“I Will Give You Rest: Come” – the title chosen for this year’s World Day of Prayer featured women of Nigeria.
Every year, on the first Friday of March, women (and men) across the world and from different Christian Churches are praying together. The theme for 2026 is taken from the Gospel of Matthew and reminds us of another quote from the same Gospel: “Where two or three are gathered in thy name, there am I among them”.

In East Coast Bays, Auckland, more than 30 people gathered to pray and sing together in the Methodist Trinity Church in Waiake. As the focus country was an African country, the altar was beautifully decorated with African traditional art. Several participants were from South Africa, and some of them were certainly a bit nostalgic about the continent they have left behind.

The resources for the prayer service are shared among the Christians in all participating countries, and so we all heard the stories of Beatrice, Jato and Blessing. Their stories are about the burden of systematic oppression, religious persecution and poverty and despair.
Heartbreaking stories, and yet stories of hope.
The feeling of being abandoned and marginalised can be overcome when meeting others with similar problems. The message: ‘you are not alone’ is incredibly encouraging for anybody who is desperate.

There is a special energy and spiritual power that is felt when praying for and with one another. We don’t know the life stories and backgrounds of the others in the room, but through these stories of three Nigerian women we didn’t know and have never met, a feeling of connectedness is built.
People in Aotearoa New Zealand, a country with about 5.3 million inhabitants are praying for women in Nigeria, a country with a population of about 211 million.
The power of prayer. “Where two or three are gathered in thy name, there am I among them”. (Matt 18:20)

We are connected throughout the world, and it is important to be reminded that people in far away countries are experiencing hardships through conflicts, wars and injustices – but the worst of all is to feel abandoned.
The World Day of Prayer is a small contribution to a huge challenge: let us continue to pray for one another.

BM