Thought for the Week

by Elaine Marshall, St Mark's Church

The Women's World Day of Prayer service will be held on Friday, March 2, at Trinity Church, Fell Lane, at 2pm, and has been prepared by the Christian women of Suriname – entitled All God's creation is very good.

Maybe a lot of people reading this will not know much about this country, I know that I did not, and I have found it fascinating to find out more!

Suriname lies in the north-eastern part of South America and is named after the Surinen tribe.

Fifteen per cent of the land is coastal and less than two metres above sea level, making it at risk because of climate change and rising sea waters. It has a humid and tropical climate, with over 90 per cent being rainforest.

The constitution gives freedom of religion and 48.4 per cent are Christian, with Hindu, Muslim and traditional religions making up the rest. It has a population of 540,000.

Gold and crude oil are the greatest sources for foreign currency.

Suriname is a country of great beauty and has many species of birds, orchids, the blue frog and giant sea turtle but like many other countries feels the effect of worldwide climate change – drought, hurricane and storm – and along the coastal strip there is flooding in the rainy season. Other environmental changes are caused by human activity, like damage to local rivers through gold mining and mercury pollution.

Please come along on March 2 to learn more about this beautiful country and as we pray for its people we will be part of a great wave of prayer encircling the globe.

This service will have been translated into over 60 languages, and celebrated in 170 countries and islands.

Here in Britain around 6,000 services will take place, come and be part of it!