Let everything that has breath praise God

‘Let everything that has breath praise God’ (Ps 150) was the theme chosen by the women of Cameroon for this year’s Women’s World Day of Prayer (WWDP) on 5th March.

In south west York, parishioners from English Martyrs joined ladies from Southlands Methodist Church and from the Church of England parishes of St Chad’s and St Clement’s at St Clement’s, where the service was led by Mary Andrews. The service was a joyful one, with lively music, including recordings of music from Cameroon, and began with a procession of all the readers accompanied by singing, ringing bells and rattling tambourines.

The speaker, Mrs Gillian Mason, was able to draw on her own experiences of living and working in Africa to illustrate the theme of praising God for all things, especially the gift of life. Everyone was delighted that there was a large flag of Cameroon on display, which had arrived only a few days earlier.
Judith Smeaton, local co-ordinator for the day, explained

Fr Frank Graham, a Mill Hill Missionary, spoke at English Martyrs a few weeks ago. Knowing that some Mill Hill Fathers work in Cameroon, I asked if there was any chance of getting anything to display at our WWDP service and he gave me an address to contact. One of his colleagues, Fr Bernard Fox, went to a lot of trouble to get us a flag and make sure it reached us in time. We felt it gave us a special link to the women of Cameroon who we were thinking about and praying with that afternoon.

The flag was displayed again at an evening service in Dunnington, where Judith gave the address.