both in the United States and internationally, and participate in one of their campaigns: Human Right to Water, Think Outside the Bottle, and Public Water Works!


And here is a link to calculate your water footprint.

3. Journal: 
Think creatively about water issues- 
What small steps can I take to advocate for change in the world?
What steps can I take myself to change habits?

4. Learn about Egypt:
WPD has a whole page about Egypt’s history and cultural diversity here. Tonight I plan to eat Egyptian Fool Medemmas - fava beans with veggies.

5. Prayer:
Great Spirit, open me to feel compassion for those in need. Help me find ways to fight for equality and work towards equity in my own use of resources.

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