CELEBRATE JESUS, CELEBRATE LIFE!
Making This an Easter like No Other: This Easter, Imagine No Malaria
A Week-by-Week Guide to Imagine No Malaria Lenten Activity
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview...... 2
Preparation ...... 3
Week-by-Week Guide ...... 4
Appendix
Additional Activity Ideas ...... 10
Children’s Sermon ...... 11
Resource Order Form ...... 12
Bulletin Inserts ...... 13
Church-Wide Appeal Letter ...... 19
Lenten Bible Study – Sunday School Lesson...... 20
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 1 OVERVIEW
Weekly Bulletin Inserts & Pulpit Announcements
Share Imagine No Malaria Sunday School Lesson on Palm Sunday
Use the “Invitation to Respond” speaking notes during the Easter ”Sunday to Save Lives”
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 2 PREPARATION
The greatest success from an Imagine No Malaria Easter Sunday to Save Lives will be possible with on- going announcements and publicity leading up to Easter, and when the suggested speaking points are specifically followed. If your committee chooses to do so, additional youth, fasting, or devotional activities can be added to this plan (see appendix).
Before Ash Wednesday Assemble your Imagine No Malaria team: 3-4 people to help organize your efforts
Ask the Imagine No Malaria team for their support, and identify other key leaders to ask for support now (Sunday School leadership, youth or children ministry leaders)
o Sample request: “How many lives do you think you can impact through this ministry? A gift of $10 will impact 1 life. A gift of $100 will impact 100 lives. Would you consider impacting the lives of 100 children with a gift of less than $1 a day? That is a pledge of $28 a month, for three years, for a total gift of $1,000. This sacrificial pledge will allow 100 children to live long lives!”
Talk with the Church Council about the campaign and determine a financial goal for your church. We recommend a goal of $100 for each worship participant, on average. (Download a goal form from www.iaumc.org/imaginenomalaria)
Set up an Imagine No Malaria display in a prominent location (easy how-to and printable graphics on our website at http://www.imaginenomalaria.org/resources/spread-the-word/ )
Order Imagine No Malaria donation envelopes from http://www.imaginenomalaria.org/resources/print-resources/ We recommend ordering one for each Sunday bulletin, or 125% of attendance.
Invite youth to create a drama to be presented in a worship service on March 17 about the malaria crisis and how the church can respond.
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 3
ASH WEDNESDAY AND WEEK 1
Ash Wednesday, February 13 Invite members to participate in a daily devotional about Imagine No Malaria. A printable version is available at www.iaumc.org/imaginenomalaria by clicking on the “Resources, Downloads, Seasonal Materials” link.
WEEK ONE: Sunday, February 17 Show video segment “Ministry Overview” from the Imagine No Malaria DVD to introduce the goals of Imagine No Malaria.
Suggested activity: if youth or children have special activities planned throughout Lent, make this the focus of the Children’s Sermon and present the activities (see appendix for ideas).
WEEK 2 & WEEK 3
WEEK TWO: Sunday, February 24 Include an Imagine No Malaria bulletin insert from the appendix.
Show video segment “Malaria Ravages Poor” from the Imagine No Malaria DVD
Share the following announcement from the pulpit:
Malaria is caused by a parasite, spread by the bite of a mosquito that only bites at night. But did you know that in parts of Africa malaria is thought to be the cause of witchcraft, a curse from one’s ancestors, or from eating too much palm oil? There are languages that don’t even have a word for malaria! That is what makes the United Methodist Community Health Workers so important. Before a net is ever handed to a family, their community has a special assembly to learn about malaria. When our nets are distributed, we go house to house having one-on-one conversations with families about the cause, prevention, symptoms and treatment of malaria. We know this method can significantly increase proper net usage, which lowers the rates of malaria and can help us eliminate this disease across Africa. You can help. On Easter we will be having a special “Sunday to Save Lives” where everyone can join our effort to save lives through Imagine No Malaria.
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 4 WEEK THREE: Sunday, March 3 Include an Imagine No Malaria bulletin insert from the appendix.
Show video segment “Elizabeth Clymer Testimonial” – can be downloaded from the conference website.
Share the following announcement from the pulpit:
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) reports that malaria is both a cause and a result of poverty. In Africa, malaria causes a net loss of $12 billion every year because of the loss of productivity due to illness and death. Malaria accounts for 40 percent of all public health expenditures, 50 percent of all outpatient visits, and 30- 50 percent of inpatient admissions to a hospital or clinic. Malaria is beatable. We have already seen dramatic decreases of malaria infection in communities where bed nets are made available. For those who become infected life saving treatment is available. Remember that on Easter Sunday we will have a special offering as part of our Imagine No Malaria Lenten emphasis. Please be in prayer about how you can help with this important cause.
WEEK 4 & WEEK 5
WEEK FOUR: Sunday, March 10 Include an Imagine No Malaria bulletin insert from the appendix.
Show video “Congo Video Diary” from the Imagine No Malaria DVD
Share the following announcement from the pulpit:
On Christmas Eve 2009, a Methodist radio station went live in the Ivory Coast to share the gospel and to inform people about malaria. The United Methodist Church has seventeen communications centers across Africa that can be used to increase knowledge of this preventable and treatable disease. A bed net can help prevent malaria, but to stop this disease, we need to go beyond nets to include better access to treatment, and greater awareness of the disease through education and communication. Through this life saving information, our church is preventing deaths every day. You can join the fight against malaria by impacting 100 lives. With less than one dollar a day in three years, you can protect 100 children from this disease. Answer the challenge on Easter Sunday.
WEEK FIVE: Sunday, March 17 Invite the youth to perform a skit about malaria and how the church can respond
Share the following announcement from the pulpit:
______United Methodist Church has heard the buzzing inside of us to help stamp out malaria! On Easter Sunday, we will have a special Sunday to Save Lives where each of us can impact lives through the Imagine No Malaria ministry. Already,
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 5 The United Methodist Church is making a difference. Three million bed nets were distributed in Sierra Leone just last month, meaning every person in the country can sleep under a bed net. The United Methodist Church made that possible. Our church is saving lives in Africa. With the gift of $28 a month, less than one dollar a day, you can save 100 lives in three years. Answer the challenge with [NAME] United Methodist Church on Easter Sunday.
WEEK 6: PALM SUNDAY, March 24
Sunday School Lesson Utilize the Sunday School lesson materials, or create your own presentation on malaria and how The United Methodist Church can help to eliminate malaria.
Each class should conclude the lesson with a request for individuals to commit to impact 100 lives with a gift of $28 a month, pledged over three years. Hand out donation envelopes to every class member so they can prayerfully consider this Impact 100 pledge.
Lesson plans for all age groups are available under “Resources” on www.ImagineNoMalaria.org or in this packet.
Worship
Include an Imagine No Malaria bulletin insert from the appendix.
Personalizing the “Sunday to Save Lives – Church Wide Appeal Letter” from the appendix and mail it out to every member of the church.
Show video segment from the DVD “Malaria is My Name”
Share the following announcement from the pulpit:
[NAME] UMC is helping to save lives through the Imagine No Malaria ministry. Plan now to be part of our special Sunday to Save Lives next Sunday and invite a friend or neighbor to join as well. Our church is joining with people from all over the world in an effort to end deaths from malaria by 2015. Our church goal for this effort is ______. As we come together in prayer next week we will remember the tragedy of families in Africa who live in fear every day because to the constant threat of this preventable and treatable disease. Please prayerfully consider how you might help. Consider whether you can answer the Impact 100 challenge and pledge a gift of $28 a month over the next three years. Your gift can impact 100 lives – providing bed nets and resources to prevent illness and provide treatment to save the lives of children who are infected. Our brothers and sisters are in need, and it is up to us to answer the call.”
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 6 WEEK SEVEN: EASTER SUNDAY, April 24 – “Sunday to Save Lives”
The focus of Easter Sunday must of course be the Celebration of Christ Resurrection and the Promise of eternal and abundant life in him. A secondary theme can be our opportunity, in Jesus’ name, to share from our abundance to meet the immediate need of people in Africa who are each day losing their lives to malaria. Personalize the service by adapting the scripture, sermon, and personal witness to the church.
During the announcements, show Video Segment “Listen to the Buzz” from the DVD. Showing this again will provide a short introduction to Imagine No Malaria for any Easter guests who have not heard it.
Consider focusing the Children’s Sermon around Imagine No Malaria (see appendix for ideas)
An Invitation to Respond: Use the recommended speaking points below to ask for contributions to this life-saving ministry. Insert a donation envelope in every bulletin and invite people to give at whatever level they feel called.
An Invitation To Respond – Special Imagine No Malaria Offering Speaking Points Over the last several weeks, we have learned about a ministry of our church that is saving lives. It is a ministry in which we can all participate to ensure deaths from malaria cease on the continent of Africa.
I know it seems daunting to imagine 2,000 children dying each day and you might not know how you can make a difference, but this is the moment when I get to remind you who you are.
You are the people of the United Methodist Church…the first church in the history of the entire world to decide to eliminate a disease as a source of death.
You have the power to save lives. For less than a dollar a day, over the next three years, you have the power to make sure 100 children live to see their fifth birthdays. With an amount of money that cannot purchase a cup of coffee at McDonalds each day, ninety-two cents, you can ensure that 100 children survive from this disease.
This is an amazing opportunity for us to serve as the salt of the earth and the light of the world. This is our chance to actively show those who are suffering from malaria that God loves them and God’s grace extends to them.
You have been called to be the light of the world and to let your light shine before men, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
You are the people of the United Methodist Church and we are bringing glory to God by being the first church in the world to eliminate a disease as a source of death in the name of Christ.
If you believe in your ability to make a difference and you know you have a dollar every day that you won’t need, just one dollar a day for three years, think about using it to save 100 lives. Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 7 I am saving 100 lives with a pledge of $28 a month over three years, and I am asking you now to join me.
By filling out the envelope that is being distributed by our ushers [or in your bulletin], you can make a pledge to save 100 lives. Simply check the highlighted section, which reads ‘Save 100 lives’. PAUSE
Then in the box at right select the frequency of your pledge, and be sure to sign at the bottom of the box. PAUSE - Best practice is to fill out an envelope yourself to pace as the members will need to pace in completing the envelope.
You can make your pledge using a voided check for an automatic deposit, a credit card, or you can send a check in every month. It is important that you indicate what you would like to do. PAUSE
If you are making a one-time gift or a pledge via credit card, be sure to sign below your credit card information as well. PAUSE
Please, take the time to fill out your envelopes now and bring them to the altar.
If you would like to participate in this ministry, but know you do not have the ability to save 100 lives, please do what you can to make a difference. Each life that we save brings glory to God.
Allow individuals to bring envelopes to the altar.
A Prayer of Dedication for the Imagine No Malaria Offering – “Holy God – you have blessed us abundantly with life and health. We remember even today the great and wondrous gift we have in your incarnation, you have come in Jesus to live among us, to teach us, and to give us the gift of salvation and healing. As we have been blessed, we seek to be a blessing to others. Take these gifts, O God, multiply them with gifts of fellow Christians from throughout the world and use them to save and heal those whose lives are being threatened even today by the scourge of malaria. You, Lord Jesus, are the great physician, use these gifts to bring healing to your children. In your most holy name we pray. Amen.”
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 8 APPENDIX
ADDITIONAL LENTEN ACTIVITY IDEAS
Water of Life Bottle Ask the children to collect change each week to fill the “Water of Life Bottle” (a water jug which will be present each week for the Children’s sermon). Make a special can or bag that children fill each week with spare change at home.
Imagine No Malaria Lenten Fast Many people like to give up something for Lent – a Friday meal, coffee, chocolate, etc. Encourage your members to use time to prayerfully remember those who are tragically affected each day by malaria. Ask members to fast for one meal, and donate the amount of the meal to Imagine No Malaria.
Lenten Devotionals Join in following the daily Imagine No Malaria Lenten devotionals. These are short, 5-minute devotions similar to Upper Room devotions. All relate to the global goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015. A booklet of the devotionals can be downloaded and printed from www.iaumc.org/imaginenomalaria
Sample Script: Youth Skit (excerpted from the North Texas Conference INM Puppet Script) Dr. Mal Aria (wearing green face paint) appears onstage from right. He is carrying a marshmallow zapper and seems to be in a hurry. Dr. Nettie Goodwater is center stage and Dr. Aria addresses her. Dr. Aria: Have you seen any mosquitoes around here. I am out to zap all the mosquitoes. It is the only way I know to get rid of Malaria. Nettie: Is zapping each mosquito the only way? Dr. Aria, I don’t think that is enough. The real way is to get rid of places mosquitoes breed and lay eggs. I go all over Africa looking for water holes that breed mosquitoes, then I help people figure out how to have clean water that does not attract mosquitoes. Dr. Aria: Well, I tried to make a vaccine that would keep people from getting malaria, but look: I fell in and turned green! That is so not working. Nettie: Stop a minute. You want to zap all the mosquitoes; I want to clean up the water so they can’t breed; and your lab is trying to make a vaccine. We may be on to something. It will take all of us working together to stop children’s deaths from malaria. Dr. Aria: You are right. But what can we do? This is serious. This disease kills a child every 60 seconds! At this point have voices from offstage ready to make suggestions. Voice 1: What about nets? I heard that sleeping under nets can stop the mosquitoes from biting. Voice 2: Keep working on a vaccine. Even if it turns you green it is worth doing. Voice 3: Tell people what is causing malaria. Then, everyone who hears can help prevent malaria. Voice 4: Send doctors who know how to treat malaria, and help families know where to get treated. Voice 5: Sounds like we all need to be Malaria Zappers. Let’s get to work on it right now! Nettie: Did you hear that Dr. Mal Aria? These folks are ready to be Malaria Zappers. If every church in our conference helped, I think we could zap malaria for good. Dr. Aria: I’m going back to my lab. Maybe the next try for a vaccine will work. Nettie: I am going back to Africa to work on cleaning up the water. Voice 1 from off stage: And we are going to get busy doing our part to make malaria disappear.
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 9 CHILDREN’S SERMON
Ask children to come forward and gather under a large net, like children in Africa.
Invite children to climb under the net like to protect them from the mosquito. Designate one child to be on the outside and pretend to be a mosquito. Have him/her circle the net buzzing and acting like he/she is trying to get in through the net. Point out that the children are safe because the mosquito cannot get through the protective net.
Ask: Why do children in Africa need to sleep under bed nets? WAIT FOR RESPONSES Share: Bed nets like this one help to stop the female anopheles [“an off a lees”] mosquito, the only one that spreads malaria. These mosquitoes only bite at night. It is especially important for children and pregnant women to sleep underneath a protective net because they are the ones who get most sick if they are infected with malaria.
Ask: If you were in Africa and someone gave you a net like this, how do you think you might use it? WAIT FOR RESPONSES Share: Some people might use the net for catching fish. Some might cut it up and use as fabric for dresses. Some families do not know that mosquitoes transfer malaria, or that sleeping under a net will keep their family safe from malaria. This is why it is very important to educate people about how important it is to use the nets properly even get the net. It is also important to inform people by using things like radio, cell phones and billboards – all common ways of communicating in Africa
Ask: When you get sick, where do you go and what do you use to get better? WAIT FOR RESPONSES Share: When children in Africa get sick, they need medicine from trained medical workers at hospitals, clinics and health posts to help them get better but not all the clinics have malaria treatment available. Our gifts to Imagine No Malaria help make sure these doctors and clinics have the resources they need to diagnose and treat malaria so no one dies of a disease that we already know how to stop!
Share: Working together our families here can help families in Africa stay healthy. We can help keep children in Africa from getting sick from malaria. Talk with your parents and your friends about malaria. Even a small gift of $10 can buy a net and train a family how to use it most effectively. Imagine… thousands of children who are able to grow big and strong because you and your family helped to save their life.
(Optional: You might consider purchasing an Imagine No Malaria bracelet for each child and give it to them at this time).
End with a prayer. “Dear God, thank you for all the ways to take care of us. For healthy bodies and good food and safe houses to live in. Help us know how we can help others. We especially pray for the children in Africa who need to be protected from malaria. We pray that you would watch over them and use the money we give to help them stay well.”
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 10 Resource Order Form
Requested by: Ship to Name: Church Name: Ship to Address: City, State, Zip: Phone: Arrive By (Date):
Resource Recommended Quantity Quantity Ordered Poster Brochure 1-5 INM Event Poster 1-5 INM Wristbands (can be sold or given away) 50% avg. attendance Offering Envelope 125% avg. attendance Pledge Cards 125% avg. attendance INM Videos on DVD* 1-5 additional (if needed)
Return the completed form to your Field Coordinator, or submit the order by Fax, email, or via mail: FAX: (515) 974-8960 EMAIL: [email protected] MAIL: UMC – Imagine No Malaria 2301 Rittenhouse St. Des Moines, IA 50321
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Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 17 CONGREGATION-WIDE APPEAL LETTER
Dear Friends:
“Watching a small child die from malaria is a horrific experience. First come the headache, tiredness, weakness in the joints and general malaise, followed by a very high fever. Then the fever’s effect on the brain causes the child’s muscles to jerk, just before the end.” ~Tom Gillem, Interpreter Jul/Aug 2009.
Our church has the opportunity to change this image and help eliminate deaths from malaria. Through Imagine No Malaria, we can save thousands of lives. “It is possible to give without loving,” said John Wesley, “but it is impossible to love without giving.” Imagine No Malaria is our opportunity to respond to our calling—to show our love through our generous gifts.
We have embraced the message “Send a Net, Save a Life” through Nothing But Nets for four years, and in doing so ignited the passion of our members for global health. With the promise and the hope of the people of The United Methodist Church, we have an opportunity to collaborate in a global effort to overcome malaria – a goal world leaders hope to accomplish by 2015. Our efforts may have started with a net, but they cannot end there.
Now we are called to strengthen the infrastructure of malaria treatment and prevention to ensure the greatest impact of this effort. We will revitalize hospitals and health-care clinics that treat malaria and distribute medication. We will support and train additional community health-care workers who educate communities about proper net usage and other simple ways to prevent malaria. We will build communications networks to spread health information. Finally, we will enhance partnerships with leaders in global health to leverage the greatest impact of our resources.
On Easter Sunday, join us in a Sunday to Save Lives and help our church reach our goal to save [XXX] lives by raising [$X,XXX]. During all services on this day, members can return gifts to support Imagine No Malaria by using the special envelope provided and placing it in the offertory.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8, NRSV says, “If there is among you anyone in need . . . do not be hard-hearted or tight- fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.”
We are blessed to live in a country where diseases of poverty like malaria do not touch our lives on a daily basis. In Africa, a child dies from malaria every 60 seconds. We can help to provide hope through this effort. Can you save 10 lives with a gift of $100? Can you save 50 lives with a gift of $500?
The spirit of Christ is in our church as we care for each other in our times of need. Blessings,
[INSERT PASTOR NAME]
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 18 Lenten Bible Study Mission Focus - Malaria
PURPOSE: Explore God’s view of our responsibility to the poor and those in need.
MATERIALS: Bibles, Small Group Discussion Questions, Imagine No Malaria DVD
INTRODUCTION ICE BREAKER:
Leader: Who remembers the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? What happened there? Why did it happen? (Genesis 18-19; Remember the point of this section is not to debate Sodom and Gomorrah, but to introduce the topic in an intriguing manner.)
Leader: Select someone to read Ezekiel 16:49 aloud.
“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.”
Leader: That is a different perspective on the story of Sodom, one that is slightly unsettling. According to this verse, why was the city destroyed?
Leader: What insight does that verse give us into the importance God places on helping others?
SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION:
Leader: Can you think of other Biblical accounts, parables, or stories that would show how God values our service to those in need?
Leader: Let’s discuss this idea in greater detail with smaller groups. Put individuals in threes or fours, unless the group is very small. Distribute different discussion questions to each group. Allow 10-15 minutes of discussion within the small groups.
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 19 SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Leviticus 19:9-10
Deuteronomy 15:7
Isaiah 58:10
Why do you think these verses suggest that protecting or providing for those in need is obligatory?
How could these verses indicate God’s expectations of us today?
What benefits do we receive by putting these verses into action in our own lives?
Luke 3:11
Luke 12:33
Jeremiah 22:16
What are these verses telling us to do?
How do these verses convey the expectations of God?
Jeremiah says that defending the poor and needy shows we know God. How? Do you believe this is true, why or why not?
Proverbs 19:17 Jeremiah 5:27-29 Luke 14:12 -14
In Jeremiah, what kind of emotions does God display concerning those who choose not to help people who are in need?
What reasons do these verses give to encourage aiding the poor?
Why do you think so many verses are in reference to serving the poor?
Proverbs 14:31 Matthew 19:21 Matthew 25:37-40
What is the reward for caring for those in need?
As Christians if we choose to look away from those in need, what characteristics of God do we fail to reflect?
Why is action towards the poor so important in these verses? Why is it important today?
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 20 LARGE GROUP DISCUSSION:
Leader: Ask each group to share the verse they found most interesting.
Leader: What do the verses you discussed showcase about God’s expectations concerning action to help the poor?
Leader: These expectations may also be considered a reflection of God’s character. In what ways has God cared for those who are in need? Following the discussion read the following verses:
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” 1 John 3: 16
“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering he will see his offspring and prolong his days and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand…because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” Isaiah 53:10; 53:12
Leader: How did Christ’s sacrifice meet our needs?
Leader: Could we remove our sins without the gift of Christ; more importantly, how did we earn this gift?
Leader: This gift was freely given to us. We did not earn it. God, acting in mercy, sacrificed Christ for our benefit, to provide for a need we could not meet on our own. Why is it important for us to reflect this characteristic of God by helping others? Following the discussion read the following verses:
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18
Leader: Reflecting God’s character means we tangibly show God’s love. This is important, because God tangibly showed love for us by sending Christ to the cross. God set an example, which we should follow.
Leader: While there are many ways we can tangibly show the love of God through action, today we are going to focus on the work of one ministry. Play Imagine No Malaria DVD Video Clip #3 “Video Diary: Congo Net Distribution”
Leader: For those who do not know, Imagine No Malaria is a ministry that seeks to eliminate deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa using a comprehensive approach.
Leader: This ministry works to provide prevention tools, medication and health-care supplies. In addition, through communication infrastructure the church is able to broadcast important health-care
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 21 messaging to communities. Finally, the church trains volunteers to teach communities about this disease and promote proper prevention techniques. How does this ministry reflect God’s love?
Leader: Malaria, unfortunately, kills mostly children who are under age five. In fact, it kills approximately 2,000 children each day. How do you imagine communities will be transformed when the church eliminates those deaths, providing protection to families from a preventable and treatable disease?
Leader: When American churches step out in faith to relieve this great burden in Africa, what are some of the positive consequences African churches are likely to experience? How can eliminating a source of death empower them to greater faith?
Leader: Do we have any Biblical examples that would encourage us to engage in this ministry? Following this discussion have three people read the following verses.
“And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13
“Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy…put it into practice.” Philippians 4:8-9
Leader: The God we serve is a God of action. We know this is true because of the gift of Christ’s sacrifice. As we have seen today, the Bible gives us numerous examples indicating that God expects us to act on behalf of those who are in need. Moreover, we have seen that this is a theme throughout the Bible, not merely in one section.
Leader: Our church has decided to participate in the ministry of Imagine No Malaria. We have determined to save lives from this disease and protect families. Before we discuss how you think you will participate, let’s describe some things.
Leader: What does 92 cents mean to you? How about 28 dollars?
Leader: 92 cents really does not mean much to us. It has virtually no purchasing power. What do you think it could mean for children in Africa?
Leader: Believe it or not, 28 dollars a month or about 92 cents a day, has the power to save 100 lives in Africa over the course of three years. 100 children can grow up protected from the devastating effects of malaria. Suddenly, that 92 cents has a lot more potential and its purchasing power has exponentially increased.
Leader: What about 10 dollars, what does that mean to you?
Leader: It costs approximately $10 to save one life in Africa. That just is not a sum of money that can be very transformational for most of us, but it has significant power to transform communities in Africa.
Imagine No Malaria: Week-by-Week Guide for Lent 22 Leader: Why do we celebrate Lent? What does it mean?
Leader: During Lent we remember Christ’s atoning sacrifice, a free gift we could in no way earn from God. We remember that Christ literally chose the cross for our benefit; he was not obliged; he chose to give himself up for our redemption.
Leader: In our study today, what have we learned is the best means of reflecting God’s character showcased in the gift of Christ?
Leader: We learned that we are called to act for those in need, as God acted for us. God expects us to care for the poor, the sick, and the oppressed. The ministry of Imagine No Malaria is one way our church has decided to reflect God’s love for those in need. Can you save 100 lives in three years for $28 a month? Can you save one, ten…twenty lives? What is possible for your family to achieve?
Closing Prayer: God in your mercy you gave us your Son, who took the sins of the world as his burden. You gave us freedom and did not ask to be repaid. As we attempt to reflect your love through the ministry of Imagine No Malaria, help us to be mindful of your expectations for us to represent you well. Thank you for your extravagant generosity towards us; give us the boldness we need to be generous to our neighbors. Amen.
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