What gift can you bring?

Ministry isn't just what a pastor does on Sundays, or even what pastors - or missionaries, or chaplains - do all week. The word ministry has Latin roots, and its origins meant service. In the context of the Protestant church, ministry might be defined as "the service to others that followers of Jesus perform in the name and Spirit of Christ."

Imagine No Malaria is one of the ways that The United Methodist Church seeks to serve others, offering them abundant life in Jesus' name. The community health workers, doctors and nurses, administrators of in-country health boards, communication professionals and many others who are on the ground to provide services in Africa are all engaged in ministry, whether they think about it that way or not. All of them are part of an effort to allow many more people to live life to the fullest, as God desires.

But they're not the only ones doing ministry through Imagine No Malaria. As we work to raise awareness and educate people here in the U.S. about malaria, its devastating effects on individuals and communities in Africa, and the opportunity we have to end preventable deaths and suffering from malaria in this generation, we need people to get involved who have a variety of backgrounds and a wide range of gifts. Whether you are a teacher, a custodian, an architect, an administrative assistant, a software engineer, or a scientist, you have something to offer.

Mosquitoes look scarier under
a microscope

We recently heard from Dr. Cynthia Paquette, an Entomologist who is working on malaria-transmitting mosquito research at Colorado State University.  Cynthia is also a Certified Candidate for Ministry (Elder's Orders).  She reached out to offer her gifts to be part of the campaign, and also expressed her conviction of the importance of this work:

Bishop Stanovsky,

I am very excited and glad that the United Methodist Church is taking a big leap to help people afflicted with malaria.

Malaria, as you probably already know, is a very difficult disease to control and the plasmodium parasite is a very fastidious one due to its different forms in its life cycle.  A lot of research is ongoing but people are dying daily because a cure has not been found and the mosquito vectors are becoming resistant to the available chemical insecticides.

Meanwhile, it is harder and harder to conduct research because federal grant money is drying up due to the decline in our economy.  Therefore, I think it is important for the people of God to step up to the plate to help other people of God who are suffering.  

I think an integrated approach that the Imagine No Malaria campaign is taking is an important one due to the prolific nature of this parasite and its mosquito vector.  I think it is very important that the church be exposed to the ongoing problem of malaria and be given the opportunity to respond financially (and other ways – prayer, resources, physical help etc.) because this is a disease that has plagued the third world countries where financial resources are very low.

I believe we, the church, can make a difference!

Blessings,
Cynthia

Cynthia (Khoo) Paquette, Ph.D.
Infectious Disease Annex
Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology
Colorado State University

What gifts can you bring? Can you make phone calls or send emails? Give a presentation? Can you work behind the scenes to plan a community engagement event with your church? Whatever your area of training or expertise, if you have a passion for this ministry, I am confident we can find a way to use your gifts to help save lives in Jesus' name. Comment below if you want to learn more or be trained as a volunteer!

We need YOU!

So you've heard about Imagine No Malaria, maybe you've made a personal donation, and you're wondering what else you're supposed to do about it.

Or perhaps you were really involved with Nothing But Nets, and you're eager to understand how Imagine No Malaria builds on that effort, and increases the impact.

Or maybe you've traveled to Africa on a mission trip and have seen firsthand the poverty that is both a cause and an effect of diseases like malaria, and the needless suffering of entire families and communities.

If you're ready to learn more and find out how to get involved, now is the time to sign up!

In the coming weeks, information about Imagine No Malaria will be presented at each District and Sub-district Conference, and trainings will be scheduled for those who are ready to commit time and energy to either of the following roles:

1. Local Church Leader: Working with the pastor(s) and lay leadership, you are the point person for guiding and encouraging your congregation through a 5-step plan for participation in the campaign.

2. District Organizer: Reaching out to local congregations in your area, you share the 5-step plan, offer resources to guide activity development, and support the churches in organizing and completing their work.

3. District Ambassador: Responding to requests for presentations, you share your passion for this transformational ministry with congregations in your area and invite others to join Imagine No Malaria.

Ready to begin? Call 303-733-3736 x152 or email kerry [at] rmcumc [dot] com to learn more or sign up today! Still thinking about it? Visit http://www.imaginenomalaria.org/go-do/ to find out some other options for getting involved.

Either way, please hold our campaign in prayer as the Rocky Mountain Conference seeks to raise $1.2 million toward saving lives and preventing death and suffering from malaria.

Launching into Lent

Did you miss the official campaign launch for Imagine No Malaria in the Rocky Mountain Conference?  For the thousands of United Methodists in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming who were not able to be present at the Youth Leadership Conference on January 25, we have a video snapshot to give you a taste of the presentation (our thanks to Myranda Hoffman, RMC Communications Specialist, who did the video editing!):



This is just a glimpse of the information and stories shared that night by Becca Fenton, Rev. Mike Dent, Becky Buxton, and Bishop Elaine Stanovsky. The Rocky Mountain Conference has committed to raising $1.2 million toward the denomination's overall goal of $75 million. This represents 120,000 lives saved, but the truth is that our impact will last longer and stretch further than this fraction of the 655,000 people who die from malaria each year.

Because Imagine No Malaria takes a comprehensive approach, including prevention, treatment, education, and communication, our gifts and efforts become part of sustainable, empowering, locally-led work to eradicate malaria as a source of suffering and death in Africa. This is long-term, life-saving, kingdom-building work that we do in the name of Jesus Christ, who came that all people might have abundant life.

Tomorrow, we enter into the season of Lent, a time of examining our spiritual lives, identifying what separates us from God, and seeking to follow the footsteps of Jesus more closely and intentionally. If you are taking on a spiritual discipline such as prayer or fasting, I invite you to consider connecting it with an action that has tangible impact on the lives of our sisters and brothers in God's family. That could be as simple as setting aside $10 a week to donate to Imagine No Malaria instead of eating out; or telling one new person each week about The United Methodist Church's extraordinary work to bring healing to families and communities in Africa. For more ideas, check out the Imagine No Malaria Lenten Devotional.

If you want to learn more, and especially if you have experience with malaria or if you have a heart for the people of Africa and are eager to get involved, call 303-733-3736 x152 or email kerry@rmcumc.com to find out how you can join the campaign as a volunteer. 

Watch this space in the coming days for details on the different volunteer roles available and what it means become an Ambassador, district organizer, or local church leader!

Pauley Perrette wants you to help her catch a killer

Pauley Perrette, star of TV's hit show NCIS, is a supporter of Imagine No Malaria.

If you want to help catch this killer in the dark, visit ImagineNoMalaria.org to learn more, pray, donate, or get ideas for organizing your church or community group.

If you're in Colorado, Utah, or Wyoming, contact Rev. Kerry Greenhill at the Rocky Mountain Conference of The United Methodist Church (kerry@rmcumc.com or 303-733-3736 x152) to learn more about how you can get involved.

*This PSA was recorded about a year ago, when malaria took the life of a child in Africa every 45 seconds. Today, that rate has dropped further, so that a child dies every 60 seconds. That's still too many children who die needlessly each day from a preventable, treatable, and beatable disease, but it means we are making progress. Together, we can end unnecessary death and suffering from malaria in our lifetime.

Ripples in the water

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Do you know how much power you have to affect the lives of others? 

Depending on how your day is going, you may see yourself as powerless, or too easily affected by the words, attitudes, or actions of other people. Or you may be all too aware that the decisions you make - in parenting, in friendship or a romantic relationship, in the workplace - can make a dramatic difference for those around you.

Image courtesy of zirconicusso / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In recent years, the recognition of interdependence and connectedness among all people and all living things has become regarded as more than just a feel-good statement of philosophy or spirituality; it is affirmed in arenas as diverse as physics, biology, politics, and psychology. From the "butterfly effect" (a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world sets off a chain reaction that leads to a tsunami around the globe) to the ripples created by a small stone being thrown into a pond, the natural world is full of images that demonstrate the far-reaching effects of small, simple actions. The truth is that all of us have more influence than we realize, both on the people who are physically close by and on those we may never meet.

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 

- 1 John 3:18

 One of the blessings of a movement like Imagine No Malaria is that it offers a concrete and meaningful way to harness the energy of interdependence, to turn good intentions into actions that can literally heal people and save lives. If you spend $10 on lunch or a movie ticket, you may or may  not remember how you spent the money a year from now. But if you give that same $10 to pay for the cost of an insecticide-treated bed net, you're helping keep a family of four safe from malaria-spreading mosquito bites for up to five years.

That's five years when children are in school regularly and parents don't have to miss work, when there are no unexpected and arduous trips on foot to a clinic ten or twenty miles away to seek treatment. And of course, bed nets are only one part of the story; your $10 (or $25, or $100, or...?) could help provide rapid diagnostic kits or life-saving medication for a clinic or hospital; larger gifts can help train and support community health workers who visit villages to build relationships, assess the need, and explain the importance of bed nets and prompt treatment of symptoms; initiate radio programs that raise public awareness of malaria prevention and treatment; or much more.

“It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a [person] stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he [or she] sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.”

- Robert F. Kennedy

What kind of ripples are you sending out into the world this week? Would you consider some small action - telling a friend or church group about Imagine No Malaria, making a donation, calling your Congressperson to support continued global health funding - to help save the lives of children and pregnant women who are most vulnerable to malaria? If you're not sure where to start, the Lenten devotional booklet compiled by INM staff has some great suggestions for simple actions you can take, each Friday during Lent. Together, we can make a difference.


P. S. You can donate now (or at any time) at the Rocky Mountain Conference website - enter the amount you wish to give in the Imagine No Malaria box, and at the bottom of the screen, choose whether you want to give once, weekly, or monthly. Or you can give directly through Imagine No Malaria; just make sure to indicate which church, district, or conference you want to receive credit.

Lenten devotional

With Easter on the early side this year (March 31), the season of Lent is sneaking up more quickly than a groundhog running away from Bill Murray. In fact, Ash Wednesday is less than 2 weeks away, on February 13.

If you are looking for a resource for prayer and reflection this Lent, consider joining your prayer with action, and use this Lenten devotional compiled by the staff of Imagine No Malaria. Each day includes a verse of Scripture, a reflection on how that reading applies to our lives today, and a brief prayer. Fridays are "Action Days," with different ways you can get involved in spreading the word about Imagine No Malaria throughout the six weeks leading up to Easter.

Consider using this devotional with your Sunday school class, youth group, Missions Committee, prayer group, Bible study, or at home with your family. Join the movement to save lives as we seek to end this preventable, treatable, beatable disease.