Imagine No Malaria - Tip of the Week #5
By Laura Meengs
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8/18/2010
Solicit someone famous!
Many household names and few “lesser-knowns” have survived bouts with malaria. Hollywood gossip has been abuzz lately with Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Coles’ recent affliction with the disease, contracted while on vacation in Tanzania. Recognize a few of these other malaria survivors and victims?
- · American Presidents: George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, James Garfield, Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy
- · Political and Religious Leaders: Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Gandhi, Mother Teresa and several Popes
- · Explorers: Christopher Columbus and Meriwether Lewis
- · Literary Figures: Dante and Earnest Hemmingway
- · Sports Legends: Pittsburgh’s own Roberto Clemente
Many speculate that the apostle Paul was also afflicted with malaria upon his arrival in Galatia, delaying his journey long enough to establish a ministry there.
What famous person can you solicit to help build awareness in your church? Don’t know any celebrities? Think local, very local. Many of our WWII veterans, like JFK, contracted malaria during service. (Allied casualties in the South Pacific from malaria far outpaced those from combat). Malaria survivors can also be found among Vietnam veterans or retired missionaries.
Could you ask a “famous” member of your congregation to give a personal testimony of his/her battle with malaria or of a loved one’s encounter with the disease? Perhaps this illness will give birth to a new ministry - Imagine No Malaria - within your congregation.
As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. -- Galatians 4:13 – 14 (NIV)
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