A World Day of Prayer service was hosted at the Cummins Lutheran Church on Friday, March 7.
Elaine Jericho welcomed 35 women and men to what is a worldwide movement of Christians of all denominations, and led everyone in a time of readings, prayers and singing,
The service order with the theme ‘I made you wonderful’ was prepared by the Cook Islands women, based on Psalm 139.
Everybody listened to a specially-written verse, sung in Maori, and then joined in singing the English version.
Ladies from the Uniting, Catholic and Anglican churches participated in reading various parts of the service.
Cummins is blessed to have three resident Ministers – Rev Barry Luke, (Uniting), Pastor Carl Richter (Lutheran) and Father John Folkman, (Catholic) – who led all in a time of prayer.
Keyboardist Briony Modra and saxophonist Robyn Modra accompanied for the singing of the songs.
Guest speaker Anne Starke, a former resident of Cummins, shared some highlights of a recent trip to the Cook Islands.
A selection of photos helped everybody visualise the beauty of the islands.
Despite arriving at 2am in the airport, they were greeted with lovely music played on ukuleles.
The Cook Islands are made up of 15 different islands, of which 12 are inhabited, with a total population of about 16,000.
The country has very close ties to New Zealand, and many students go there for further tertiary education.
The national flag has the Union Jack and a circle of 15 white stars, representing the islands, and stands for faith in God and equality.
Women hold significant leadership roles in the church, cultural groups and professions.
Many sell local produce, crafts, basket weaving, hats, patchwork quilts, shell leis, flower garlands at market stalls.
There are many health challenges, with a shortage of skilled doctors and nurses, while unfortunately, the group was told women could experience abuse both at home and in the workplace, with a need for more trained counsellors.
Time was spent exploring two different islands – the first only had 2000 inhabitants, with strictly no dogs being allowed on the island.
They were amazed at the beauty of the blue and green tropical seas.
The second Island, slightly larger, was allowed to have dogs.
On both Islands, they were amused by the huge numbers of chickens and roosters roaming very freely among the resorts, houses and roads.
A highlight of Anne’s stay was to attend a church service, with the beautiful building painted pristine white.
While she could not understand what was being said, she noted the unaccompanied singing in beautiful harmony was breathtaking and a very emotional experience.
Anne stated they sounded just like she imagined angels to sing.
Swimming with the many large turtles in the beautiful clear waters was another highlight, while Anne was lucky enough to see a couple of large whales.
The offering for the Bible Society 2025 project ‘The Cook Islands’ amounted to $325.
Morning tea concluded an enjoyable morning.
