Rocky Mountain Conference Receives $500,000 Gift Toward Imagine No Malaria

On April 25, World Malaria Day - the date we set as our deadline to raise $1.2 million in commitments for Imagine No Malaria - we announced a very special gift from Jerre and Mary Joy Stead. Their tremendous generosity has allowed us to reach our goal (and then some!) of saving 120,000 lives from malaria through comprehensive prevention, education, treatment, and communication strategies.

Read the full press release here: http://rmcumc.org/new/component/content/article/436.html

We are thrilled to have reached our goal, but we know that the work is not finished yet - many churches are still raising funds toward the goals they set, individuals are still fulfilling their pledges, and many communities have not yet heard about the danger that malaria poses to billions of people around the world, or the opportunity we have to help end deaths from malaria in Africa in our lifetime. Please help us continue raising awareness, inviting generosity, and advocating for a healthier future and more abundant life for our sisters and brothers in God's family. Thank you for your part in this extraordinary effort to put our faith into action!

The science of Imagine No Malaria (part 3)

Note: This post was scheduled to be published in  March 2014. Apologies to anyone who went looking for it and got error messages!

Professor Rebecca Buxton wraps up her discussion of the science of malaria with some more information about bed nets, insecticides, and the big picture of ending deaths from malaria in Africa.

Watch Part 1 or Part 2 of this video series.

The science of Imagine No Malaria (part 2)

Note: This post was scheduled to be published in  March 2014. Apologies to anyone who went looking for it and got error messages!

Professor Becky Buxton continues her discussion of the science of malaria with a focus on vaccines and treatment, both the challenges that exist and the progress that is being made - and why it's so important to take action now.

Watch Part 1 or Part 3 of this video series.

The science of Imagine No Malaria (part 1)

Rebecca Buxton is Professor of Medical Laboratory Science at the University of Utah and a member of the Rocky Mountain Conference Steering Committee for Imagine No Malaria.

In this first video segment (of three), she explains how she got involved with Imagine No Malaria, what malaria is, and how it affects the human body.

Imagine No Malaria's Impact

Imagine No Malaria is having a tremendous impact in 16 African countries, and this new infographic lays out all the ways we are saving - and changing - lives.

What we have accomplished

Since Imagine No Malaria first launched in 2010, we have funded anti-malaria programs and public health infrastructure in the areas of education, communication, prevention, and treatment in 16 countries in Africa. Just in 2012-2013, 12 United Methodist conferences in Africa have received grants to fund training, nets, medications, supplies, and more.

A new handout, the "Snapshot of Activity," breaks down not only how much we've raised and how it is being spent, but how the grants are made in ways that ensure accountability and sustainability.

It's important to note that much of the $60 million that has been committed to the overall campaign consists of goals set by annual conferences and local churches: while we are confident that these funds will come in as promised, they are not yet in the form of cash in hand that can be spent out.

Download the Snapshot of Activity for all the details, including a success story from Sierra Leone, and share with your family, friends, neighbors, and congregation how their gifts continue to be put to good use to save lives and transform communities across Africa.

We are making progress - and the need continues!

In the last month or so, two very different news reports regarding the fight against malaria have received significant attention.

First, in July, the BBC and Public Radio International aired a story (Bed Nets for Malaria: Losing the Arms Race?) that raised serious questions about whether bed nets were making genuine and sustainable progress in reducing malaria infections, because mosquitoes in some areas were shown to be developing resistance to the primary insecticide with which the nets are treated.

Rev. Larry Hollon, General Secretary of United Methodist Communications, wrote a thoughtful response to the questions raised in the BBC article. Rev. Hollon contended that malaria experts had long anticipated the problems now being observed, and that this evidence demonstrates the importance of a more comprehensive, holistic approach to eradicating malaria. This is one of many reasons that Imagine No Malaria goes beyond just bed nets to include other methods of prevention, alongside diagnosis and treatment, education, and communication strategies.

Then last week, CNN.com reported on a breakthrough in U.S. efforts to develop a malaria vaccine. A study conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on a vaccine developed by Maryland-based company Sanaria showed highly promising results, but the initial trials were quite small, involving just 57 volunteers, and more extensive field testing is required before the drug can be considered scientifically proven in order to be approved for distribution - a process that could take 5-10 years. 

This development is very encouraging in thinking about the big picture of preventing malaria infections in future, although the requirement to receive five intravenous doses of the vaccine could make it difficult to administer widely in areas of very low incomes and lack of infrastructure like roads. Other researchers around the world are working on different approaches to a vaccine (see, for example, this CDC page.) However, the length of time before these vaccines come on the market, even if they prove very successful, makes it all the more important that we keep up our efforts to reduce malaria infections through prevention and education, and to relieve suffering through diagnosis and treatment.

Ending deaths from malaria in Africa is no small undertaking. This disease has been a scourge of humanity for thousands of years, but we know that it can be done because it has been done in the United States and other developed countries. What is needed to accomplish the same goal in Africa is, quite simply, the will to dedicate resources to ease the suffering of the poor who cannot otherwise afford quality health care, in order to enable more families, more communities, more nations to live life to the fullest - something that Jesus cared quite a bit about.

You can donate to Imagine No Malaria here or here, or text MALARIA RMC to 27722 to give $10. Thanks for helping us save lives!

We're all a-buzz!

The 2013 session of the Rocky Mountain Annual Conference begins two weeks from today, which means that conference staff and volunteers are buzzing around energetically trying to get everything ready in time!

I had hoped to have another video interview edited in time to post today, but I've encountered some technical difficulties in that process, so instead, here's a sneak peek at one of the items we're preparing for the Annual Conference Mission Banquet on June 14:

We call them "prayer nets," with Imagine No Malaria bookmarks attached, and every single person who attends Annual Conference will receive one at the Friday night banquet.

While these 9" squares of tulle doesn't look like much, the Steering Committee hopes that they will serve as a reminder of the millions of people who sleep more safely and soundly because of an insecticide-treated mosquito net over their bed, and of the work still ahead of us to reduce suffering and death from malaria through Prevention, Treatment, Education, and Communication.

The bookmarks include a photo, a verse of Scripture, a brief overview of the work of Imagine No Malaria, and an invitation to prayer and involvement.

If you're attending Annual Conference, make sure not to skip the Mission Banquet on June 14, and bring home your very own prayer net and bookmark!

"Whatever happened to Nothing But Nets?"

As I meet with United Methodists at District Conferences and other gatherings across the Rocky Mountain Conference, a few questions keep coming up, often from people who are very committed to missions and service through the church. One in particular that seems worth clarifying is, "Whatever happened to Nothing But Nets?"

Nothing But Nets, of course, is a campaign of the United Nations Foundation in partnership with the National Basketball Association/NBA Cares, The United Methodist Church, and several others. Begun in 2006, it brought malaria back into the public eye in the U.S., where a concentrated public health campaign all but eradicated malaria more than 60 years ago. "Send a net. Save a life." became a rallying cry to educate the U.S. public about how easy and affordable it is to support widespread malaria prevention in Africa (for just $10, an insecticide-treated bed net can protect up to four members of a family from malaria-infected mosquito bites for several years). Nothing But Nets was very successful, raising about $7.5 million in the first three years.

Insecticide-treated mosquito nets are still the best way to prevent malaria; however, other measures like draining standing water where the insects breed, trimming foliage and proper sanitation, are also critical. And while "nothing but net" is a great phrase in basketball, when it comes to malaria, prevention is only one piece of the puzzle. In other words, you want nets plus medication, hospital infrastructure, community education, and mass communication efforts.

And so, in 2008, building on the success of Nothing But Nets, and with the assistance of grant funding from the United Nations Foundation and (later) the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UMC created a new, comprehensive program to fight malaria: Imagine No Malaria. It both continues the important preventive work of net distribution and builds on it, adding treatment, education, and communication strategies to bring about a sustainable victory over malaria in this generation. 

The new goal is to multiply the impact of Nothing But Nets tenfold: to raise $75 million in gifts and pledges by 2015. This audacious goal has the potential to save millions of lives - mostly women and children, who are the most vulnerable and make up the majority of deaths from the disease - and to make it possible for millions more who would have lived with and suffered from malaria to have a more abundant life in Jesus' name.

Confusion arises because while Imagine No Malaria is the new focus for United Methodist efforts to fight malaria, Nothing But Nets still exists and is still active, and for some churches, it is still a meaningful outlet for fundraising and malaria awareness efforts. Gifts made to Nothing But Nets through a local United Methodist Church count toward the broader goal of reducing deaths from malaria, but they are not counted toward conference fundraising goals for Imagine No Malaria.*  The UN Foundation has helped the UMC clarify that through Imagine No Malaria we are engaged in a new, more comprehensive initiative as a denomination, rather than partnering with the non-profit Nothing But Nets to focus on distributing bed nets only for prevention.

Children greet Bishop Elaine and other members of the UMC
delegation to distribute nets in Bom Jesus, Angola, in 2012

Given these options, I invite you to prayerfully consider how God might be leading you and your congregation to respond to Jesus' teachings to heal the sick and to care for "the least of these." Perhaps, with God's help, you can do more than you realize.

And however you are raising money to save lives, please drop me a line at the Conference office to let me know how your church is taking part in the work to end death and suffering from malaria - email kerry[at]rmcumc.com or call 303-733-3736 x152. Blessings on your work to help others live life to the fullest!


*This post originally stated incorrectly that gifts to Nothing But Nets do count towards Imagine No Malaria fundraising goals. Updated 4/11/13.