Christians from all over the world are set to join in prayers during the International Day of Prayer for Peace on 21 September.
On that day, women at the Socopao Limete Presbyterian Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo - a country where a five-year war has claimed an estimated three million lives - will meet for fasting and prayer. They will not be alone. The congregation of the First Christian Church in Shelbyville, Indiana, in the US will too pray for peace on that day.
In Colombia, the Ecumenical Network and the Evangelical Council of Colombia are planning to participate in the initiative. So too are a small ecumenical prayer community of sisters in Switzerland and congregations belonging to the peace fellowship of the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of Korea.
These are but a few examples, the World Council of Churches (WCC) says, of how Christian communities worldwide are responding to the invitation to celebrate an International Day of Prayer for Peace.
For 2007, the WCC office for the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) has made available prayer and liturgical resources developed in the context of this year's DOV focus on Europe and its theme ‘Make me an instrument of your peace’.
The initiative was first proposed at a 2004 meeting between WCC General Secretary Rev Dr Samuel Kobia and the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
The WCC's invitation to pray for peace on 21 September coincides with the United Nations International Day of Peace.
Resources and more information on the International Day of Prayer for Peace are available on the DOV website:
overcomingviolence.org/en/about-dov/international-day-of-prayer-for-peace.html
