Malaria campaign begins
By BARBARA DUNLAP-BERG
UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE
People aren’t looking for religious meetings, the Rev. Mike Slaughter said. “They’re looking for religious meaning.”
Members of his church – Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp City, Ohio – find that meaning in reaching out and changing the world.
At an Abingdon Press launch party, held the day after Slaughter appeared at the Prodigal Worship event in Frederick, Ed Kowalski, senior vice president of the United Methodist Publishing House, presented Slaughter with a check for $50,000. That figure represents
5 percent of Cokesbury sales for the Change the World celebration April 7-10, and the check goes straight to the Imagine No Malaria campaign.
Imagine No Malaria is a new effort of The United Methodist Church to raise $75 million to eliminate malaria deaths in Africa by 2015. The ministry launched officially to the denomination on World Malaria Day, April 25, during a special event at the Texas State Capitol in Austin.
Calling Isaiah 61 “the mission statement of Jesus,” Slaughter said, “If it ain’t good news for the poor, it ain’t the Gospel. The way of the cross is about giving lives for the least, the lost and the oppressed.”
The scope of Ginghamsburg’s mission is as close as Dayton, Ohio, and as far as Darfur, Sudan, where fighting between rebels and state-backed militias have forced 2.5 million people from their homes.
The only way to see true transformation is to “reclaim the message of Jesus Christ,” Slaughter said.
A few years ago, he introduced “Christmas Is Not Your Birthday” to his congregation. He invited them to “give the same amount you spend for yourself and your family to the people of Sudan.”
News of Cokesbury’s $50,000 donation seemed a perfect kickoff to Change the World, a Rethink Church event, April 24-25. On that weekend, Christians around the world joined in lcoal and global service projects.
Both a cause and a result of extreme poverty, malaria annually claims more than a million lives and is responsible for the death of one child every 30 seconds. Economically, malaria’s impact in Africa is an estimated $12 billion per year.
“Even our smallest churches can have incredible impact when they leave their four walls to serve the needs of their neighbors, alongside their neighbors,” Slaughter said.
“That’s what (changing the world is) all about: working together to save lives.”
UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE
People aren’t looking for religious meetings, the Rev. Mike Slaughter said. “They’re looking for religious meaning.”
Members of his church – Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp City, Ohio – find that meaning in reaching out and changing the world.
At an Abingdon Press launch party, held the day after Slaughter appeared at the Prodigal Worship event in Frederick, Ed Kowalski, senior vice president of the United Methodist Publishing House, presented Slaughter with a check for $50,000. That figure represents
5 percent of Cokesbury sales for the Change the World celebration April 7-10, and the check goes straight to the Imagine No Malaria campaign.
Imagine No Malaria is a new effort of The United Methodist Church to raise $75 million to eliminate malaria deaths in Africa by 2015. The ministry launched officially to the denomination on World Malaria Day, April 25, during a special event at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. Calling Isaiah 61 “the mission statement of Jesus,” Slaughter said, “If it ain’t good news for the poor, it ain’t the Gospel. The way of the cross is about giving lives for the least, the lost and the oppressed.”
The scope of Ginghamsburg’s mission is as close as Dayton, Ohio, and as far as Darfur, Sudan, where fighting between rebels and state-backed militias have forced 2.5 million people from their homes.
The only way to see true transformation is to “reclaim the message of Jesus Christ,” Slaughter said.
A few years ago, he introduced “Christmas Is Not Your Birthday” to his congregation. He invited them to “give the same amount you spend for yourself and your family to the people of Sudan.”
News of Cokesbury’s $50,000 donation seemed a perfect kickoff to Change the World, a Rethink Church event, April 24-25. On that weekend, Christians around the world joined in lcoal and global service projects.
Both a cause and a result of extreme poverty, malaria annually claims more than a million lives and is responsible for the death of one child every 30 seconds. Economically, malaria’s impact in Africa is an estimated $12 billion per year.
“Even our smallest churches can have incredible impact when they leave their four walls to serve the needs of their neighbors, alongside their neighbors,” Slaughter said.
“That’s what (changing the world is) all about: working together to save lives.”
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