April 25 is World Malaria Day. A time to stop and reflect about all the damage one little parasite does to our world. Malaria is the infectious disease that has killed the most people in the span of human history. Each day 1400 children under 5 die of malaria.

World Malaria Day is a time of action! This day is a time to energize our commitment to fight malaria. This day is a chance to educate our communities about malaria and the work of The United Methodist Church. Join the Northern Illinois Conference is raising awareness about malaria through one of the below initiatives. 

When a letter from the Bishop arrived challenging Community United Methodist Church in Naperville to raise money for Imagine No Malaria, it ended up in the hands of 5 eighth graders. The 2014 Confirmation Class was handed the letter and charged with a task: do something.

After carefully combing through the letter, discernment began. The task of raising $100 per average worship attendee was daunting. Huge. Impossible. The confirmands took the 

Bishops request seriously, and rather than bury themselves in the overwhelming devastation that Malaria continues to cause, they decided to do something.

This was more than a "project" to keep the class busy. At CUMC, we believe that Confirmation is not a hurdle to holiness or an item to be checked off the life "to do" list. Confirmation is a journey towards discipleship. It is a time when young people are handed the responsibility of deciding for themselves if they are going to commit to being a disciple. It is a time to ask hard questions. The goal is not for the confirmand to conform to the congregation of which they are apart. The goal is for the confirmand to discern how God is calling them to shape their church, their community, and their world. How is God calling them to make a difference?

The class decided the goal of their Imagine No Malaria campaign would be to raise both awareness and funds, educating the congregation about what Malaria is and how it might be stopped. The students began to learn all they could about Malaria. What they found was ugly and horrific. The days of sugar coated stories with happy endings were over. Malaria is BIG, of that they were certain; but they had the courage to believe that God is bigger.

What a testimony: five young people, refusing to let Malaria win. Refusing to let the devastation and even death caused by Malaria to have the last word. So often when we find ourselves faced with brokenness, we are too overwhelmed to take action. What difference can we really make?

Together, five eighth graders worked to educate their own congregation about the causes, treatment and prevention of Malaria. They and their mentors joined with Sunday School teachers, using pipe cleaners and imagination to teach young and old about the disease. Congregation members with set construction skills joined the effort to construct a bed in the sanctuary, covered with a mosquito net. The confirmands asked the congregation to assist them in constructing 300 pipe cleaner mosquitoes to hang around the church. The entire building was infested!

For each $10 donated, a mosquito was moved to the bed net. For each $50 donated, a highly virile mutant mosquito was moved to the bed net. The goal was to raise $3000 and to raise awareness. Five weeks and $3,722 dollars later, CUMC is now a community of faith that is educated about Malaria. Five young people have started to see that they can make a difference, and in the process witnessed to a congregation that together, we all can make a difference. Thanks be to God!