Donations may be made to UMCOR's Advance # 901125-3, Love in the Midst of Tragedy. Give through your local United Methodist church or mail contributions to:
UMCOR,
475 Riverside Dr.
Room 330
New York, NY 10115.
Call 800-554-8583 to make a credit card donation.

Pray and Act in Love ‘For the Healing of the Nations’

"From Despair Your World Release, that Redeemed from war and hatred, all may come and go in peace. Show us how through care and goodness fear will die and hope increase."
Verse 2, For the Healing of the Nations #428

We reach out in comfort to all who have lost loved ones and our hearts go out to all who suffer loss, displacement and uncertainty. We join with people of all faiths to weep with those who weep, to mourn with those who are mourning and to act in love and compassion to overcome violence and fear.

We commend and support the many heroic and unceasing efforts of rescue workers and volunteers whose labors of love are already rebuilding our hope in the face of unexplainable violence. As people of faith, at this moment of our vulnerability, anger, and uncertainty, we reaffirm that only "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).

Many of us in New York and in Washington have received an outpouring of expressions of comfort and solidarity from sisters and brothers from around the world. Muslim and Christian women in Senegal gathered in a prayer service to show interfaith support and to pray that violence will not be followed by further violence. School children in many communities wrote letters of appreciation to rescue workers they have never met. The National Council of Churches in Japan and in the Philippines both issued statements of prayerful compassion and calls for peaceful efforts to end the vicious cycle of violence. Palestinian Christians and Muslims sent messages of sorrow and comfort.

Surely, these are but a few of the many signs that though we speak different languages, express different faiths, we are all children — sisters and brothers one to another — of a living, loving and creating God. We are reminded in the midst of tragedy of Paul’s words, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer." Romans 12:12

God gives us strength to rebuild a firm foundation of love from the ground up: from the midst of ashes and rubble. The gospel of peace empowers us to challenge the chorus of angry cries by leaders, and in the media, for vengeance, retaliation and war.

While feelings of anger, loss, fear and revenge express our common pain and humanity, the apostle Paul calls us to "be angry, but do not sin." (Ephesians 4:26). Our response to the pain inflicted needs to built on loving compassion and healing solidarity with all those who suffer. We must challenge expressions of hatred to insure that policies and actions are built on a foundation of love, not one of fear.

Psalm 23 offers the comfort of God’s healing presence as we journey in the valley of fear and death. Yet it also holds forth the promise of a table (not a sword) that God prepares in the presence of our enemies. Preparing tables, practicing hospitality in the presence of enemies embody the work of love that moves through feelings of anger and fear. God invites us to the table to share and calls us to the painful task of loving our enemies! Indeed, in the Epistle to the Romans, we as disciples are entreated, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21

We call on religious leaders of all faiths, governmental leaders, and each of our communities to prepare tables of healing, rebuilding and solidarity with our neighbors and to reach out to our enemies. As followers of the one who calls us to be peacemakers, we seek to break the cycle of violence and the chains of fear that now bind so many of our hearts and minds. We question those who call for rapid and massive retaliatory strikes, the mobilizing military reserves and increased funds for war, and ask, are these the things that make for peace?

As United Methodists we again affirm with John Wesley, "our historic concern for the world as our parish and seek for all persons and peoples full and equal membership in a truly world community." (Para. 165 D.) To that end we urge all congregations and individuals to:

1. Pray that God’s healing love be with all who have suffered loss;
   
   
2. Heed God’s call to pray for each person or group considered our enemies as children of God.
   
   
3. Give generously to UMCOR advance # 901125-3 "Love in the Midst of Tragedy."
   
   
4. Speak out publicly and often against fear-based scapegoating and negative stereotyping. Report to your local pastor and United Methodist Women’s unit as well as the local paper any hate crimes in your community that target Arab-Americans, Muslims, and/or immigrants. Share any reports and/or actions with Ministries in Midst of Hate & Violence, General Board of Global Ministries, 475 Riverside Dr. NY, NY 10115.
   
   
5. Reach out to neighbors and congregations of other faith communities in your area. Seek ways to hold shared worship or community experiences (e.g. a vigil, a common place or time for shared silent prayer and reflection and support) as a way of expressing hope, healing and peacemaking.
   
   
6. Seek a variety of media perspectives and encourage public discussions between officials and communities to seek nonviolent means of resolving conflicts and breaking the cycle of violence and fear.

September 14, 2001
A Statement from General Board of Global Ministries