Category: Stories
Tech Fail.
15th March
Dan (a senior pastor):
“I used the first three weeks of October to promote a Malaria Sunday campaign. My sanctuary technology collapsed just before the first service – so we conducted the entire campaign without showing a single trailer or video…it was all hand-outs and pulpit announcements…that’s tough in a visual, entertainment-minded culture. But we exceeded our goal…in fact, more than doubled it! But there was one outcome we did not expect: the Malaria Sunday did not negatively impact our local church income through tithes and offerings. That October was either the highest or close to highest giving in the history of our church. God honored our faith and His word: Luke 6:38.”
Casual Conversation.
15th March
Dennis (a denominational bishop and senior pastor), relates:
“We asked the members of our church to join the war against malaria by purchasing treated bed nets. One lady in our congregation, a nurse, works in a hospital. On Monday morning she was casually sharing with co-workers over lunch what her church was doing to protect and save the lives of children in Africa. “No child should die from a mosquito bite,” she commented. To her utter surprise (for she was not fund-raising or soliciting donations), they offered to pitch in and help. Word got around and before long doctors and nurses had given her $250 to take to her church. These medical professionals know this disease is 100% preventable, and they wanted to help.”
Overheard.
15th March
Ramona (a World Vision volunteer and homemaker), shares:
“In preparation for selling our home, we hired a lady to remove outdated wallpaper from our kitchen walls. She was all business…focused on her task, listening to music on her earphones, and rarely speaking a word. I was busy on the phone contacting pastors about the War on Malaria, answering their questions, and doing all I could to save the lives of children in Africa, where 91% of all malaria deaths occur. Apparently she was able to listen to my half of the conversations…for when I completed one call she said, “I would like to give $6 to buy a net, and I have several friends who I think would want to help too!”
Children Fighting for Children.
15th March
Bjorn (a children’s pastor), tells his story:
“After receiving the malaria net information I decided it would be an awesome opportunity to share with my children how we could be living examples of Christ to the children of Africa. As of family of five we would give two nets per person. I wanted my kids to know that because of the abundance we have, we could, as a family, save 20 kids from malaria with a small gift of $60. I explained this is what being a Christian is really about…about living out our faith.
What really surprised me was their response. My eight-year old daughter, Emilie, came to my wife in tears with cash in her hand to pay for another net. She felt so badly for the children of Africa and has been praying for them since. My 12-year … Read More »
Generosity From Inception.
15th March
Darrick (a church planter), in an email:
“Our church isn’t launched yet, but we want to be a church that practices generosity from its inception, and this War on Malaria is a great way for us to begin. We are asking the people on our launch team to get involved…I am praying and believing for $1,200 to purchase 200 nets this year.”
Mama Rose.
15th March
Larry (from the Huffington Post, posted April 2011):
“Mama Rose Nambing lives alone in her community in a small village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. No one speaks to her, and people avoid her. Mama Rose has lost her entire family, seven children and her husband, to malaria. Her isolation is because people are afraid they might be touched by the same fate. As she explains these deaths, she gazes into the distance. She did not know malaria comes from mosquitoes. She did not know… this deadly disease…takes a child every 45 seconds in Africa. Now Mama Rose is alone. But across the continent, mothers just like her continue to cradle sick children and watch them grow worse, as the malaria parasite attacks their bodies.”
LemonAID Stand.
15th March
Rhonda (a mom, and wife of a Bible College president), emailed:
“Our son birthed the idea of “Lemonade for Life:” now our friends and college students are busy building the lemonade stand, designing T-shirts, and creating video and printed material. Everyone is excited! We are already scheduled for appearances in Missour4i, Texas, Arkansas and California. We are fully committed to the cause of ending malaria deaths by 2015. In fact, while waiting in the doctor’s office today, Evan (our son) asked a mother close by, “Have you heard about malaria?” She had given $6.00 before the conversation ended.”
Slideshow:
Fullscreen:
Christmas x2.
15th March
Greg (a senior pastor), in an email:
“Our small church set a goal of 100 nets by Christmas day – one for each person in our congregation. With three weeks to go our people had already met that goal. The Holy Spirit nudged me to believe God for a “double portion,” so I challenged our people with the vision of 200 nets. To God be the glory – on Christmas eve we celebrate the final in-gathering – enough for 200 treated bed nets to save 400 children from the threat of malaria.”
The Congo.
15th March
John (a World Vision employee), emailing from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC):
“It’s been a rough day. We visited a hospital where we saw a young girl being treated for malaria. She was hooked to an IV receiving a blood transfusion; she was sweating heavily. Thirty minutes later she died. A six dollar bed net could have saved her life. The nurse told me last week there were 15 children admitted, most of them malaria patients. Five of them have died. This hospital is the largest in the area and it does not even have insecticide-treated bed nets for patients.”
John, upon returning from the DRC:
“I was in one village where a senior pastor told me he had conducted 20 funerals for children that month. Most died from malaria. Many parents do not even name their children until the age of … Read More »
Do More.
15th March
PJ (a student ministry leader with DoGoodExperience), in a phone interview:
“It was MLK weekend, January 2012. The event was branded DoMore. Three intense days were set aside for 21 “cream-of-the-crop” students who had been nominated by their student pastors. The purpose of the gathering was crystal clear: teach students how to make their ideas to impact culture through social good and the Gospel become realities. The process was intentional: bring world-class mentors to share their lessons in life about learning from failure, innovation/creativity, collaboration, leveraging social media, story-telling/vision casting, and fund-raising. The classroom and small group exercises changed their lives, and consumed half of their time.
Ah…but they were assembled to DoMore! Now they were to collaborate on the lessons learned, and develop and implement a strategy to combat a specific social need. On this occasion it was to declare war … Read More »
