Ending malaria for good

By Bishop Jonathan Holston

“So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit.”—Galatians 6:9

In June 2015, laity and clergy across the South Carolina Annual Conference accepted the clarion call to end deaths by malaria.

On April 25, we will continue this effort and join with people across the world to participate in World Malaria Day. Yet for half the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, everyday is malaria day—a day to keep up the fight against this killer disease.

Every 60 seconds, malaria claims a life in Africa. It kills more than 655,000 people each year, most of them young children and women. Transmitted through the anopheles mosquito, malaria is a parasite that causes fever, vomiting and joint pain. Left untreated, its symptoms progress to convulsions, organ failure and death.

Yet malaria is 100 percent preventable, treatable and beatable! That’s why South Carolina United Methodists join with the global health community in efforts to eliminate malaria.

The Imagine No Malaria campaign is about connecting with people across the globe to end deaths by malaria. It is about serving with the generous people of the South Carolina Conference to achieve our signature goal of $1 million for this effort.

So let’s roll up our sleeves and sacrifice for something greater than ourselves. It’s a day to give toward our $1 million goal. The stakes are high.

World Malaria Day is our opportunity to share in a mission that ends malaria for good. On April 25, let’s Imagine No Malaria—together!