ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 22, 2011
Lutherans invite students to help end malaria
11-144-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The ELCA Malaria Campaign, a campaign of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and the Lutheran Malaria
Initiative will provide new opportunities for college and university
students attending Lutheran schools and ELCA campus ministries to engage
in the global fight against malaria. Supported with a generous gift from
Arne and Ruth Sorenson of Washington, D.C., the campaign and initiative
will help equip and inspire young leaders to help make a difference.
Every 45 seconds a child dies of malaria, a treatable and
preventable disease that kills more than 800,000 people a year, mostly
children in Africa.
"Our goal with this gift is to educate, equip and mobilize," said
Arne Sorenson. "We want to raise awareness of the malaria epidemic among
students on Lutheran schools and campus ministries, to equip them to
inspire their fellow students, teachers and communities, and assist them
in mobilizing their communities to make a difference in the fight against
this devastating disease. By investing in helping students raise funds
for malaria, we're able to multiply the impact of our own gift to reach
even more people in need with life-saving prevention and treatment -- and
also helping to develop the next generation of leaders in the church."
Through the ELCA Malaria Campaign, the Sorenson College and Campus
Ministries Program and Sorenson Social Media Grants will provide funding
in the form of grants for students at the ELCA's 26 colleges and
universities and campus ministries to implement awareness and fundraising
campaigns at their schools. Students chosen as grant recipients must make
a commitment to emphasize the ELCA Malaria Campaign on their campuses for
two years through activities ranging from guest speakers to video
contests.
Through Lutheran World Relief, the Lutheran Malaria Initiative
Fellowship will provide opportunities for students at campuses of The
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod to manage awareness and fundraising
campaigns in their campus communities. Each of the students will receive
a stipend and a program budget, as well as funding to travel to Africa to
learn firsthand about how malaria affects communities and how the
Lutheran Malaria Initiative is making a difference.
Students in both programs will make a two-year commitment and
receive training in fundraising.
"The generous gift from ELCA members Arne and Ruth Sorenson enables
the ELCA Malaria Campaign to build up three strengths of the ELCA:
students with a passion to be engaged in God's work of healing and
restoring community, longstanding partnerships with churches in Africa
who are creating programs for malaria campaign activities, and a strong
network of 26 colleges and universities as well as campus ministries,"
said ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson.
"This is an innovative, forward-looking partnership," said John
Nunes, president and CEO of Lutheran World Relief. "We are so grateful to
the Sorensons for making this exciting program a reality. Not only will
the students who receive the grants have an unparalleled learning
experience, the funds they raise through their communities will have a
very real impact on communities in Africa struggling with the scourge of
malaria."
The ELCA Malaria Campaign, working through Lutheran Churches in
Africa, is uniquely positioned to provide mosquito nets, insecticides,
medication, health care, education and more to eliminate deaths from this
disease -- for good.
The Lutheran Malaria Initiative is a partnership of Lutheran World
Relief and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to end malaria deaths by
2015. The Lutheran Malaria Initiative is made possible through support
from the United Nations Foundation.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United
States, with 4.2 million members in 10,000 congregations across the 50
states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work.
Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in
Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's
roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Melissa Ramirez Cooper
773-380-2956 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Lutherans
Living Lutheran: http://www.livinglutheran.com
