General Conference – Day 3
April 25, 2008
Today is World Malaria Day. It is a day to remember those who have lost their lives to this killer disease and a day to focus on what we, as individuals and as a church, do to eliminate this disease from our vocabulary. As you might imagine, this has been a special day for me due to my involvement in the “Nothing But Nets” anti-malarial campaign.
Our day began with a sermon from our own Bishop Machado, the resident bishop in Mozambique. Bishop Machado has had malaria over 60 times in his life and has survived. His sermon recounted the saints that God provided to his homeland who introduced the word of God, cared for the people through the hospitals & clinics, taught the people in the established schools and gave the people the gift of “A Future with Hope.” Bishop Machado said that he felt the theme chosen for this General Conference was a gift from God.
After doing some preliminary business (nominations of persons for the University Senate & the Judicial Council; recognition of our affiliated autonomous, united and concordat church delegates; and other organizational matters), I had the opportunity to address the General Conference concerning malaria and “Nothing but Nets.” We showed a video we have just completed giving stories of the various groups across the country who are doing “net raising” events.
I also had the opportunity to share with the delegates my recent trip to the UN. After that, I went into the crowd and told the story of how Bishop Nhiwatiwa’s daughter died of malaria on my Elizabeth’s 24th birthday. I ended up at the center table to finish my presentation the same way I have in every venue where I have spoken about “Nothing but Nets” over the past two years. I held up a $10 bill and simply invited the General Conference to “Buy a net – Save a life” on this World Malaria Day. The aisles were flooded with people in a matter of moments. All told, $13, 530 was raised today. That’s 1, 353 nets for 1, 353 children. Not bad. Still a long way to go, to be sure, but not bad! You can see the part of the speech I delivered in the aisle as well as the video we shared on the General Conference section at http://www.umc.org/.
Following that, Bishop Felton May, Larry Hollon from UMCOM and I shared in a press conference with the media. The questions flooded in for better than an hour. It was quite inspiring.
This has been a really good day. I suppose it's safe to say that any day I can motivate someone to buy a mosquito net and save a child’s life is a good day for me.
I pray that it’s a good day for you too. Be blessed!
The Journey Continues, . . .
April 25, 2008
Today is World Malaria Day. It is a day to remember those who have lost their lives to this killer disease and a day to focus on what we, as individuals and as a church, do to eliminate this disease from our vocabulary. As you might imagine, this has been a special day for me due to my involvement in the “Nothing But Nets” anti-malarial campaign.
Our day began with a sermon from our own Bishop Machado, the resident bishop in Mozambique. Bishop Machado has had malaria over 60 times in his life and has survived. His sermon recounted the saints that God provided to his homeland who introduced the word of God, cared for the people through the hospitals & clinics, taught the people in the established schools and gave the people the gift of “A Future with Hope.” Bishop Machado said that he felt the theme chosen for this General Conference was a gift from God.
After doing some preliminary business (nominations of persons for the University Senate & the Judicial Council; recognition of our affiliated autonomous, united and concordat church delegates; and other organizational matters), I had the opportunity to address the General Conference concerning malaria and “Nothing but Nets.” We showed a video we have just completed giving stories of the various groups across the country who are doing “net raising” events.
I also had the opportunity to share with the delegates my recent trip to the UN. After that, I went into the crowd and told the story of how Bishop Nhiwatiwa’s daughter died of malaria on my Elizabeth’s 24th birthday. I ended up at the center table to finish my presentation the same way I have in every venue where I have spoken about “Nothing but Nets” over the past two years. I held up a $10 bill and simply invited the General Conference to “Buy a net – Save a life” on this World Malaria Day. The aisles were flooded with people in a matter of moments. All told, $13, 530 was raised today. That’s 1, 353 nets for 1, 353 children. Not bad. Still a long way to go, to be sure, but not bad! You can see the part of the speech I delivered in the aisle as well as the video we shared on the General Conference section at http://www.umc.org/.
Following that, Bishop Felton May, Larry Hollon from UMCOM and I shared in a press conference with the media. The questions flooded in for better than an hour. It was quite inspiring.
This has been a really good day. I suppose it's safe to say that any day I can motivate someone to buy a mosquito net and save a child’s life is a good day for me.
I pray that it’s a good day for you too. Be blessed!
The Journey Continues, . . .
posted by Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton @ 2:19 AM
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