I set off on Sunday 9th July for Gatwick Airport with great excitement but tinged with apprehension. I was on my way to the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women's Eleventh World Assembly on Jeju Island, South Korea. July 11th - 17th 2006.
What would the experience be like? Meeting with and sharing with people - sisters in Christ - from all around the globe. I travelled with Jenny Spouge who was also sponsored by the district. We flew, via Dubai, where we had a 6 hour wait in the middle of the night for the plane to Seoul. On boarding the plane from Dubai to Seoul it soon became clear that there were several others on the flight bound for the same place. There was great waving across the aeroplane much to the bewilderment of other passengers! On arrival at Seoul we all had to transfer from Incheon to Gimpo airport in order to catch a third plane for Jeju Island.
We were met with the most tremendous welcome at the airport by many Korean women all wearing yellow sashes, given tickets for the airport bus and ushered by relays of the women along the right way! At Gimpo airport there were yet more women to show the way and guide us to the right plane. It was all such a rush as they attempted to get us on an earlier flight than we'd originally been booked on! All went smoothly thanks to the kindness of these women.
The conference was attended by 70 nations from around the globe and was officially opened on the evening of 11th July when to the accompaniment of Korean processional music, the World Officers entered with the world banner - the tree of life - followed by the area officers with their banners. This was followed by the opening ceremony, which was very moving. It was then followed by a cultural presentation by the Koreans and was very colourful and beautiful.
Each day following was dedicated to one of the different world areas in turn:
Wednesday - Asia Day Thursday - Africa Day
Friday - Americas Day Saturday - Europe Day
Sunday - South Pacific Day.
Each area was responsible for leading prayers - morning and evening, - giving an area report and a Cultural presentation. These were very varied and it was interesting to hear what has been going on around the globe and how women had made a difference in their own areas and localities.
The days were well filled with Bible Studies, area meetings, business sessions, keynote speakers, Making a Difference groups where we learned about the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's), story telling - stories of women who have made a difference in our lives and the lives of those around us which I found very inspiring! There were also 'Creative Spaces' where you could learn such things as the art of making and drinking tea Japanese style, making natural skin lotion, learning Chinese Calligraphy and Chinese knots - or just simply chill out! On top of this there were early Morning Prayer sessions you could attend, and late night film viewings which I never managed to reach! By the end of each day both Jenny and I were ready to collapse! And of course there was always the market place to tempt you with crafts and other articles which were being sold from around the world - hence Brian's African shirts which so many of you have commented on! My excuse for buying things from here is that it was helping to fund people from poorer countries who would otherwise be unable to attend. It was a real treasure trove!
On the Thursday we were also given a cultural tour of Jeju Island when we were taken to various places of interest around part of the island. It was very much a whistle stop tour, but I found it all very fascinating.
For me one of the most interesting aspects of the conference, apart from meeting and sharing with others from around the globe, were the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDG's).
There are eight of these ranging from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. This is not about just women talking, but acting upon them and speaking out through the World Federation, where we have a representative and voice on the United Nations. They form a blue print agreed to by all the world's countries and all the world's leading development institutions. They have galvanised unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world's poorest.
MDG's
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
2. Achieve universal education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability.
8. Develop a global partnership for development.
An action plan was proposed and put forward to be adopted by the World Federation and to be carried out as appropriate in each world area, in the next 5 years. This is very much a working document and will be developed appropriately, as the work continues.
I personally have learned so much and my mind is still reeling with all the information and experiences I encountered. It was a great privilege to have taken part in such an event and I am extremely grateful to all those who helped to make it possible for me to attend.
Roz Addington.
PRAYER 
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire
My earliest recollections of prayer and praying came from having been brought up in a Christian home -- I grew up knowing that my father spent time kneeling by his chair - in prayer each morning and last thing at night. If we came into the room we always knew that this was his special time and we were quiet but it was my mother who taught us to say the Lord's prayer and a blessing each night before we went to sleep.
In those days materially we were quite poor, but over the years I have come to realize that we had riches beyond measure We had a text hanging on our living room wall, which read "Christ is the Head of this house, the unseen guest at every meal, the silent listener to every conversation". We were never in any doubt as to their faith, they lived it. Sunday was the Lord's day, Dad went preaching and we all went to Sunday School in the morning and Chapel in the afternoon and evening (when the nights were light). There were no ball games, or comics, or knitting and certainly no gardening, we had six other days to do all that. To my child like mind none of these things had any real meaning it was just the way things were.
Over the years I grew up - still saying my prayers, often a hurried 'Thank you Lord' or a longer 'please will you do Lord' but that was O.K because Mum and Dad were still praying for me daily and would do for ever. But, for ever never comes, and their life's journey was coming to an end, the time came when all I could do for them was to uphold them in prayer. Within 10 months of each other they went to 'stand with Christ in Glory' and my bridge had gone. What now? I had to change my prayer time and my prayer life - and I soon learned that God meets us just where we are, whoever we are. We are not all privileged to have been brought up in a Christian home -- but that makes no difference to God, his love is unconditional and for all. We just need to talk to Him, and listen too.
God always answers prayers because he promised that He would. He answers sometimes almost before we have finished asking, sometimes we have to wait and it is only after we look back we can see He did answer in His way, not ours and it was for the best. Some of our prayers we may never see come to fruition but God is constant and He will sort it out in His time
In 2002 God answered a prayer that I had been praying for 30 years, don't give up. He doesn't. I am older now, and my prayer list has become too long to mention everybody by name so each morning I ask God to bless everybody whose name or situation comes to my mind that day, so my thoughts become unspoken prayers.
One of the hymns that my father used regularly was 533 MHB Prayer is the souls sincere desire! I can see why, it tells us that prayer is a desire deep within us, it's a sigh, a tear, the upward glancing of an eye when only God is near. It's the simplest form of speech but it reaches to the heavens, it is our closest link with God, He has trod this way before. Lord, teach us how to pray.
Mary Abbott (néé Bidwell)
Flitwick
Pages compiled by Peter Fletcher
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