Back in February I introduced the Imagine No Malaria Campaign. Here’s what I wrote We kicked off our Imagine No Malaria campaign at church today, with the goal of saving 2500 lives in the next three years. Through education, bed nets, medicine, draining stagnant water and communication …
29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. …
I just came home from an extremely energizing meeting at work staff and lay leaders from program ministries met together to look at our plans for ministry in the next two years.
One of the things that got me most excited was our discussion around the United Methodist Church’s “Imagine No Malaria” campaign.
We are not alone. Imagine No Malaria has some pretty awesome partners to help make beating malaria a reality. We work with global heavy hitters like the United Nations Foundation, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. These organizations are global leaders in the fight against malaria and other diseases of poverty. That’s because they require the best from their people and their partners.
So, why do they need us? Well, The United Methodist Church brings some very unique resources to the table. Obviously, the financial support of 11 million United Methodists worldwide is a significant part of it. But there’s much more. The UMC has worked in Africa for more than 160 years. We operate churches, school, hospitals and clinics across the continent in places where no one else will go. Wherever the road runs out, you’ll find us bringing hope to the hopeless andempowering the powerless.
These partners know we are a key to healthcare delivery in Africa, and as a result that means your donation is multiplied many times by the support they provide.
I am so excited to be working on this. I am trying to think of as many different ways to work on this over the next three years. I’m hoping to have projects and experiential learning opportunities for my youth and children at work. I want to host parties at home and I want to find ways to empower others to help raise support for this cause.
Park Avenue will be launching our “Imagine No Malaria” campaign early in 2012, and I am grateful for a few moths to think through some things and come up with a way to make a meaningful difference.