World Malaria Day 2013

Thank you

Thank you for your prayers, parternership and support of the ELCA Malaria Campaign for World Malaria Day 2013.

We are still counting the generous gifts that came in during the week of April 22-April 29. The matching gift challenge was met and we have passed our goal of raising $250,000! We will update you soon with how much money was raised during this special week.

Thanks to you, the ELCA Malaria Campaign is able to launch work in Uganda!

Please continue to learn about malaria and how the ELCA Malaria Campaign is at work. Use the resources below throughout the year.

Invite your congregation to dedicate its offering or take a special offering for the ELCA Malaria Campaign. Order free offering envelopes. Or checks can be mailed to ELCA Malaria Campaign at P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, IL 60694-1764.

Find service ideas on how to involve the entire congregation.
Pray for those affected by malaria by using the suggested prayers, litanies and hymns below specifically made for World Malaria Day.
Show the ELCA Malaria Campaign video before or during church service.
Find more resources online and visit the malaria blog.

Service ideas

Download this PowerPoint and script to educate others about World Malaria Day, the ELCA Malaria Campaign and the work we hope to start in Uganda. Use this for adult education hour or as a presentation during service.
Download, print and share this country profile, highlighting the work in Uganda.
Decorate the sanctuary in mosquito nets. (Nets can be purchased at camping or military surplus stores.)
Every 60 seconds a child in Africa dies of malaria. That means that during the course of an hour-long worship service, an average of 60 children die of malaria. A powerful way to commemorate the lives of these children is by ringing a bell or playing a note on the organ every 60 seconds during the spoken parts of the liturgy (including the sermon).

Suggested hymns:

Healer of Our Every Ill (ELW 612)
We Come to You for Healing, Lord (ELW 617)
Ubi Caritas et Amor (ELW 642)
Jesu, Jesu, Fill Us With Your Love (ELW 708)
Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service (ELW 712)
Light Dawns on a Weary World (ELW 726)
The Church of Christ, in Every Age (ELW 729): Stanza 4 is especially appropriate to our malaria work: "For he alone, whose blood was shed, can cure the fever in our blood…" (The malaria parasite lives in a human’s bloodstream and causes a high fever.)
We are Marching in the Light (ELW 866)

Litany

It comes like a thief in the night, stealing health and hope;
Lord of love, bring healing to your broken world.
Suffering from malaria, your people cry out to you;
Lord of love, bring healing to your broken world.
Under the yoke of disease, the walk to the clinic is long;
Lord of love, bring healing to your broken world.

Resources at our fingertips, love on the tips of our tongues;
Lord of hope, use us to heal your world.
We have an abundance of gifts, given to us to share;
Lord of hope, use us to heal your world.
With our sisters and brothers in Africa, standing ready to serve;
Lord of hope, use us to heal your world.

Lord, you teach us to love;
Not in word or speech, but in truth and action
And so, in truth and action
Let us share your love.

Prayers of the people:

Forgiving God, we confess that we fail to hear the cries of the world. Turn us from selfishness outward. Help us to listen to the voices of others who suffer, in our neighborhood and in our world, and to respond with generosity of heart.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Almighty God, you rule with a gracious arm and a loving heart. Inspire governments and leaders to guide their people with justice and to work toward peace. Teach us all to act with mercy so that the hungry are fed, the sick are healed, and the vulnerable are protected.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Compassionate God, you call doctors and nurses and health care providers into lives of caring and service. Strengthen the hands of those who do your work of healing — both at home and in faraway places — so that they may minister to others with courage and strength.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Living God, you bring light from darkness and life from death. Embrace with your healing arms all those who suffer, especially those whom we name aloud or in our hearts. [… ] Bring healing of body and mind to those who are sick, especially those whose lives are impacted by malaria and other diseases intensified by poverty.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Eternal God, we commend to your loving care those who have died, especially […]. Comfort their loved ones with your promise of eternal life, and embolden us to work toward a world where no one must die of preventable and curable diseases.
Lord in your mercy… hear our prayer.

Pastor: Into your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.