ATCU Celebrates Women’s International Day of Prayer

Under the theme “Praying in the Last Days,” sisters across the Atlantic Caribbean Union of Seventh-day Adventists (ATCU) came together to celebrate the Women’s International Day of Prayer on March 5, 2022, by leading out in the services in their respective churches.  Celebrated on the first Saturday in March of each year, the day is designed to engage women in personal and communal prayer in their churches.  Although the essential purpose of the day is for prayer, the day also provided women with an opportunity to strengthen their ties with other Christian women as they prayed together.  The goals of the day are to affirm faith, encourage service, and create a sense of belonging, showing that good things can happen when sisters come together for a common cause.

The celebration began on March 4, 2022, with Arleen Sands, ATCU Women’s Ministries director, representing the women of the ATCU at the Virtual World Day of Prayer service. Women from all denominations took part in the service and special prayers were offered for the women of England, Ireland, Wales, Russia, and Ukraine.

Newlands Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Cayman Islands celebrating Women’s Day of Prayer2022 – Photo by Sharon Crawford

In attending several of the services on Saturday, Mrs. Sands noted that as one looks around the world and observes what is happening, one can see that these are the last days, and it is important that everyone unites in prayer.  “As we worship in freedom, the world and the people in Ukraine are in desperate need of our prayers,” she said. “Petition the throne of God, not just for our various concerns, but for people everywhere, especially in Ukraine.”

Apart from leading out in church services, women across the territory strengthened their ties with other women and embraced the opportunity to reach out to others in several ways. In the North Bahamas Conference, ladies distributed ‘Miss you Mugs’ with tea items to ladies who had not been attending church on a regular basis to encourage them to attend.  Sisters in the South Bahamas Conference shared special gift bags with women in attendance at services.  In the Cayman Islands Conference, the ladies prepared and distributed 100 lunches to the community in honor of the 100th anniversary of the organization of the Inter-American Division as an administrative unit.  In the afternoon, the women visited homes in their communities and knocked on doors of women who had not been attending services to show them that they were remembered and cared about.  Over in the Turks and Caicos Islands Conference, sisters conducted a special Prayer Walk on the beach as they prayed for community residents.

As women in ATCU continue to make a difference, upcoming programs include Women’s Ministries Day celebrated on June 11, 2022, followed by EnditNow Day on August 27, 2022, when the focus will be the call to end all forms of abuse and violence against women and children. With a membership of 33,130, ATCU, which is headquartered in Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas, comprises four fields, namely, the Cayman Islands Conference, the North Bahamas Conference, the South Bahamas Conference, and the Turks and Caicos Islands Conference.  In addition, Northern Caribbean University, which is located in Mandeville, Jamaica, is jointly owned and operated by ATCU and the Jamaica Union.