Jars of Clay asks crowd to Imagine No Malaria
By The Rev. Kathy Noble*
9:30 P.M. EST April 25, 2010 | AUSTIN, Texas (UMNS)
To Wilson Pruitt, there’s no need to debate whether efforts should be made to stop suffering from malaria in Africa. “It’s a simple issue,” he says, “There’s no conflict. There is no one who is for malaria.”
Pruitt, a member of First United Methodist Church in Austin, was among nearly 2,000 people gathered on the lawn of the Texas State Capitol on April 25, World Malaria Day, for the official launch of Imagine No Malaria. The initiative is The United Methodist Church’s campaign to raise $75 million toward the elimination of deaths and suffering from malaria in Africa by 2015.
Grammy and Dove Award-winning Christian rock band Jars of Clay headlined the event that brought Austin area bands, singers and drummers together with United Methodist leaders and representatives of the United Nations Foundation and other partners to spread a common message: Malaria is preventable; malaria is treatable. One out of five children in Africa under 5 does not need to die of the disease. The gifts of United Methodists that have provided insecticide-treated bed nets and education are already making a difference.
“What I’ve learned about malaria today is that it is a very treatable disease,” Dan Haseltine, lead vocalist of Jars of Clay, said. “What makes it such an injustice is that over 1 million children die every year of malaria.”
“It blows my mind there are people dying of this disease,” Stephen Mason, Jars guitarist, said. “We can do something to stop it. That’s not true of a lot of diseases today.”
Tags: Imagine No Malaria, Jars of Clay, UMNS
