Truly United

My history with the United Methodist Church began with a song.  My first degree was Classical Voice Performance.  This meant that I trained day in and day out in order to sing opera and other classical music endeavors.  That musical passion and my strong desire to serve God lead me into Music Ministry for almost 9 years.

In the Summer of 2010 I was working as a Music Minister for Faith United Methodist Church in Austin TX and it was there that I was introduced to the ministry of  Imagine No Malaria.  My church hosted a screening of the documentary “When the Night Comes”.  That documentary and the celebration on the Capitol grounds for  World Malaria Day in 2010 changed my life.  I found a passion for global missions that I had not felt before that time.  Sure I was a good donor to my local charities, but I hadn’t felt that “connectionalism” for which the United Methodist Church is so well  known.  It was because of people like Elizabeth Gore, Jars of Clay, and the Imagine No Malaria team (all of which participated in last years World Malaria Day)  that I realized the potential that we have as United Methodists.  We, as the body of Christ, can achieve more than we can ever imagine.  United Methodism took on an entirely new meaning for me that day.   Even though I had worked for the UMC for almost 9 years I had no idea what it meant to be truly “United”.

Yesterday was World Malaria Day, 2011.  People around the world came together to celebrate that Christ commanded us to feed, heal, and care for his sheep and we as UNITED Methodists have taken up that charge through Imagine No Malaria.  I hope that you and your family found time yesterday to pray for this ministry and for those suffering from a disease that is treatable, preventable, and beatable.

In Peace,
Jeremy