Day of prayer teaches kindness to strangers

Guest speaker, Barbara Butler read from her grandmother’s Dutch Bible and spoke about her own experience of being born in Holland and travelling around the world extensively throughout her life.

“I sometimes wonder if my name has anything to do with that because Barbara means ‘beautiful stranger, stranger in a foreign land,’ so I don’t think it was a coincidence that Reverend Lesley asked me to speak on the theme for today, ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me’,” she said.

Ms Butler said that this year’s theme was an important focus for the service.

“Who is a stranger? What does it feel like? What can we do to help -and Jesus is the ultimate example.”

Outgoing president of the Wellington World Day of Prayer Committee, Beryl Sheridan said that the WDP played an important part in making the world a better place.

It began as a movement of Christian women of all traditions who came together to observe a common day of prayer.

Over 170 countries joined in the celebrations and it has been held for decades in Wellington.

Ms Sheridan said it had played a vital role in keeping the community and organisations together. As of last Monday, Reverend Kerrie Needham of the Uniting Church was unanimously voted in as the new president of the Wellington World Day of Prayer Committee and she looks forward to supporting the committee where needed.

“I hope to let the group manage and I will certainly support them,” she said.

“I was so impressed that so many community groups were involved.”

“You hear about communities where the churches run it but here the community groups run it and I would like to keep it like that.”