The World Day of Prayer service, which was written by the Christian women in Cuba, will be held on March 4 at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Canora.
In Canora, the annual prayer service is co-ordinated by seven church parishes, with each taking a turn being the host, said Vicky Tataryn, one of the organizers this year. The other churches involved are: Roman Catholic Church, Ukrainian Catholic Church, Parkland Christian Centre, Gateway Community Church, St. George’s Anglican Church, and the United Church.
Everyone is welcome to this service, she said.
"Receive children. Receive me," is the theme of the 2016 service prepared by the Christian women of socialist Cuba, said a release from the Women’s Inter-Church Council of Canada which co-ordinates the World Day of Prayer in Canada.
“The national flower of Cuba is the white butterfly jasmine,” the release said. “Cuban women have used the flower not only as an adornment for their hair, but also to transmit messages during liberation wars, and as a sign of their being Cuban.
“There can be no better emblem for the 2016 World Day of Prayer service written by the World Day of Prayer committee of Cuba, it said. “The service transmits their witness and experience of being Cuban and Christian, even when their faith meant isolation within the country they love.
“With the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, a trade embargo by the United States brought Cuba economic isolation and material scarcity. Within Cuba a similar isolation formed around people of faith in the officially atheist state. Now the embargo is lifting, but uncertainty remains for the Cuban people.
“What can these women tell the rest of the world about how faith endures in a secular world, of material and social challenges, and of hope?
“On March 4 Christians in more than 170 countries and in 2,000 communities across Canada will gather to learn about, pray for, and celebrate Cuba in solidarity with the women of Cuba through the World Day of Prayer.
“Please join us and invite your friends and family to attend the World Day of Prayer 2016,” it said.
The Republic of Cuba is a beautiful, green archipelago in the shape of a caiman (alligator), said the information. It is comprised of 4,195 islands, cays and islets of various sorts, including many that are covered only by mangrove. It spans a surface area of 110,860 square kilometres, is the largest Caribbean island located at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, and is therefore called “the key of the Gulf.”
The oldest cities date back to the sixteenth century, and were founded during the expansion of the Spanish.
Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and 168 municipalities. It has a population of 11,116,000 persons. The capital is Havana, with approximately two million inhabitants. Havana is a cosmopolitan city, filled with charm and fascination. Founded in its present location in the year 1519, it was in 1553 that it became the principal centre of the country’s political, economic, cultural and social life.
According to the national census of 2012, the population self-classified themselves as 64.1 per cent of white skin, 9.3 per cent black and 26.6 per cent mestizo. The data indicates a decline in birth and population growth rates. There is an increase in emigration and an increase in the population aged 65 years and over. Life expectancy is 77 years for men and 80 for women.
The official and only language of Cuba is Spanish.
The climate is warm, humid subtropical, with an average temperature of 25.5 degrees Celsius. Cuba’s geographical location and elongated shape favour the passage of hurricanes, like Sandy, for example, that caused serious damages to the city of Santiago de Cuba and the whole eastern section of the country in 2012.
The flora and fauna are marked by the gradual decline of various species, especially birds, insects and mollusks like the Polimita snail. Nevertheless, species such as deer, almiqui (Cuban Solenodon), bats and hutias are preserved, mainly in places like the wetland of the Ciénaga de Zapata, where the rearing of Cuban crocodiles and manjuarí, an autochthonous fossil fish, among other species, has been promoted.
UNESCO declared the wetland of the Ciénaga de Zapata a Biosphere Reserve. Of particular importance among the great variety of birds are the Cuban trogon, which is the national bird of Cuba, whose feathers reproduce the colours of the flag, and the mockingbird, which due to its peculiar song, has served as a symbol of popular singers. One of the native scorpions has an anti-cancer element in its venom, and is successfully employed in Cuban and international medicine.
The flora is rich and diverse, in correspondence with the climate. The royal palm, which abounds throughout the country, is the national tree of Cuba, and appears on the Coat of Arms as a symbol of the fertility of this land. The national flower of Cuba is the white butterfly jasmine.
