Women around the globe recently observed the 70th annual Baptist Women’s World Day of Prayer.
The observance, which began in 1951 and is held each year on the first Monday in November or any day throughout the month of November, calls women to pray and to participate in a global offering that helps fund missional initiatives.
The 2021 observation, held Nov. 1, was the first with J. Merritt Johnston at the helm of the organization.
Johnston was announced as the new executive director of Baptist World Alliance Women on Oct. 28 and her first day on the job was Nov. 1.
“What a day to begin,” Johnston wrote in a Facebook post. “Today I was blessed to join in for the 2021 Day of Prayer. What a joy and privilege to hear prayers raised in so many languages!”
An opportunity
In a service at GraceView Church in Anderson, South Carolina, prayer team coordinator Carole Dufresne said prayer is an opportunity to listen and to learn.
“One of the things I love about praying with other believers is … listening to them. It encourages my soul, my spirit. … It gives me strength to keep praying, … and it also teaches me.”
In Valliant, Oklahoma, women from several area churches met at First Baptist Church for worship and fellowship.
Gala Myer, who serves with her husband, Don, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Idabel, Oklahoma, spoke on missions.
The Woman’s Missionary Union of Alabama-Crenshaw Baptist Association held an evening prayer service at Brantley Baptist Church.
Leesa Massey, WMU director at Union Baptist Church in Honoraville, Alabama, called it “a great blessing” to be part of the annual observance.
“We had the honor of speaking directly to our Father and to give Him honor and praise His name as a group of Baptist women. We had the privilege of praying with and for women all around the world as they prayed for us.”
Baptist World Alliance Women represents women from 145 countries across seven Continental Unions.
Missional initiatives supported by the Day of Prayer offering this year include the “F.R.O.G. Farm” project in Thailand.The purpose of the Frog Farm (Faithful & Rely on God) is to help orphans and other children “build a solid foundation of faith so they can become leaders in faith to their friends and to see that the faith in Jesus Christ will be passed on from one generation to the next,” according to the BWA Women website.
Other projects
Additional projects this year include a mental health and education support ministry in the Philippines; a library and education center in Cameroon; and a sewing club on the Pacific island of Vanuatu.
To see more photos from this year’s World Day of Prayer, visit facebook.com/BWAWomen.
For more information on Baptist World Alliance Women and the annual Baptist Women’s World Day of Prayer, visit bwawd.org.
