‘I’ll eat when they eat’: Indiana pastors participate in nationwide fast for Gaza

“I’ll eat when they eat.”

The Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals shared these words in an open letter to her Indiana state senators, urging them to use the United States’ influence to pressure Israel to allow adequate humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Ofner-Seals, the associate pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church UCC in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is taking part in a nationwide fast for Gaza, which began on May 22. She is among over 700 people across the country committed to eating only 250 calories a day — the estimated daily caloric intake of people in Gaza.

The fast, organized by Veterans for Peace and Friends of Sabeel North America, is seeking to draw attention to the nearly two million people facing starvation due to Israel’s blockade on food, water, and medical supplies from entering Gaza. Reports from May showed the entire Gaza population at risk of famine because of the blockade. Dozens have starved to death, and hundreds have died trying at access inadequate food offerings in recent weeks. This is in addition to Israel’s ongoing military strikes and severely limited medical care.

“We do this to be in solidarity with the people there, but also to raise awareness in our communities about the horrific nature of the situation in Gaza right now,” Ofner-Seals during a press conference to announce the fast for Gaza together with Plymouth Senior Pastor Rev. Timothy Murphy.

Murphy joined the effort by starting a zero-calorie hunger strike on June 1 in support of full restoration of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“All people of faith and goodwill should demand that Gazan civilians not be punished through mass starvation. Collective punishment of this magnitude cannot be justified and must end immediately,” he said. “The people of Gaza have a right to live. They have a right to not starve. We cannot sit idly by. We have to stop this ongoing starvation and imminent famine in Gaza.”  

Urging people to respond

As part of their fasting efforts, the two pastors encourage people to regularly contact the White House and contact their U.S. senators to push for the return of aid into Gaza.

People can advocate through a current action alert telling Congress to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, issued by the UCC Office of Public Policy and Advocacy, and Global Ministries, the joint witness of the UCC and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). An additional ecumenical action alert is available for people to tell Congress to end U.S. support for Israel’s war by supporting the Block the Bombs Act, promoted by Global Ministries.

Global Ministries has released a statement on the Israeli Attack on Iran and maintains an ongoing collection of responses to the war and ongoing genocide since October 2023.

The D.C. office has been endorsing bills in the House and Senate that call for humanitarian aid to be delivered to Gaza, including S. Res 224 and H. Res. 473, according to Helen Nwabara, UCC policy advocate for international issues.

The fast for Gaza has been one way to gain media attention and motivate people to act.

“Part of this is to raise awareness and galvanize people,” Murphey said. “We’ve had dozens of people communicating with us saying they are calling elected officials every day and asking what else can they do. We hope to motivate people in the U.S. to speak up on behalf of Gazans.”

Fasting for 40 days

On day 28 of her fast, Ofner-Seals described creating adjustments and routines that enable her to complete her daily tasks on her limited 250-calorie daily diet. She has added a weekly break to the fast on Friday evenings to have a substantial meal.

“Any time I begin to think that I can’t do this or I feel uncomfortable, I think about the people of Gaza,” she said, adding that she gets to choose healthy options for foods while Palestinians have very little choice.

Ofner-Seals is a member of the UCC Palestine Israel Network (PIN) Steering Committee and is among eight committee members participating in the fast for Gaza. Having visited Palestine twice – most recently in May – she feels great care for Palestine. She has participated in an array of actions to protest the genocide in Gaza – attending ceasefire demonstrations, meeting with senators, and organizing postcard drives – and she felt that joining others to fast for Gaza was an important advocacy opportunity.

In a recent pastoral letter, the UCC PIN Steering Committee described how Palestinian pastor Munther Isaac has called Palestine the moral compass of our time. “We agree,” the committee wrote, “for if we can’t muster the courage to speak out on behalf of children in Gaza, who face relentless bombing and starvation every single day, our moral voice is collectively compromised and loses its integrity to speak on other issues as well.”

Working for just peace

As pastors at Plymouth Church, Murphy and Ofner-Seals described their church as a global mission church and a just peace church.

Given the church’s international partnerships, “we are accountable to siblings in Christ in the West Bank, and they are hurting deeply. Responding to that is part of who we are as a congregation,” Murphy said.

Murphy ended his full hunger strike at eleven days when his energy became significantly depleted, deciding to transition out of it and continue advocacy efforts.

“One of the things we say every Sunday is that we believe that for there to be true and lasting peace, there has to be justice for those who are oppressed,” Ofner-Seals said. “When talking about one of the major conflicts in the world right now, there is a fundamental understanding that this violence is because of injustice. We have to be thinking about how to do work with our partners for a more just peace. It’s not just about wanting peace in the Holy Land; it’s about wanting justice so that people don’t have to resort to violence. It’s an easy jump to go from the principle of just peace to wanting to advocate for justice and peace in the Middle East.”

Murphy encouraged church leaders to consider offering regular prayers for the people of Gaza experiencing famine during worship. Prayer can be a meaningful entry point for pastors not sure how to engage the topic in their congregations, Ofner-Seals added.

Global Ministries recently created a joint prayer on the aid blockade in Gaza that congregations and individuals are encouraged to join in praying.

Most importantly, the two pastors stress, is working to ease the persistent threat taking place for the people of Gaza.

“None of us should rest easy while millions of innocent people are intentionally and systematically wiped out, either through the quick work of a bomb, or the slow and painful work of starvation,” Ofner-Seals wrote in the letter to her senators.

 Murphy added the urgency of the circumstances.

“With just one day sooner of getting the aid in, hundreds could live who would otherwise die needlessly from starvation,” he said. “It seems so self-evident why the Church needs to speak out.”

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