Thank you, and keep up the good work!

September 8, 2014

When you first heard we were trying to raise $1.2 million in the Rocky Mountain Conference to help end deaths from malaria in Africa, did you think we would make it?

At Annual Conference in June, the Steering Committee reported that not only did we achieve our goal, we surpassed it, with gifts and pledges totaling $1,414,000! And since then, we have received another $75,000 in goals and contributions, bringing our total commitments to $1.489 million as of July 31!

If that's not exciting enough, here are some more details on the work that has made this possible:

Members from 203 different churches made a contribution. Eight more have set goals, but haven't yet sent in their funds. That means 81% of Rocky Mountain Conference churches participated in this extraordinary effort!

Specifically:

• Wyoming churches collectively raised $26.30 raised per member
• Newcastle First (Wyoming)  raised $4,985 - that's $22 per member
• Grace (Cheyenne) raised $3,833 - that's $26 per member
• Yuma (CO) set a goal for $100 and raised $998
• Steamboat Springs exceeded their $8,000 goal and raised $13,967 - that's $34 per member!
• Ogden Community raised $5,724 - that's $24 per member!
• Montrose First (CO) is still working toward their $20,000 goal, but they have raised $31 per member - so far.
• Limon (CO) raised $78 per member by raising $20,046.
• Rush (CO)  did not set a goal, but raised $88 per member
• Last Chance (CO) raised $24 per member
• Hope (Greenwood Village) raised $15,375, or $23 per member
• Heritage (Littleton) raised $8,236, or $28 per member
• Colorado Springs First raised $50,700
• Trinity Denver has raised $110,330 - so far - they are still working toward their goal of $123 per member!
• St. Andrew's (Highlands Ranch) has raised $20,964 and are still working to achieve their $24 per member goal.
• St. Luke's (Highlands Ranch) raised $26,099!
• Arvada is 20% of the way to reaching their $33 per member goal
• Good Shepherd (Thornton) raised $25 per member
• Glenwood Springs raised $22 per member
• Mountain View and St. Paul's (both in Boulder) raised $8,615 and $3,618 respectively - even though they were dealing with flood waters and a community in crisis. Perhaps they know a thing or two about mosquitoes!

Communication Changes

In the interest of saving administrative expenses for the campaign, the Steering Committee has decided to discontinue our email newsletter account. Updates will still be sent out periodically through the Rocky Mountain Conference weekly e-newsletter; you can sign up for that list here. If you do nothing, you will not receive any further communications from us, except for updates on your individual giving from the Rocky Mountain United Methodist Foundation, which continues to manage the donation tracking.

A Few Reminders

If your church has collected funds that you haven't sent in yet, please send those in on a monthly basis - the easiest way is to include donations with your monthly remittances to the Conference office, designated for Imagine No Malaria.

If your church set a goal that you haven't achieved yet, please continue working towards your goal! If you need to adjust your goal, contact Kristi Kinnison, kristi@rmumf.org. 

If you have questions or updates, see whom to contact going forward.

Please continue to pray for Imagine No Malaria, for all who suffer and all who are helping to end unnecessary suffering.

Finally, thank you to all of you who have taken part in any role as part of the network of advocates, ambassadors, fundraisers, educators, donors, and healers in this extraordinary effort to end deaths from malaria in Africa. You may have seen this article from United Methodist Communications:

Efforts to fight Malaria are also good for the communications and medical infrastructure to fight Ebola. According to the article, "Your gifts to Imagine No Malaria are also helping in the fight against Ebola because together, we’ve improved access to health care. A strong health infrastructure, consisting of trained health care workers and well-equipped facilities, is better able to handle other health threats as well." We know that although the article didn't mention this, the publicity, education and communication networks that have been developed about Malaria are the same networks being used to educate people about Ebola.

Together, we are saving and transforming lives!

New Year's Resolutions, or How to Save Lives in 2014

Happy New Year! Are you making any resolutions for 2014? The first day of the year always seems like a good opportunity to declare your intentions to be more healthy in mind, body, spirit, relationships, finances, and other important areas of life.

If you're looking for ideas on how to help proclaim God's love in the coming year, or want to share with family and friends what it means to be a United Methodist committed to putting faith into action, here are 10 ways to support Imagine No Malaria in 2014 - let me know in the comments if you take on one or more of these, or if you have other suggestions!

How to Save Lives in 2014

1. Schedule a monthly donation to Imagine No Malaria (make sure to check the box to indicate what church you're affiliated with). Remember:

• $10 Buys a life-saving insecticide-treated bed net
• $20 Pays for the cost of food and treatment of anemia in a pregnant woman with malaria
• $50 Provides malaria medication to treat ten adults
• $100 Covers the cost of an anti-malaria campaign in a local school
• $200 Trains Traditional Birth Attendants in malaria prevention and treatment
• $500 Provides all the resources for a one-day community leader training for 35-40 people on malaria prevention
• $28/month over three years adds up to a pledge of $1,000 that will save 100 lives - that's a whole community!

2. Send an email to your friends and family, telling them about the threat of malaria in Africa, what Imagine No Malaria is doing about it, and why you are supporting this cause. Invite them to join you in saving lives.

3. Like Imagine No Malaria - Rocky Mountain Conference on Facebook and follow @RMCbuzz on Twitter. Share or retweet a post at least once a month.

4. Host a screening of A Killer in the Dark, the documentary about the United Methodist Church's work to fight malaria in Africa. Invite friends, neighbors, coworkers, or church members to watch with you and discuss afterwards.

5. Talk to your pastor, Sunday school teacher, small group leader, or other church members to find out what your congregation is doing to support INM, and offer to help.

6. Make pipe cleaner mosquitoes with your own children or the church youth group. Sell them for donations (suggested: $5 each or 3 for $10) at church during coffee hour/fellowship time or as part of a bake sale or other event.

7. Contact your Senators and Representative in Congress to let them know that you support continued federal funding for global health work, including the President's Malaria Initiative. Tell the staff person you speak with that you are United Methodist and you are doing your part through Imagine No Malaria, and you hope the US government will continue to do its part to end this unnecessary source of suffering in our world.

8. Talk to leaders in your school, civic groups, local government, hospitals/clinics, or other congregations in your community to find out if they would like to partner with your church in saving children's lives in Africa.

9. Help your church leaders plan and put on an event that invites the whole community to come together in support of Imagine No Malaria. Possibilities include a basketball tournament, benefit concert, fundraising dinner, silent auction, knit-a-thon, variety show, or any creative option that will give people a chance to have fun while learning about malaria and giving generously.

10. Pray each week for those who suffer from malaria, for those who have lost loved ones, for the doctors, nurses, and community health workers who bring healing and hope, for those who are working in communication and advocacy, for improvements to infrastructure and social systems that will make health care more accessible for more people, and that Imagine No Malaria can be a powerful witness to God's desire for abundant life for all people as we help end deaths from malaria in Africa in our lifetime.

Thank you for whatever step you can take to help make abundant life more possible for our sisters and brothers in Africa. Together, we are bringing hope and healing to millions of people: a great testimony to the Good News of God's love made known in Jesus Christ!

The UMC and the Global Fund: a unique voice at the table

Bishop Bickerton Reports on UMC Leadership Role
at the International 4th Global Fund Replenishment Conference,
December 2013

Pittsburgh Area Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton, chair of the UMC's Global Health Initiative, shared the following report and his statement from the Global Fund Replenishment Conference with United Methodist Church leadership.  He shares it now with leadership in the Imagine No Malaria Campaign.

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

On Monday and Tuesday of this week I had the privilege of representing the people of The United Methodist Church at the 4th Global Fund Replenishment Conference in Washington, D.C.  This conference gathered under the theme “No Time to Lose: Sharing the Responsibility to Save Lives.”  This conference gathered representatives from across the world to share their commitment to the ongoing global fight against HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

During the conference, these representatives sat at tables, each taking their respective turn in making a pledge from their organization.  China made their pledge.  So did Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, France, India, and the Netherlands.  Country after country took the microphone and made their pledge for the 2014-2016 cycle.  It was then that Nafsiah Mboi, the Indonesia Minister of Health and the Chair of the Global Fund Board said these words, “I now call upon the representative from The United Methodist Church.”
 
Our church sat with government and private sector representatives as the only faith-based partner at the table in the collaborative fight against HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria.  There is no doubt that there are other faith-based organizations that are working to eliminate killer diseases.  But we are the only ones that are pledging our resources, both financial and personnel, in a joint fight with governments and the private sector. 
 
After a while in the pledging conference, persons began looking at their cell phones and notes.  But when the United Methodist Church was named, all eyes turned our way.  It was a different voice, a different organization, a different pledge of commitment.  There is no doubt that as a faith-based partner, we play a critical role on the world scene in this ongoing fight to eliminate killer diseases.  We may not have the pledging capacity of a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  We may not have the power of a large country.  But what we do have is an understanding of the local communities and villages that benefit from this collaborative effort.  What we do have is a relationship with people through traditional birth attendants, rural clinics, and hospitals.  What we do have is something a government or a private sector contributor does not have: the trust of the people.  Often we underestimate our worth.  We will not eliminate the killer diseases on our own.  But today it was very evident that the killer diseases will not be eliminated without us.  We are an essential piece in the puzzle of making the world a healthier place for all God’s children.

Below are the remarks I was privileged to share on your behalf and on behalf of all of our people.  In the midst of ongoing conflict and controversy within our church and throughout the world, there is a unifying effort taking place which requires everyone’s participation, even ours.  Today I was proud to be a United Methodist Christian.  As I left the meeting today I said a simple prayer, “Thank you God for letting me be a part of such a great church.”  I hope that this can be your prayer as well.
 
The Journey Continues,
 
Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton

Global Fund Replenishment Conference

Washington, D.C.

Pledging Remarks

Let me say a genuine word of gratitude on behalf of the people of The United Methodist church to the Global Fund for the opportunity to participate in this very important conference.

The United Methodist Church – with eleven and a half million members in the United States, Africa, Europe, and the Philippines currently has a campaign which is a holistic approach to fight malaria called “Imagine NO Malaria.”  Our goal is to raise $75 million dollars for this fight against malaria.  Part of the proceeds from this campaign is going to strengthen our United Methodist hospitals and clinics in Africa.  Another portion is going to the Global Fund.  The United Methodist Church has already contributed $8.1 million dollars to the Global Fund.  Based on the anticipated successful fundraising campaign of $75 million dollars, today The United Methodist Church is pledging another $19.9 million dollars to the Global Fund over the next three years.  This will bring our total contribution to $28 million dollars.

The United Methodist Church is the first faith-based organization to directly support the work of the Global Fund.  We are fully aware that collaboration among the governments and private sector partners around this table is a key in this fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.  None of us can eliminate these diseases of poverty on our own.

The United Methodist Church has developed health initiatives in Africa for more than a hundred years.  We provide clinics, hospitals, and community-based health services without regard to race, religion, or political creed.  This has been our calling and it is why we believe that support for indigenous health systems and infrastructures, especially on the continent of Africa, is essential to the success of the Global Fund.

As a church, we place great importance on community and faith-based health organizations and advocate for their role in the fight against HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria.  We are convinced that strategies developed on a national, or centralized level must also integrate and involve the local level, where solutions are often created and generated by local communities and people.  We want to make sure that partners such as local churches, mosques, temples, self-help groups, and schools are involved in meaningful ways in a country’s health coordination and service delivery.

Our financial commitment to the Global Fund is an affirmation of the efforts of faith-based organizations in the fight against HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria.  Churches and mosques exist in the smallest, most remote villages of sub-Saharan Africa.  Often they have no road access or electricity.  Yet, the church is there providing a significant presence and influence.  We are extremely committed to activating these community entities to support the Global Fund as well as national efforts to fight the diseases of poverty.  We believe that The United Methodist Church is in a unique position to see the challenges from both a global and local perspective, which is why we joyfully contribute to the Global Fund and also continue our church and community-based health services. We are committed to the promotion of the Global Fund in our churches around the world and continue to stand as a ready partner in delivering health services to the people who need it most.

More than 40% of the health infrastructure in Africa is run by faith organizations.  It is only in close cooperation with those systems that the Global Fund can make a difference.

I would ask all of the Global Fund sponsors and donors to work with the faith-based organizations and the civil society in eliminating deaths from HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria.  We are convinced that a collaborative effort is the right way at this place in history.  It is in a spirit of hope and partnership that we continue our pledge of $28 million dollars.

Thank you.

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.

Engaging young people around the world

Students in Anya Greenhill's
Year 12 Geography class,
East Doncaster Secondary College

In September, I (Rev. Kerry Greenhill, Field Coordinator) had an opportunity to talk about Imagine No Malaria with the very bright and engaged students of a 12th-grade Geography class in Australia. My cousin's wife, Anya Greenhill, is a teacher at East Doncaster Secondary College, and she decided to spend their final unit of the school year (which runs January to December) on malaria.

The wonders of 21st-century communication technology (Skype) allowed me to give a 15-minute presentation about the challenge of malaria in Africa, and how the people of The United Methodist Church are responding through Imagine No Malaria, and then spend another 30 minutes or so answering questions from students.

It was an excellent experience, in spite of some minor challenges in volume levels, and as I have found to be true in other settings, the young people asked questions that were every bit as insightful and probing as questions asked by adults. They had done their homework in researching both the topic of malaria and some of the background of Imagine No Malaria, and we had what I experienced as a thoughtful conversation across the thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean that separate us. Anya has set a goal to invite them to get involved in the global fight against malaria in one way or another, and it was clear that they are well on their way.

If you are a teacher or otherwise connected with a local school in some way, consider whether it might be possible to invite the students, faculty, and community to join you in learning more about malaria and in taking action to end preventable deaths from this killer disease of poverty. I'd be glad to offer support and resources (as soon as I return from vacation on Oct. 24) - just send me an email or give me a call at the Rocky Mountain Conference office!

Cheyenne Challenge

As an addition to last week's Progress Update & round-up of creative plans, I have to share this video made by the UMC pastors in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was the funniest thing to come through my inbox last week.

The five pastors of the four UMCs in Cheyenne have put together not just a local fundraising challenge/competition, but also scripted, performed, filmed, and edited the first in what will be a series of 3 videos in which they discuss Imagine No Malaria in character as old-time frontier folks. Enjoy, and feel free to share as an inspiration for others!

Imagine No Malaria - Cheyenne UMC Challenge

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!

World Malaria Day

This Thursday, April 25, is World Malaria Day. It's a time when everyone involved in the fight to end preventable deaths from malaria - churches, NGOs, hospitals, research labs, donors, advocates, government leaders, health care professionals, community educators, public health officials, and others - joins together to help raise awareness of malaria and invite others to join us in saving lives. In case this is your first time to the blog, here are the statistics:

• Malaria is a disease transmitted through the bite of a mosquito. 
• Left untreated, its flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, vomiting, headache) lead to convulsions, organ failure and countless unnecessary deaths.
• One in five children in Africa does not reach their 5th birthday because of malaria. 
• Over 655,000 people die each year because of malaria.
• Malaria is preventable, treatable and beatable: To overcome malaria, we must continue to support the most effective prevention methods. We also must improve education about the disease, continue to establish community-based malaria-control programs, conduct communications and revitalize hospitals and clinics to improve treatment across Africa.
• Imagine No Malaria is an expression of the United Methodist Global Health Initiative to raise $75 million to fight malaria on the African continent. 
• Through Imagine No Malaria, 1.2 million insecticide-treated nets have been distributed, impacting 2.4 million lives. A total of 13 health boards have been created with responsibilities in 16 countries and 5,800 health care workers have been trained.

World Malaria Day is a great opportunity to take the first step in joining the people of The United Methodist Church as we Imagine No Malaria, and then help make that vision a reality. Or, if you've already taken some first steps, it's an opportunity to pray and reflect on whether God might be nudging you to go a step further, whether that's through Advocacy on behalf of those suffering from malaria, Raising Awareness among your church or community, Raising Funds alone or with a group of like-minded friends, Engaging the Community to invite others into this extraordinary effort, or volunteering at the local, district, or conference (regional) level to support this ministry behind the scenes. Check out the Resources to Get Involved page for a complete list of ideas on how you can take part.

Our movement begins and is surrounded by prayer: Join Imagine No Malaria as we pray for all who are affected by this preventable and treatable disease.  As people of faith, we will once again through prayer ask God to bless and protect those who suffer with malaria but to also bless and protect those who  are working toward malaria’s elimination as a disease of poverty. Visit ImagineNoMalaria.org each day this week for a daily prayer, and lend your social media network to our Change the World campaign at Thunderclap to help us get the word out to invite prayers for all affected by malaria.

This year, our program staff at the General Board of Church and Society are particularly encouraging Imagine No Malaria supporters to take part in an advocacy movement to let our elected leaders know how important Global Health funding is to us as people of faith. Please consider writing to your Senators and Representatives to ask for continued support of Global Health Assistance for diseases of poverty like malaria. You can send an electronic letter simply by entering your zip code and contact information at the GBCS page for World Malaria Day Advocacy.

(There are two other petitions you can sign onto at UMPower.org: Moms for Moms, and Stand with Us Against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.)

If you're able to make a donation to move us toward our goal of ending deaths from malaria in Africa, you can do that here (2nd box down) or here (be sure to check the box near the bottom of the form for your United Methodist church/district/conference affiliation). We most often use $10, the cost of providing an insecticide-treated bed net, as our reference point for what it takes to save a life, but if you're looking for more detail, here are a few other comparisons:

Bishop Elaine helping hang a bed net in Angola

$5.00    Provides medication to treat someone with malaria
$10.00    Purchases one insecticide-treated mosquito net
$20.00    Pays for the cost of food and treatment of anemia in a pregnant women with malaria
$50.00    Buys 25 Rapid Diagnostic Kits for malaria
$100.00    Covers the expenses for an anti-malaria campaign in a local school
$200.00    Trains Traditional Birth Attendants in malaria prevention and treatment.
$500.00    Provides all the expenses for a one day community leader training for 35-40 people on malaria prevention.

And this is a great time for starting a plan to engage your community, whether through a church-sponsored event, a school-based awareness campaign, or another creative approach to inviting others to join you in saving lives. If you want to be trained to volunteer for Imagine No Malaria, be sure to contact me, kerry (at) rmcumc.com, so I can include you in plans for volunteer trainings this summer.

Whatever action you take for World Malaria Day, please let us know about it through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/RockyMountainConferenceUMC), Twitter (https://twitter.com/RMCbuzz), or by email (kerry [at] rmcumc.com). Tell us the story of what this means to you, how many lives you plan to save, how you are inviting others to make a difference through this extraordinary, life-saving ministry, so we can continue to build the movement. Thank you for all you are doing, and remember, it is God who is at work in you and through you to bring more abundant life to our sisters and brothers around the world!