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By Melissa Lauber
UMConnection Staff

Advent is a season of anticipation. We celebrate the birth of a baby in Bethlehem and look forward to the coming of Christ anew in our lives. We tell the ancient stories of the newborn infant as savior, and dream of the world that will be created when this savior reigns in our hearts.

In this sacred season, you, your family and your church are invited to experience that anticipation in a unique and meaningful way as United Methodists around the globe stand on the verge of ending deaths by malaria in Africa.

In Matthew 2:13-18, we read about how the infant Jesus escaped the slaughter of the innocents, in which thousands of children were killed. Such horrors are not limited to history. Today, malaria kills one child every minute in Africa.

As we celebrate Advent this year, 37,440 children will die of malaria. Their deaths were preventable. But you, your family and your church can stop more children from dying by contributing to Imagine No Malaria, an initiative to provide insecticide-treated bed nets, education, communication and more that will end this treatable and beatable disease.

Part of the ritual of Advent is purchasing gifts for others that express the joy of Christmas. We also decorate our homes and churches, host parties and participate in a vast array of traditions that mark the holiday as a special one.

This Christmas, you are invited to include the Imagine No Malaria ministry as part of your celebration. Perhaps you’d like to give a gift to end malaria in honor of a loved one. Maybe you want to remember someone who has made a difference in your life by giving a gift of life in their name. Maybe instead of decorating the altar with poinsettias, your congregation would want to help life bloom with a contribution to the campaign. Or perhaps your Sunday school class might want to hold a fundraiser to save the lives of children. The possibilities for Christmas miracles are endless.

For information on how you can save lives this Christmas or to make a donation, visit www.bwcumc.org/ImagineNoMalaria. As you move through the season, you’ll also want to learn more about malaria and the church’s response. Visit www.imaginenomalaria.org.

As you light each week’s Advent candles, we invite you to reflect on how the coming of Christ and how your life and generosity can intersect with life-giving actions as together, we imagine a world with no malaria.

The first week in Advent: We believe in Hope

As we begin Advent, we light a candle to banish the darkness of pain, disease and suffering. In the candle’s glow, we are aware of the words of the prophets of old, who foretold the coming of the Light of the World, and of today’s prophets who tell us that it is possible to banish needless deaths from our midst.  We pray:

Beloved God:  Our lives and our world sometimes feel overflowing with reasons for regret and lamentation.  We know too much of sorrow. But we also know from the prophet Isaiah that the people who walk in darkness will see a great light. You, Lord, expand our joy, for a child has been born – for us – and there will be no limits to the wholeness he brings. Help us in this time of anticipation to craft new hopes and to dream new dreams of a world where joy overshadows sorrow and dancing overcomes our mourning. Then, God, make us strong and generous enough to be the bearers of those dreams to the world. Help us to create the world we crave. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The second week of Advent: We believe in Peace

As we light the second Advent candle, we remember the words of philosopher Baruch Spinoza that “peace is not an absence of war, it’s a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.” Peace means not only living in the presence of God, but inviting and enabling others, especially those who are sick or hurting or less fortunate than we are, to dwell in shalom with us. We pray:

Beloved God: In the good, in the bad, and even in the most ordinary moments of our lives, we know that your love abides. In Jeremiah we read that you have declared your plans for us to prosper, to live in hope and to have a future. The prophet tells us that when we seek you with all our heart, we will find you. This Advent, Lord, we seek you, confident that the hope and future you promise extends to all your children. Help us to be agents of your peace. Let even the smallest choices we make and the actions we take serve and glorify you. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

The third week of Advent: We believe in Faith

The third candle in the Advent wreath is often pink, set apart to be lit on Gaudete (rejoice) Sunday. The name reflects the Scripture in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say rejoice.” This candle also often symbolizes Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was told by an angel in Luke 2 that she, a virgin, would bear the son of God. Mary answered the annunciation with an audacious “Yes” that still inspires today. This Advent, we seek to echo Mary’s yes, with yeses of our own as we work to bring the possibility of life to children across Africa and the world. We pray:

Dearest God: The angel who visited Mary told her that nothing is impossible with you. In our hearts, we don’t always believe that’s true. Sometimes we seek to limit your power or our response to your call to do astonishing things. Lord, this Advent, we ask that you make us midwives to remarkable things, created to honor you and to bring healing and wholeness to our world. Help us recognize the sacred in everything we touch and everyone we encounter. Help us to be vulnerable so that we can discover the strength to do the impossible and transform the world. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

The fourth week in Advent: We believe in Love

 As we light the final Advent candle, we are reminded this is a sacred season in which memory and imagination often merge. Our past and future weave themselves into the present day, to love.

Dearest God: Too often we get mired in the familiar and close ourselves off in solitude or in a circle of community with those to whom we feel close. But we are not alone. You created us as a global community, woven together in a tapestry that tells the human story. As Advent’s flame lights the darkness, let us be a light to the world. Help us to shine through the generosity of our gifts, our willingness to act on behalf of the least and the lost, and our ability to love beyond comfort. Let the old hymn be true: Let the world “know we are Christians by our love.” Together, as people of faith, we cry out: “Come, Lord Jesus, come.”  So be it. Amen.