Arlene and Cliff Kindy, Church of the Brethren members from central Indiana, are among a group of people carrying out a fast for Gaza. Cliff Kindy has been a frequent volunteer for Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Brethren Disaster Ministries.
“I try to use my fasts as a time and space to listen to God,” he wrote in a note to Newsline. “These days my mind keeps going to parenting children in Gaza today. Can I envision washing the feet of Gaza parents along with washing the feet of Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump simultaneously in one of the bombed out homes of Rafah Camp in south Gaza?”
He participated in a CPT-sponsored 700-hour fast some years ago as “a plea to God to intervene against the 700 scheduled home demolitions in the Hebron District of the West Bank.” He notes that following that fast, for the next year and a half, there were no home demolitions in the Hebron District, and takes that as a sign that another fast is now needed for Gaza.
The “Fast for Gaza” started May 22 and is planned to last for 40 days. Its goals are a resumption of humanitarian aid to Gaza, under UN authority, and for the US to stop arming Israel. It is sponsored by Veterans for Peace. Seven people in New York City are “central fasters” for the event, committed to consuming less than 250 calories a day mirroring the average daily intake of people in Gaza. Another 630 or more fasters are joining in from around the world, and may be carrying out their own personalized versions of the fast as are the Kindys. The fast has 45 organizational co-sponsors.
The fast has gained media attention from multiple outlets including Religion News Service, see https://religionnews.com/2025/05/22/religious-activists-and-veterans-start-40-day-fast-for-gaza
Find out more about the fast at www.fosna.org/2025gazafast
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