Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I'm Mike Procter. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
It is just beginning to get light on the island of Tonga. Soon the warm sun will send its first rays - turning the wide Pacific Ocean into a sea of gold. This is the very first place in the world where each new day begins. But this is a special day. As night turns into day a group of women gathers for a worship meeting - a church service. This is the first of thousands of such gatherings around the world in this day.
As the world turns and light comes to one country after another, women around the world will meet to pray. This special day ends 36 hours later - with the last service as the sun sets in the islands of Samoa. During this long day a circle of prayer travels round the whole world.
Voice 2
The special day is the 'Women's World Day of Prayer'. It happens every year on the first Friday in March. That means it is very close to International Women's Day - March the eighth. The two events seem similar; both concern action by women and action for women. But the Women's World Day of Prayer encourages faith and prayer as well as action. It is a day that brings together Christian women of many races, cultures and traditions. Everyone is welcome!
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Women from more than 170 countries take part in this great world wide event. Church services are held in towns and villages wherever women want to come together to pray. In some countries like Tunisia and the Cayman Islands there is just one service. In other countries like Sri Lanka there are about twenty services. In Germany there are so many it is impossible to count them all!
Voice 2
Each year the women of a different country plan the prayers, songs and readings that all the other countries will use. This means that each year the service is different from the one before it and the one after it.
The women of the chosen country take care to include things in the programme that especially represent the culture of their country. They provide information about their culture and traditions - for example about food, clothes, and musical instruments.
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In 2010 the women of Cameroon, West Africa prepared the service. They told about their special way of singing. A person can sing two different sounds at the same time! They also showed pictures of their musical instruments and explained about the kind of music and dancing they enjoy. All this information helped the women of the other countries to prepare well. They were able to include some of these things in their services.
The information from the Cameroonian women told how to make some of their traditional foods. This is another way that helped other countries to create a real Cameroonian feeling to the event. But, the information given by the planning country is not just about culture and tradition. The most important thing is to share with women around the world the special needs and problems of their day to day lives. This is what makes this such a special day each year.
Voice 2
2011's Day of Prayer has been planned by the women of Chile in South America. The Chilean women's idea is to encourage every woman to use what she has to do what she can to help people. They are taking their idea from the famous story of Jesus Christ - when he fed several thousand people with just a few fish and a few loaves of bread. The Chilean women want people to ask themselves 'How many loaves do you have?' The idea is that God can do miracles when people give what they can. The 2011 material presents these ideas with particular concern for Chile, but the general truths are the same everywhere.
Voice 1
Christian women all over the world join together on this special day to support each other and pray for each other. The services are translated into more than sixty languages. So the women everywhere all follow the same programme - they all pray for the same country in the same way. There is a great sense of unity - of being together.
Voice 2
The women pray about all the things that affect the lives of the people living in a particular country. They pray about all kinds of problems to do with health, the weather, poverty or politics. They pray about anything that makes life difficult for the people of that country. They ask God how they can help improve the lives of these people. They believe that God cares about all these kinds of things.
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After prayer, it is time to act. At each service all over the world, the women have the chance to give money. The money from Women's World Day of Prayer goes to organisations that are working to improve people's lives. A lot of it goes to the country that has planned the service for that year. But each year many organisations in other countries receive help too.
Some of these organisations are working to help particular groups of people like blind people or people suffering from diseases such as leprosy or AIDS. Other organisations use literature, radio or television to communicate hope. This includes informing people about what Christians believe and how they worship.
Voice 2
Each year the leading women of each country send a report to the international office of the Women's World Day of Prayer. They tell about their experiences on the day of prayer. They also tell how God has answered prayer. One example is in Paraguay...
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In 2007 the women of Paraguay organised the service. They asked the women of the world to pray for Paraguay. A new President of Paraguay was going to be elected in two thousand and eight. The women prayed that there would not be any trouble between different groups on election day.
The women believe God answered those prayers because the day of the election was peaceful. Also, the women prayed for the poor people of Paraguay who need jobs, education, better health care and greater security. The new president promised to improve the situation in all these areas.
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Naturally, Christians pray all the year round, but this day is special. Through the World Day of Prayer women share their hopes and fears, their joys and the sad things in their lives. They come to understand more about the whole world. They learn to care about the troubles of people in other countries. Then they use this knowledge to pray particular prayers for God's help.
The Women's World Day of Prayer confirms that prayer and action go together. The women who take part believe that these two things can have a great influence for good in the world.
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