MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- The work of the Lutheran Malaria Initiative is already saving lives in Africa, the Rev. John A. Nunes, president and CEO, Lutheran World Relief, told the 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 17-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,045 ELCA voting members.
Voting members supported development of the Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI) by a vote of 989 to 11, an action they took on Aug. 18.
Lutheran World Relief is an ecumenical partnership of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod (LCMS), dedicated to helping people grow food, improve health, strengthen communities, end conflict, build livelihoods and recover from disasters.
Nunes, an LCMS pastor, said more than 135,000 community members and 27,000 Sunday school children have already been reached.
He also presented the new logo for the LMI to for the first time. The logo is an interweaving of crosses that form a net. Nunes said that net not only represents mosquito nets that will save lives from malaria, but the cross represents the initiativeï¿1⁄2s motivation.
"There is no greater service of God than Christian love which helps and serves people in need," Nunes said.
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Information about the 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at http://www.elca.org/assembly on the Web.
Information on Lutheran World Federation can be found at http://www.lwf.org on the Web.
* Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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