I know all of you have been following the terrible news coming out of Gaza and Israel.
I join with Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and other religious leaders in calling for an end to the growing violence in Gaza and Israel. The death of innocents on both sides is a tragedy over which God must weep.
I ask the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth to pray for the people of Gaza and Israel, to pray that their leaders will quickly agree to a cease fire, to pray for those working so hard to save the lives of the innocent.
Funds are urgently needed for repairs to the Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, an institution of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, I know personally one of the physicians there. We served together on the original board of the Anglican Health Network. Donations can be sent to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem by mail, eCheck, or credit card on their donations page www.afedj.org/DonateNow.html – please designate it for the Ahli Hospital.
The Episcopal News Service reports that “The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem launched an emergency appeal for the hospital on July 14, while Episcopal Relief & Development encourages ongoing support through its Middle East Fund.
Pray for peace.
+Rayford
Statement from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori:
The continued and escalating violence in the land of the Holy One, the slaughter of innocents by actions of both sides, and the rigidity and absence of true political leadership is making the world weep. God weeps as well, as brother kills brother. Will we permit Cain and Abel to play out their brief and bellicose act, or will we demand an end to this depravity? No one will live in peace in the Middle East – or the world – while this carnage continues. Pray for peace, shelter the innocent, support every humanitarian response, and insist on an end to this inhumanity.
Read an appeal from Archibishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (Update August 2, 2014)