CPTnet
November 13, 2001
HEBRON: A Call to Fasting and Prayer

[NOTE: Those wishing to join the Hebron Team in their sunrise to sunset
fasting for all or part of the next month may send a note to them (as
they've requested below) via the CPTnet editor at
guest.524947 [at] MennoLink [dot] org. DO NOT HIT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE or it may be
lost.]

"Then [the Pharisees] said to him, 'John's disciples, like the disciples
of the Pharisees, frequently fast and pray, but your disciples eat and
drink.' Jesus said to them, 'You cannot make wedding guests fast while
the bridegroom is with them, can you? The days will come when the
bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those
days.'" Luke 5:33-35.

Members of CPT Hebron plan to fast from sunrise to sunset November
17-December 16, along with our Muslim neighbors who will be observing the
holy month of Ramadan. The month of Ramadan is traditionally set aside for
self-examination, atonement for sins, and a heightened awareness of
dependence on God. Muslims are also called to respond to the needs of the
poor in a special way during this time.

We at CPT will be fasting in solidarity with and lifting in prayer those
who are hungry because of violence and warfare. Although we are assured
that Christ the Bridegroom is always with us, we also know that this is a
particular time of pain in the world as the U.S. and its allies wage war in
Afghanistan. Many of the victims of that war are already on the brink of
starvation. Furhermore, many of us are citizens of a nation that supplies
funds and weapons for the continuing violence of the occupation here in
Palestine. In Hebron, the last year has brought heavy Israeli military
operations, increased economic hardship, and considerable disruption of
daily life for the Palestinians living here. We know that conflict and
warfare are causing death, injuries, hunger and homelessness in many places
around the world, but we wish to especially lift up the needs and pain of
our Muslim brothers and sisters during this month.

This period happens to encompass the U.S. Thanksgiving Day and the first
two weeks of Advent in the Christian calendar. We urge CPT's supporters
and friends in the U.S., Canada, and around the world to consider fasting
with us at a level that seems appropriate to you as you prepare for the
holiday season. Send us a note to let us know if you are joining us.

Jesus' words above acknowledge that both times of feasting and times of
fasting are part of the lives of his disciples. We will strive through our
fasting to enter into the world's pain in recognition that Christ the
Bridegroom comes not to deny that pain but to be with us through it and to
overcome it.