The plight of the women of Cameroon will provide the focus next week of the 2010 World Day of Prayer, with services planned at at least two locations in Dufferin County.

The Republic of Cameroon is located in the centre of Africa above the equator at the extreme end of the Gulf of Guinea. Open to the Atlantic Ocean with a coastline of 402 kilometres, it is bordered by Nigeria in the west, by Lake Chad in the north and Chad in the northeast, by the Central African Republic in the east, and by Brazzaville, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in the south.

The total surface area is 475,440 square kilometres, which is comparable in size to Papua New Guinea or slightly larger than California in the United States. The administrative and political capital is Yaoundé while the economic capital is Douala. There are approximately 240 local languages corresponding to the 240 ethnic groups. The official languages are French and English with a dominance of the French language. The national currency is the Franc CFA, which is the common currency among 14 countries of Central and West Africa who cooperate financially.

Cameroon is described as “Africa in miniature” and therefore has enormous touristic potentials. Cameroon is inhabited by many species of plants and animals unique to the continent.

One can travel through the green equatorial South to the warm and bright savannah and the steppes in the North, and pass through the highlands of the West and the beaches with fine green and yellow sands in the Littoral and Southwest provinces. Cameroon offers a striking variety of landscapes. Mount Cameroon is one of the highest peeks in Africa; Lobé Falls is unique in Africa. Cameroon is blessed with astonishing cultural wealth, with more than 240 ethnic groups, each with its specific culture. Cameroon is well known for its styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi.

During a10-year spell of gross human rights violations, Cameroonian security forces have habitually used excessive and unnecessary force, and the perpetrators have almost always gone unpunished.

A recent voluntary poll found that up to 75% of HIV/AIDS-infected persons are women between the ages of 19 and 24. Nestor Ankiba, Executive Director of Cameroon's Association of Social Marketing says methods of prevention “have not yet reached girls this age.”

This year’s theme, taken from Psalm 150:6; “Let everything that has breath praise God,” urges us to praise God constantly, whatever we may be engaged in.

The motto of the World Day of Prayer is “Informed Prayer, Prayerful Action”. One way to keep the people of Cameroon in your prayers as you prepare is to use the Google Alerts system. Visit Google Alerts and fill in the simple search terms.

Locally, services are planned on Friday, March 5, at Tweedsmuir Presbyterian Church in Orangeville at 1:30 p.m, and at Trinity United Church in Shelburne at 2 p.m.

In Orangeville, seven churches are taking an active role in the service: Besides Tweedsmuir, they are Westminster United, Broadway Tabernacle, Faith Wesleyan, St. Mark’s Anglican, St. Timothy Catholic and Orangeville Baptist. As well, music will be provided by the Grade 3 & 4 choir from Orangeville Christian School, led by teacher Michelle Teeninga.

The World Day of Prayer is a global ecumenical movement which brings Christians of many traditions together to observe a common day of prayer each year. Through preparation and participation in the worship service, we can come to know how our sisters of other countries, languages and cultures understand the Biblical passages in their context. We can hear their concerns and needs and can feel ourselves in solidarity with them as we pray with and for them. In this way, it is possible to enrich our Christian faith as it grows deeper and broader in an international, ecumenical expression.

The motto of the World Day of Prayer movement is Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action. Through our participation in the World Day of Prayer, we affirm that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence on the world.

World Day of Prayer in Canada

The World Day of Prayer began in the 19th century when Christian women of Canada and the United States started to be involved in missions at home and in other parts of the world.

Since 1812, women have encouraged one another to engage in personal prayer and take leadership in communal prayer within their mission auxiliaries and associations. Presbyterian women in the United States then called for a national day of prayer in 1887, and Anglican women in Canada established a national day of corporate intercessions for mission in 1895.

On October 19, 1918, Presbyterian women in Canada called together representatives of five Women’s Missionary Boards - Anglican, Baptist, Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian - “to promote the spreading of Christ’s kingdom through united prayer and action.” That first inter-church meeting gave birth to the Interim Committee on the Federation of the Women’s Missionary Society Boards of Canada, which organized a national and inter denominational day of prayer on January 9, 1920.

In 1922, the Canadian committee agreed to use the same theme and day for the Day of Prayer as U.S. women. This annual event became the Women’s World Day of Prayer in 1927.

The Canadian committee changed its name to become the Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada and now includes representatives from 11 church partners. This council continues to coordinate the World Day of Prayer in Canada and to speak to issues that concern women of faith across the country.