Years ago, Ames Church used to sponsor the Love Loaf offerings to fight against world hunger. The loaf banks are no longer available, so we are going to change our focus from food to eradicating malaria.
Almost 300 years ago, John Wesley explained the moral implications of what is now fashionably called globalization. Wesley’s statement,
“I look on all the world as my parish,” describes our mutual responsibility.
The United Methodist Church was a founding partner of the Nothing But Nets anti-Malaria campaign, which fights the disease by purchasing and distributing insecticide-treated sleeping nets in Africa. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation joined with the Methodist church in trying to wipe out the world’s worst killer of children. Recently the Detroit and West Michigan Conferences approved an effort to invite every United Methodist Church in Michigan to save the life of one person in Africa for every member of their faith community. The funds we collect for this effort will go beyond simple protection to finding a cure for malaria. Ames’ World Missions team is asking for your help with this effort. Start collecting your loose change in January and we will take our first quarterly offering for “Imagine No Malaria” during our church services on Sunday, March 9th. Watch for more information about this program in the new year.
