wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] WARC issues call to prayer and action for Gaza

[newsservice <newsservice@PCUSA.ORG>]

You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS

email list of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

To ensure continued delivery, please add newsservice@pcusa.org
to your address book or safe senders list.

========================================

This story may be viewed online:

www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09013.htm<http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09013. htm

WARC issues call to prayer and action for Gaza

Kirkpatrick and Nyomi: 'none of the violence is acceptable'

>by Jerry L. Van Marter
>Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE ― Leaders of the Geneva-based World Alliance of
Reformed Churches (WARC) have called upon member churches
to pray for an immediate cease-fire and for "a lasting
peace with justice in this region..."

"None of the violence is acceptable," said WARC President
Clifton Kirkpatrick of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and
WARC General Secretary Setri Nyomi ― a Ghanaian
Presbyterian ― in their Jan. 7 statement, entitled "A Call
to Prayer and Action to End the Violence in Gaza."

>The full text of the statement:

As the number of deaths in Gaza continue to rise, the World
Alliance of Reformed Churches calls upon its member
churches to be in prayer for those who suffer because of
this violence and conflict and for a lasting peace with
justice in this region of the world.  We also call upon all
parties involved in the fighting to bring an end to the
violence and to agree to an immediate cease-fire.  The
borders of Gaza must be opened, and soon, to humanitarian
aid and desperately needed medical assistance for the sick
and wounded. To this end, it is imperative that the United
Nations and the international community press the warring
parties to bring an end to the violence.

None of the violence is acceptable. The rockets from Gaza
aimed at Israeli communities are destructive and the
suicide bombing incidents cannot be condoned - They
constitute a violation of the sanctity of life.  We
strongly condemn the air and ground assaults from the
Israeli Defence Forces leading to senseless deaths and
injury to hundreds of people.  These must end immediately.

While every effort must be made to bring an end to the
immediate hostilities, we must also recognize that this
violence in Gaza is only one symptom of the decades-long
failure of the international community, the Israeli
government and the leadership of the Palestinian community
to achieve a just and lasting peace that ensures the
security, well-being, and self-determination for both the
Israeli and Palestinian people.  As has been said often,
peace is not only the absence of violence but also the
presence of justice.  We must all pray and work for an end
to blockades, illegal settlements, suicide bombings, walls
of separation, and all other conditions of oppression that
prevent people in Palestine and Israel from experiencing
the life in fullness that God intends for all.

We yearn for an end to 60 years of uncertainty, violence
and oppression, all of which have left their scars on all
parties regardless of ethnic, religious or political
identification. It is our fervent prayer for an end to this
current violence in Gaza, recognizing that no real peace
can be the issue of a cease-fire that is not followed by
new determination by all parties that it is time for
genuine commitment to a just peace.

We call on all our member churches to pray for all those
who have been affected by these callous developments and
engage in actions to stop the carnage and build a just and
lasting peace.

========================================

You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS

email list of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

To unsubscribe, send a blank message to

mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.

To update your email address, send your old email address
and your new one to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-request@halak.pcusa.org.

>For questions or comments, send an email to
>mailto:PCUSANEWS-request@halak.pcusa.org.

To learn more, visit http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/

>Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
>100 Witherspoon Street
>Louisville, KY 40202
>(888) 728-7228