News

Text Your Donation to Help 'Slam Dunk Malaria'

In the time it takes to make a free-throw, a child will have died of malaria. It happens every 30 seconds.   That's why this year, as the Bishop's Reception event at Annual Conference Session, we're going to "Slam Dunk Malaria"!   Friday evening has been set aside as a fundraiser for Imagine No Malaria – "a ministry of the people of The United Methodist Church to eliminate death and suffering from malaria in Africa by the year 2015." Since...

Change the World Participation Makes an Impact: First Year Success Leads to 2011 Event

More than 100,000 people from more than 1,000 churches united with a common purpose over a 48-hour period in April: to make a world of difference in ways both large and small. United Methodists from 13 countries and every state in the U.S. energetically worked to build community locally and fight malaria globally during Change the World weekend, April 24-25. Congregations at local churches rolled up their sleeves and took to the streets to feed the hungry, aid the homeless, and visit the...

Help 'Slam Dunk Malaria' at ACS This Year!

This year, instead of the traditional Bishop's Reception at Annual Conference Session, we're going to "Slam Dunk Malaria"! Friday evening has been set aside as a fundraiser for Imagine No Malaria – and since NothingButNets is a big part of the Imagine No Malaria initiative, we're giving the event a basketball theme.   Of course Bishop Brown will be there – and there will be several ways for to you to participate and contribute (including text contributions!), that...

More on Thinking Globally, Acting Locally

A mere $10 at a time, the Imagine No Malaria campaign has reached its first fundraising goal of $10 million.   Fresh off of the campaign's April 25 launch in Austin, Texas, the Rev. Larry Hollon, top staff executive of United Methodist Communications, reflects on the modest beginnings of the Nothing but Nets program and his recent experience in distributing 15,000 nets in a Democratic Republic of Congo town. Read complete commentary here.  ...

Jars of Clay Asks Crowd to Imagine No Malaria

By The Rev. Kathy Noble* 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...

United Methodist Council of Bishops to Meet in Columbus May 2-7

Columbus, Ohio: More than 111 United Methodist bishops from Africa, Europe, Asia and the U.S. will converge in Columbus, Ohio for the semi-annual United Methodist Council of Bishops meeting to explore ways to sharpen the church's focus on ministry with the poor and eliminating the global diseases of poverty. "The people of The United Methodist Church are reaching out to end poverty and its causes, as well as working to combat the preventable diseases of poverty," said Bishop...

Imagine No Malaria Officially Launches on World Malaria Day

Celebration Will Be Broadcast Live Via Streaming Video NASHVILLE, TENN. – On World Malaria Day, Sunday, April 25, The United Methodist Church will officially launch Imagine No Malaria, its $75 million initiative to eliminate malaria deaths in Africa. To mark the celebration, a free concert event will take place in Austin, Texas, on the south steps of the State Capitol from 2-5 p.m. (CDT).    Christian rock band Jars of Clay will headline the festivities, which are open...

Twelve Cal-Nev Churches Plan to Help 'Change the World' This Month

The Rev. Mike Slaughter, author of Change the World: Recovering the Mission and Message of Jesus, says, "As the United Methodist Church, we have worried too much about getting numbers into our churches, instead of getting the people in our churches out into the world in relative ways. Even our smallest churches can have incredible impact when they leave their four walls to serve the needs of their neighbors, alongside of their neighbors." So far 12 churches in the...

Would You Like to Change the World? You Can, Starting in April!

Want to change the world? Members of more than 175 United Methodist churches in 49 states, including California and Nevada, do – and they're planning to emphasize that commitment on the weekend of April 24-25. Your church can join them! Change the World is a two-pronged movement to engage 11 million United Methodists around the world in service in their local communities on that weekend, while uniting them globally to fight malaria – a preventable, treatable disease which kills one...

Send a Net. Save a Life. See a Game.

Now through January 31, Nothing But Nets supporters can donate $10 or more and get two complimentary tickets to an NBA game, subject to availability and participating teams. The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the United Nations Foundation's Nothing But Nets tipped off the promotion, Send a Net. Save a Life. See a Game. on Monday, December 14. Presented by Hewlett-Packard, the promotion aims to send anti-malaria bed nets to refugees in 11 African countries, as part of the NBA Cares...

Larry Hollon Reflects on Nothing But Nets in 'Church, Culture, Media' Blog

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The Rev. Larry Hollon, top executive of United Methodist Communications, celebrates a recent partners' meeting of Nothing But Nets, the movement to provide bed nets to prevent malaria, in his most recent blog.   "It was an inspiring meeting, almost like a religious experience. Progress is being made in the battle against this disease that kills a child every 30 seconds. We're at a hinge point in history. It is possible that these deaths could be...

'Imagine Something More' to End Malaria, Bishop Says

By Linda Bloom Oct. 16, 2009 | STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) United Methodist Bishop Thomas Bickerton keeps a $10 bill in his pocket so he can demonstrate how little money it takes to protect an African household from malaria.   But the roving ambassador for the denomination's involvement in the Nothing But Nets project, a joint effort with the United Nations Foundations and other groups, has a much larger goal than the millions of bed nets that have been sent to Africa....

CA-NV Youth Honored as Heroes at 'Nothing But Nets' Event

By Jane Horstman Communications Office, CA-NV Annual Conference Four California-Nevada Annual Conference youth were recognized and honored on behalf of their youth groups, at a Nothing But Nets campaign dinner hosted by Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in Oakland, Tuesday evening.   The dinner was part of the Nothing But Nets "city tour" which landed in the Bay Area on the 17th leg of its ongoing journey. The dinner was followed by a public rally at Justin Herman Plaza...

Nothing But Nets Takes City Tour to Bay Area!

Nothing But Nets is now in the third year of its "city tour" effort - and this year, the Bay Area is one of the stops! The Nothing But Nets tour lands in the Bay Area, marking its 17th city tour, September 13-19. The week's events include a dinner at Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in Oakland on Tuesday evening, public rally at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco on Wednesday, a soccer clinic, night with the San Jose Earthquakes, children's activities at the zoo, displays,...

More Than $7 Million Raised by Nothing But Nets in 2008

United Methodists Provide 'People Power' Washington, DC: In 2008, the Nothing But Nets campaign eclipsed its ambitious fundraising goals and raised more than $7 million from some 40,000 individual donors. The 2008 annual report issued by the United Nations Foundation, creator of the grassroots campaign, declared that 2008 donations represented a significant increase over annual fundraising the two previous years.   Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation, said...

Skip Lunch, Buy A Net And Save A Life On April 25

By United Methodist News Service* United Methodists can make a difference in battling global malaria by sacrificing lunch on April 25. Pittsburgh Bishop Thomas Bickerton, chairman of The United Methodist Church's Nothing But Nets initiative, is asking United Methodists and others to skip lunch on World Malaria Day and use their lunch money to buy a lifesaving mosquito bed net. Rather than spending $10 at a restaurant, people are invited to "Skip a lunch. Send a net. Save a life." The United...

African Bishops Discuss Health Needs

By M. Isaac Broune* April 14, 2009 | ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire (UMNS) United Methodists are looking at ways to improve health systems in Africa. Representatives of the denomination and its Global Health Initiative recently consulted with several African bishops about how to strengthen their health boards. The goal: to be better able to receive funds and improve the health systems in their areas. Meeting March 10-12 at Jubile-Cocody United Methodist Church in Abidjan, participants heard from...

CBS Special Looks at Religion's Impact on Poverty

April 9, 2009 | NEW YORK (UMNS) United Methodists know that poverty and disease go hand-in-hand.   That's why an effort to provide inexpensive bed nets as protection against malaria quickly captured the imagination of church members across the connection.   United Methodist Bishop Thomas Bickerton, the denominational spokesperson for the Nothing But Nets campaign, is among those featured on an interfaith television special, "Poverty: A Time for Sharing," which will be broadcast...

German Gift Will Buy Nets For Africa

A UMNS Report By Michelle Scott* Feb. 16, 2009 A gift of approximately $130,000 from the United Methodist Germany Central Conference will provide mosquito nets in a national net campaign to take place in Sierra Leone next November. The gift to Nothing But Nets builds on the conference's long-standing relationship in Sierra Leone. The United Methodist Committee on Relief and other United Methodist representatives met with the Ministry of Health in Sierra Leone in early February to discuss...

UMC Helps Launch Life-Saving Campaign in Côte d’Ivoire

Bed net distribution helps prevent malaria Alepe, Côte d’Ivoire – The people of The United Methodist Church and their partners worldwide helped Cote d’Ivoire’s National Program in the Fight against Malaria launch an integrated health campaign, November 11, that will vaccinate 3.5 million children in Côte d’Ivoire (formerly Ivory Coast) and blanket the country with bed nets to stop the spread of malaria.   Lauded by government and public health...