In 1 Peter 1:17-23, Peter is keen to point out just what has been done for us—about the lengths Christ went for us and the cost that was paid, about the new start that has been given, and the new life that this affords.
The new creation that we have become is one of loving responders to the grace within us. We are not free to hate because of the obligation this new life has laid upon us. We are not free to hold grudges because we have been born anew of imperishable seed, Peter argues. We are set free to love, genuinely and deeply, not out of obligation or routine.
The bonds have been loosed, so we can remember who we were, give thanks to the God who loved us into life, and love one another with a powerful transforming love. It is a high calling, but a deep privilege and joy.
In 2008, the United Methodist Church joined part of a global effort against malaria, embarking upon a $75,000,000 “Imagine No Malaria” fundraising campaign leveraging on the success of the Nothing But Nets partnership with the United Nations Foundation. The United Methodist Church’s Imagine No Malaria program is working together with UMC health boards in Sub-Saharan Africa to increase access to and utilization of malaria preventative measures, diagnosis, and treatment services.
Overcoming malaria will require educating communities and health care workers, developing health care infrastructure, and making advancements in health care communications along with net distributions. Imagine No Malaria is the United Methodist church-wide effort to create a powerful foundation that will build a stronger broad-based community health infrastructure to help fight against diseases of poverty.
Thanks to the dedication of The United Methodist Church and our partners, thousands of people will be alive in the coming years that might otherwise have fallen victim to malaria.
You can give by adding “Imagine No Malaria” to your gift online.
Raise A Hallelujah
I Love To Tell The Story
Holy Spirit
Breathe
Glorious Day