Church Women United observe day of prayer

March 8, 2008 at 12:35a.m.

Guyana is called the Land of Six Peoples.

BOARDMAN — From sunrise to sunset Friday, members of Church Women United around the world recited the words of the worship service written by the women of Guyana for the annual World Day of Prayer observance.

“The idea is to have prayer going on all day long,” said Joyce Rettenmier, treasurer of CWU of the Youngstown Area, who coordinated an event at Simon Road Church of God, 4750 Simon Road. This ecumenical gathering was among seven observances held at various churches in the Valley and sponsored by CWU of the Youngstown Area.

Patty Howard, wife of the church pastor, led the song-filled program. As women had entered the sanctuary, they received crosses made of a palm reed — with a smiley face sticker in the center. Howard said the stickers related to the “Song of Greeting,” which had the encouragement “everybody smile” as one of its lines. “If we don’t smile, we’re not showing the love of Jesus,” she said.

The worship program blended text with songs. Representatives of Bethel Lutheran Church, Boardman United Methodist Church, Calvary Baptist Church, Disciples Christian Church, St. James Episcopal Church, Lockwood United Methodist Church, Pleasant Grove Presybterian Church, St. Charles Borromeo and Westminster Presbyterian Church participated. They read various passages of Scripture and text describing the land of Guyana.

Judith Magielski of St. Charles offered a brief profile of the tropical country located on the northern coast of South America. Rettenmier said that information about the country and its people are part of the ecumenical effort of CWU and helps further understanding among people.

She said Guyana has made news for different reasons, recalling the 1978 mass suicide of followers of Jim Jones in Jonestown and as the country hosting this year’s Cricket World Cup.

The country’s motto is “One people, one nation, one destiny.” Guyana is called the Land of Six Peoples: Amerindian, African, Chinese, East Indian, Portuguese and European. Magielski said most women “stay at home” and “live in poverty.” “They face situations of domestic violence, poor health care and AIDS/HIV, “ Magielski said. Though the country is rich in natural resources, she said, poverty remains a problem.

But Magileski said the country is ahead of the United States in that it had a woman president in 1966.

Guyana also has an issue with human trafficking. “It’s hard to believe, but this is a problem,” Magielski said.

Because the CWU programs highlight these problems, monetary collections from World Day of Prayer grants benefit various international and American agencies that help people in economic, social, education, health care areas, to name a few.

One segment of the worship service dealt with issues facing Guyana — homeless children, people with addictions of alcohol and drugs, domestic violence and drug-related crime and HIV/AIDS.

Pastor Eddy Howard offered a Bible-based message focusing on Job. The Book of Job is about trials, suffering, lamentation and struggling for answers.

“The price of wisdom is beyond rubies,” said Pastor Howard. But, he noted, wisdom might be beyond what we as humans can comprehend. “We can’t understand why people do what they do.”

In the Bible, Job is reminded that God created the world and everything in it. “God knows all and sees all,” Pastor Howard said. “Whether it’s secret or out in the open.”