On October 20th, an overnight vigil was held at St David’s Church in Naenae, Põneke to finish a weekend of remembering the air strike on the Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City one year prior.
At least 18 people, including several children, were killed in this attack, with dozens more injured or trapped under rubble. This quote stood from Father Issa Musleh stood out to us, “People there – Muslims and Christians – they thought they’d be safe inside the building, because it’s a church, they didn’t think it would be bombed by Israel.”
You can read more about this attack here: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/10/20/we-were-baptised-here-and-we-will-die-here-gazas-oldest-church-bombed
The evening began with a liturgy together. Following this, more than fifty Christians from different denominations joined in prayer throughout the night. Praying for those who were killed, as well as writing to ministers Erica Stanford, Winston Peters and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon – urging them to grant life-saving Visas.
Many of the vigil attendees slept overnight in the Church – remembering the more than 300 people still sheltering in Saint Porphyrius today.