Millions of people go to a local church and join together in prayer for one particular country.

Christian women from that country have been working to put together a service of prayer and worship that will inform and encourage the gatherings across the world.

This year the country was Zimbabwe and the Tamworth host was the Baptist Church. Zimbabwe is a landlocked country just above South Africa.

It has 16 million people, 87% of whom describe themselves as Christians. It is a nation that is slowly emerging from a dark and difficult past to a more prosperous and promising future.

The theme for this year's Day of Prayer was, appropriately, "Rise, take up your bed and walk".

Speaker Mai Brown pointed out that these were Jesus' words to a lame man who wanted to be healed.

But they could well apply to the new look Zimbabwae whose elections two years ago have brought a new era to the country.

They could also apply to each one of us as we respond to God's call to help our neighbour, make a call, send an email. Each year an offering is taken at the Day of Prayer service.

This year the focus was on helping the mothers of disabled children in Zimbabwe who are often ostracised and unable to find work. Not to be overlooked was a splendid morning tea afterwards, a chance for people from many different churches to share together.

As Chris Robson, chairman for the day remarked, "Every opportunity for churches to come together and share what God is doing in our lives is an opportunity for joy.

"In Australia we can tend to be cocooned in our lifestyle and affluence. These are ordinary Tamworth people, coming together to link arms across the world to help prayerfully and financially."