MOSQUITO NETS/MALARIA PREVENTION

The first time that Donna went to Africa, she became friends with a smiling young pastor by the name of Jeremiah. He and his wife adopted Donna as an honorary member of their family and worked with her to establish a children’s ministry in the city. Soon after she left, they found out they were expecting their first baby. When their precious little girl was born, she immediately brought as much joy to the world as did her sweet parents. One day the missionaries got a phone call from Jeremiah that his tiny daughter was sick. A few moments later he called again to say that she was dead. They rushed to his little home to find that his darling infant had contracted malaria in the night and it had killed her within hours.

This story is common in Africa. Malaria is a vicious disease that preys on the elderly and the very young. There is no cure for malaria, but there is a prevention: mosquito nets. Mosquito nets are highly effective in preventing malaria, since it is contracted by mosquito bites. Jeremiah’s baby’s life would have been saved if her parents would’ve had the money for a net. The price of a mosquito net is less than $5. Purchasing a mosquito net saves several lives, as often children sleep together in the same bed. The Father’s desire is for these children to know him, and the first step in that direction is keeping them alive through the night so they can come to Sunday school and learn of a Love that will never leave them.

Last rainy season, 186 mosquito nets made their way into the hands of at-risk families. Each mosquito net protects between two and eight people, depending on the number of children. Each net costs about four dollars. Children were given non-toxic insecticide soap, which uses all natural locally-grown ingredients to protect skin from mosquito bites.

For less than the price of a gourmet coffee, you can save not just one person but an entire family from malaria.

“Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 19:14