Recently, groups from Taiwanese and Sammamish Presbyterian Churches teamed up with Kids4Peace to provide meals for twenty-four Israeli and Palestinian kids during their visit to Seattle.
According to their website, “Kids4Peace is a grassroots interfaith youth movement dedicated to ending conflict and inspiring hope in Jerusalem and other divided societies around the world.” The local Seattle chapter works with local Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faith communities to promote the cause of peace.
Rev. Austin Ashenbrenner, Associate Pastor of Adults and Mission at Sammamish Pres., said, “It is clear that God is doing something at SPC around this topic of Israeli/Palestinian peace.” Combined with a trip to Israel led by Dick Leon last year, classes and more, Sammamish is becoming more involved in regional concerns. As Austin explains, “I’m not sure where God will lead us in our involvement with Kids for Peace or other similar efforts, but it seems that this experience has deepened the sense of connection that our church feels to this region and has also deepened our commitment to helping.”
Anna Quince of Taiwanese Pres., welcomed this chance to do some ministry outside of her comfort zone. Together with ruling elder Eric Tong and deacon Teresa Wu, they served a good lunch with a variety of Japanese dessert snacks. Most importantly they were able to bless the visiting children before their twenty hour flight back to Israel.
After lunch, many of the kids were gathered around a drum, sharing and playing. “They’re insanely good,” Michala Quince, a sophomore at the UW, explained, “Hopefully they can teach me something.”
