World Day of Prayer 2016

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Published on Thursday, March 10, 2016

By Maggie Smallwood

Submitted Article

Friday evening March 4 saw an enthusiastic group of 35 people attend the annual World Day of Prayer service, this year held at Rivers’ Zion Church. Representatives from Anglican, Baptist, Catholic and United churches joined with the host church to present a service written by the women of Cuba.

Lively Cuban music set the tone as we resisted the temptation to cha-cha-cha in the sanctuary. At the commencement of the service, a DVD gave background information about this Caribbean nation which is only now beginning to emerge from a half-century of relative obscurity on the world stage.

The theme this year was “Receive children. Receive Me,” a reference to Mark 10:-13-16 where Jesus opened His arms to receive the children His disciples were trying to shoo away. Children receive simply and whole-heartedly; they are an example to us of the attitude we too, should have.

Our guest speaker was Barb Szapko of Bradwardine, who visited Cuba in December. She was able to give us a Christian perspective on some of the challenges facing the Cuban people: young people emigrating to find meaningful work in other countries; the stress on family relationships from the overcrowded housing situation, the challenge of maintaining a Christian faith in an officially atheistic society (until the 1990s);  the economic blockage which resulted in the lack of many products we in Canada take for granted, such as bandaids, of all things! She also told us of the resiliency and resourcefulness of Cubans as they strive to provide for themselves and cheerfully welcome tourists who are playing an important part in their economic recovery.

Following the service, everyone enjoyed some Cuban-inspired refreshments and a time of visiting — a satisfying way to finish up a very interesting evening.