Sanford church honors Oct. 7 Israel attack victims with Flags of Fellowship

Oct. 7, 2023, was the most horrific and traumatic day in the history of modern Israel. This was the day that hundreds of Hamas terrorists breached the border and brutalized and slaughtered 1,200 innocent Israelis, including infants, in their homes and at a music festival celebrating peace. Two hundred and fifty hostages were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, where they were subjected to barbaric treatment, including starvation and mental and sexual abuse.  

Israel mourned her dead and waited two years for the return of her people—both living and dead. 

In the three years since the terrorist attack, antisemitism has become a worldwide disease, to the point of defending Hamas for the terrorist assault and accusing Israel of the genocide of

Christians. People who love and support Israel contacted the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), an organization dedicated to aiding Jews around the globe who are in poverty and war zones. Faith leaders and IFCJ administrators wanted to find a way to remember the terrorist victims and to fight antisemitism. The result? The Flags of Fellowship program.

Churches, synagogues, and individuals can contact the IFCJ and enroll in the program. They register their house of worship. IFCJ sends 1,200 Israeli flags to be displayed on church grounds on and around the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack. There is no charge for these flags. 

Last year, an anonymous congregant from First Congregational Christian Church volunteered to contact IFCJ and erect the flags on church property. 

The deacons of the church agreed to participate in the remembrance with the provision that not all the flags would be displayed. The deacons were concerned that such a display would lead to harassment, vandalism, or violence towards church property or members of the congregation. Antisemitic protests were erupting on college campuses across the country. 

A compromise was achieved: 24 flags would be put out, 12 for the Patriarchs of the Old Testament and 12 for the Apostles in the New Testament.

First Congregational Christians will participate in Flags of Fellowship again this year from October 4-11. The church is located at 328 McIver Street, Sanford. 

Registration for Flags of Fellowship occurs in Sept. at http://www.ifcj.org. The site is already pre-registering for 2027. 

Oct. 4, 2027

Roxanna Ray

Roxanna Ray was born in Columbia, South Carolina, and raised in West Columbia. Her family moved to Sanford when she was 15, and she graduated from Lee Senior High School.

Roxanna has always loved reading. Her favorite genres are mystery, science fiction, fantasy, biography, and history. Oh, heck, she likes it all.

She read “Little Women” at eight years old, which sparked her lifelong ambition to become that elusive creature known as “a writer”. Jo March became her role model.

She graduated from UNC-G with a B.A. in English and a minor in history. Yes, she is a nerd.

While her nickname is Roxie, she is NOT the Roxie Ray responsible for the series of paranormal romance books. That is a writer’s collective using her name.

Roxanna spent her adult career in administrative work in both the public and private sector.

She is active in her church. Her current positions are newsletter editor/staff, Facebook page co-administrator, and Outreach committee member.

Her hobbies are reading, writing, knitting, thinking about learning to crochet, playing with kittens, making puns, and watching Karl Urban movies.

She has had articles appear in Greensboro’s News and Record, in Starlog, and Cinefantastique, ESP Magazine, and Sandhills News.

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