The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer member Ms. Aida Haddad pictured here, has been on the World Day of Prayer organizational committee for Jerusalem since 1981.
JERUSALEM, 3 March 2017 – Women of the ELCJHL participated in the annual World Day of Prayer (WDP) service on Friday 3 March at St. James Catholic Church in the Beit Hanina suburb of Jerusalem. The World Day of Prayer is an ecumenical event established in the early 1900s by women in the United States and Canada who formed an alliance of women around the world dedicated to prayer.
Other ELCJHL congregations throughout the West Bank and Jordan will hold World Day of Prayer services in their communities.
Men and women from The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer Arabic speaking congregation and men and women from St. James Catholic Church prayed, commiserated the plight of women, and committed to healing, together.
Each year an international committee from one of the seven regions represented on the International Committee is designated to write the prayers for the worldwide event.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer member Ms. Aida Haddad has been on the World Day of Prayer organizational committee for Jerusalem since 1981, and Ms. Nora Carmi is the WDP representative from Palestine on the WDP International Committee.
The 2017 prayers were compiled by the World Day of Prayer Committee of the Phillippines. The theme was “Am I Being Unfair to You?” and the guiding Scripture was Matthew 20:1-16. The order of service was translated into Arabic.
The Philippine Committee included real life unfair treatments that women of the Philippines face every day, illustrated in three stories from Merlyn, Celia, and Edita. The stories of the three women, read by Palestinian women, spoke of domestic violence, low wages, homelessness, typhoons, and inadequate education.
The service moved into confession, pardon, meditation, commitment to solidarity, and prayers of intercession for these women and those around the world who face similar challenges.
ELCJHL Women hosted the World Day of Prayer at Redeemer in 2013.
Next year’s prayers in 2018 will be written by the Women’s Committee written by the WDP Committee of Suriname: “All God’s Creation is Very Good.”