Jasper observes World Day of Prayer

Though Papua New Guinea is thousands of kilometres from Jasper, the people of that nation were in the minds of residents here last weekend.

Just over a dozen people gathered in Jasper at the Anglican Church on March 6 to recognize this year’s World Day of Prayer.

Each year, the World Day of Prayer focuses on a theme and country facing human rights challenges.

According to a leaflet handed out at the event, church women’s organizations are making a link between prayer and action in Papua New Guinea, and much action is needed. Violence against women is rampant in that country, few incidents are ever investigated, and the violence has caused a cyclical HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Another issue faced is human trafficking, a legal act in Papua New Guinea. Local women and those from Asia are sent to brothels and isolated logging and mining camps.

Though Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources, exploitation of the country’s oil, copper and gold has resulted in devastation in the form of both abuse and contamination.

World Day of Prayer was begun by women in Canada and the United States in 1922 and is observed in more than 170 countries today.

Participants at the Anglican Church Friday night heard stories from Papua New Guinea, as well as prayers, readings and reflections. 

Rev. Debbie Brill from the United Church and Rev. Adela Torchia from the Anglican Church lead the service. They presented symbols of the disunity, violence, sickness and bondage experienced in some parts of the world before those gathered.

After learning that more than 800 distinct languages are spoken there, one observer imagined herself in the shoes of a Papua New Guinea woman, wondering how she would fare, as between 60 and 80 percent of women there are illiterate. 

This was the first World Day of Prayer observed in Jasper in several years. For more information, visit www.worlddayofprayer.net.