A day to pray for peaceful resolution and to fast

Two Texas pastors say their fellow United Methodists can do something in response to continuing rocket attacks and hostilities between HAMAS and the State of Israel. They are urging churchgoers to join with Jews and Muslims, who on July 15, 2014 plan to fast and pray for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors. The two pastors in the Texas U.M. Annual Conference were inspired by a recent article in the Jewish Daily Forward by Sigal Samuel. The article reported that the grieving families of murdered Israeli-American teen Naftali Fraenkel and murdered Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir are drawing comfort from each other. “It was a fantastic story of these families transcending these things that we think cannot be transcended,” said the Rev. Ben Trammell, lead pastor of Faith United Methodist Church in Richmond, a Houston suburb. “It resonated with me, with them making the effort to come together and talk about the grief they know.” The article also reported that another group of Palestinians had visited the Fraenkel family to offer condolences. During the visit, the Palestinians mentioned a joint Jewish-Muslim fast on July 15, 2014 to express a desire to end violence in the region. from TWITTER bit.ly/1mn4DR9