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?The situation in Africa isn?t a crisis, it?s an emergency, maybe the greatest emergency of our time...?  

I was at a technology conference in California last February when I heard those words. They were spoken by Bono, the U2 rock star and keynote speaker. Those words resonated with me and tugged at my heartstrings even after I returned home to Washington.

I began to look for an opportunity to act and found it in the ONE Campaign, a new American effort to rally American citizens to overcome global AIDS, extreme poverty and hunger. I shared it with the members of my church, Wesley UMC.

This message wasn?t new to our congregation. The Rev. Whit Hutchison explains to us each Sunday in a multitude of ways that as Christians we must extend ourselves beyond our comfort zones, try to reach beyond our limitations, look for ways to be of service and put our Christian values and teachings into action to take care of those in need.

 If we use our collective consciousness, join our voices together, we will become agents of social change and have an impact on the injustice in the world. 

My husband and I are co-chairs of the Missions and Social Concerns Committee so we introduced the idea of the ONE Campaign to the committee and the idea was embraced with enthusiasm. 

On June 1 we hosted an event for the ONE Campaign at Wesley. We opened our doors to the community to the goal of the ONE Campaign -- to urge our government and the governments of the G-8 nations to dedicate 1 percent of their national budgets to put an end to the crisis now. 

The solutions, the recommendations and the call to action are both personal and collective. The message is that we as individuals must do our part, and we must join and unite our voices together as ONE to influence the greater powers in the world to make this change and save God?s poorest and most devastated people. More than a hundred people heard the message that night, and they are now in the community wearing white wrist bands and engaging others to sign the ONE Campaign declaration.

The energy of the ONE Campaign continues to thrive at Wesley UMC. We?re planning another ONE event to be held at the church Sept. 10.  It will be another opportunity to be advocates for one of the greatest challenges facing our world today. 

For more information about how Wesley became involved with the ONE Campaign or if you would like to know more about our September event, please contact the church office at  (202) 966-5144. To learn more about the ONE Campaign and to sign the declaration, please visit www.bread.org/ONEstep.

Pam Siekman

Wesley UMC, Washington, D.C.