Source: The Houston Chronicle

On October 23, 2000, The Houston Chronicle reported that, "as the bloodshed continued in the Middle East on Sunday, 11 children in The Woodlands lighted a single white candle and prayed for peace. They were among about 200 people of different faiths - Muslims, Jews, Christians of various denominations - who gathered at a community center to pray for an end to the violence on the other side of the world and for a return to negotiations toward an elusive peace there. 'A feeling of helplessness, a feeling of hopelessness, has descended upon us as we see the tragedy of so many children dying needlessly,' Rabbi James Brandt of Congregation Beth Shalom of The Woodlands said to the crowd, echoing the thoughts of many...But Brandt suggested that the prayers of different faiths united could lead to an end to the killing, and to the hatred and misunderstandings that have caused it. His hopeful message was well received. 'Maybe if we all come together and pray, God will let us have a peaceful world,' said Jacquelin Somers, a schoolteacher and member of The Woodlands Community Presbyterian Church. The gathering at the South Montgomery County Community Center was sponsored by the Congregation Beth Shalom of The Woodlands, the Islamic Society of The Woodlands and Faiths Together, a fellowship of religious communities that seeks to build relationships and understanding among people of different faiths."