Mosquitoes kill no more

Mosquitoes, they fly high;
Mosquitoes, they fly low.
Mosquitoes, they fly everywhere -- [clap]
Mosquitoes fly no more!

Bishop Elaine Stanovsky has been teaching conference leaders, clergy and laity this camp song about mosquitoes each time she talks about the life-saving work of Imagine No Malaria. On Friday evening, the participants in the Youth Leadership Conference (YLC), held at St Andrew UMC in Highlands Ranch, learned all about the mosquitoes that spread malaria. And, more importantly, they heard from Bishop Elaine and three other speakers how The United Methodist Church, together with global funding and health partners, is taking the lead in an extraordinary effort to end preventable deaths and suffering from malaria in Africa.

Rev. Dr. Mike Dent, Senior Pastor of Trinity UMC, Denver, introduced the youth to Imagine No Malaria, an expansion of the tremendous work accomplished through Nothing But Nets. Imagine No Malaria adds to the prevention work of providing bed nets the essential components of treatment, education, communication, and advocacy, which are being carried out in African communities by United Methodist health workers and partners like Africare, Nets for Life, and the Alliance for Malaria Prevention. Rev. Dent also welcomed the other members of the Steering Committee who were present at the event: Dr. Becky Buxton, Bishop Elaine, Kunle Taiwo, Kristi Kinnison, and Rev. Dr. Youngsook Kang. Co-Chair, Robin Ball, and Field Coordinator, Rev. Kerry Greenhill, were unable to attend.

Becca Fenton, a youth leader in the conference and member of the Conference Board of Global Ministries, led an exercise that demonstrated the prevalence of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa -- in many areas, approximately 75% of the population experiences malaria at some point in their lives, most as children when they are most vulnerable to the disease.

Dr. Becky Buxton, who teaches medical laboratory sciences at the University of Utah, shared her professional passion for malaria research and her personal experience visiting Ghana and seeing firsthand how diagnosis and treatment have improved in the last eight years.
 
And Bishop Elaine closed out the presentation with the mosquito song, a description of her experience distributing bed nets as part of the Mountain Sky Area mission team to Angola last year, and a call to action for the youth: Get involved as leaders in your church and community, and help us save lives! 

One of the images from the Angola trip is of a village gathered around the base of a baobab tree to sign up to receive insecticide-treated bed nets, one of the most important and cost-effective prevention tools available. Reflecting on what those nets mean to families, many of whom have already lost children to malaria, Bishop Elaine identified this as a powerful symbol: the Tree of Life.

For most Americans, the challenges of malaria may seem too far away to get involved or too overwhelming to make a difference. But Imagine No Malaria offers individuals, families, churches, and communities the opportunity to be part of a bigger movement; to take small steps that can offer physical and spiritual healing to families and communities in Africa. It only costs $10 to send a net that can save a life; imagine how many lives you can save if you join together with others in your Sunday school class, youth group, UMW, UMM, book club, congregation, school, or town!

For those unsure of their capacity to have an impact, consider the African proverb:

"If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito."

Youth at YLC had a chance to sign up to get involved as volunteers, and also to take packets of information back to share with their churches. Video of the presentation will be available soon. Meanwhile, to learn more or to get involved, please contact Field Coordinator, Kerry Greenhill, at kerry [at] rmcumc [dot] com or 303-733-3736 x152. Together, we can sing a new song:

Mosquitoes, they fly high;
Mosquitoes, they fly low.
Mosquitoes, they fly everywhere -- [clap]
Mosquitoes kill no more!