March is a special month for women, full of special days and initiatives. The whole month is Women’s History Month, and International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8.
On the first Friday of March, women around the globe celebrate the Women’s World Day of Prayer. The Women’s World Day of Prayer is a global, ecumenical grassroots movement of Christian women and connects women in over 150 countries. Each year the liturgy for the service is prepared by women from different countries. This year the women in Taiwan chose the motto “I Have Heard About Your Faith.” Christian Women, express their faith and learn more about the lives of women in other countries and pray for them. They regard each other as sisters who come from different theological and church traditions and respect each other. Their faith in Jesus Christ and the Bible is the common ground on which they worship and pray together.
The Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) church also has its Women’s International Day of Prayer on the first Sabbath in March. This year, on March 4, the women in the SDA church in Tübingen, Germany, decided to merge these two initiatives and put the focus of their Women’s Day of Prayer on learning about Taiwan and its people as well as the women in the SDA church in Taiwan. Another element was praying for peace all around the world. With a large group of Ukrainians having found refuge in the area and becoming part the local church, the situation in the war-torn country is always present. So this occasion was like a continuation of the Prayers for Peace that was organized on February 24 on the anniversary of the brutal attack on Ukraine. The international character of the church was demonstrated by the participation of women from many countries praying in their languages. Dona nobis pacem – give us peace – was highlighted by the distribution of giveaways in the form origami birds and these were also an element of the decoration. The feedback from the service filled with creative elements and diverse participation showed how much the women enjoyed participating and worshiping together in an integrative form.
The potluck lunch picked up Taiwan as an inspiration for the menu and the crowd had fun trying to eat with chopsticks. The joy of this special day will inspire many more initiatives in the times to come.
Reported by Hannele Ottschofski
Women’s Day of Prayer in Tuebingen, Germany
March is a special month for women