Mission declared 'the heartbeat of the church'

BY JOHN A. LOVELACE

The United Methodist Church's highest - ranking missions officer spoke twice during NTC sessions June 4, referring repeatedly to the regional body as "a mission-minded conference."

"Your ears should burn," Rev. Randy R. Day said. "We talk about you a lot."

Addressing the first plenary session, he explicitly commended this conference for its long-standing support of missions, including, currently, Jerri Savuto and William (Bill) Savuto in Kenya and Wes and Leah Magruder in Cameroon. He also noted that 20 percent of Advance Special gifts to the "Nothing But Nets" program to help stop malaria had come from this conference. This garnered a round of applause.

One week earlier, he said, the General Board of Global Ministries, of which he is CEO, had commissioned six missionary doctors to work in Africa. He invited North Texas to consider sponsoring one of these.

He said Volunteers in Mission training in North Texas is outstanding. One VIM program he cited for North Texas involvement was Proyecto Abrigo. Based in Juarez, Mexico, it builds concrete block homes in colonia neighborhoods.

He touched briefly on one issue of special interest in Texas --- border ministry. Some pressure comes, he said, as part of global migration that results in Central Americans becoming trapped in Mexico.

At a luncheon following the morning plenary, he spoke on one of his favorite themes: "Mission is the heartbeat of the church." Sponsored by two North Texas Conference agencies --- the Accountability Group and the Sending Servants Team --- the address drew an overflow crowd.

He told of his board recently calling all the church's bishops in Africa to a conference. As soon as malaria was mentioned, he said, bishop after bishop poured forth stories of widespread illness and need.

"We have the know-how," he said. "Now how do we find the political will to work in coalitions?" As partial answer, he told how his agency and United Methodist Communications are working together to encourage and publicize local projects like health fairs.

He also told of "a God moment" that started with a phone call asking if his agency would like to cooperate with Sports Illustrated magazine, the National Basketball Association and the United Nations Foundation in a program called "Nothing But Nets," designed to raise funds to fight malaria. No other religious denomination, he said, was invited to participate.

The aim is simple. Provide low-cost insecticide-soaked mosquito nets to infested areas especially in Africa, and train people to begin using them where they sleep "for the rest of their lives." The first target area, he said, is Sierra Leone, one of Africa's poorest nations and home to many United Methodists.

"Nothing But Nets" basketball net proved to be a popular target during "hallway breaks" for the June 3-6 conference members and guests. Based on shooters' voluntary contributions, the project "netted" $1,300 toward the international fund. The offering for the June 5 ordination service was also designated to "Nothing But Nets."

He said that the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation has shown interest in the project, but had lacked a grassroots infrastructure. "We have that," Rev. Day told Gates representatives. "They're called churches."

As for church growth, "Africa is giving us so much," he said, "in spite of famine, drought and disease.

From recent meetings of the United Methodist programmatic Connectional Table, the General Council on Finance Administration and the Council of Bishops, Rev. Day said he found "a lot of energy across the church" for this global health initiative. He said it deserves at least 10-15 years of participation and  that  the church's legislative General Conference will be asked in 2008 to "help get the whole church to sign on."

For more information about  the "Nothing but Nets " program, please visit the Website www.ntcumc.org.