Missouri Synod announces $250,000 gift to benefit malaria initiative
Single largest gift to date for church’s anti-malaria work
ST. LOUIS—December 12, 2011—An anonymous donor last week contributed $250,000 to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) to benefit the Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI).
So far, Lutheran donors have contributed $2 million toward a $45 million goal to fight malaria, a preventable and treatable disease that continues to devastate communities and perpetuate a cycle of poverty. According to the World Health Organization, nearly 1 million people die of malaria each year and every 45 seconds a child dies in Africa.
The $250,000 gift is the single largest so far for LMI, an unprecedented campaign to mobilize U.S. Lutherans in the global effort to eliminate malaria deaths in Africa by 2015. LMI goals are to increase awareness of malaria and raise funds to help fight the disease.
“We are humbled and thrilled by this tremendous gift,” said the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of the LCMS. “I rejoice to think of the many lives which will be spared the ravages of malaria, and this in a context where the Gospel is shared."
The LCMS is partnering on the initiative with Lutheran World Relief, a Baltimore, Md.-based pan-Lutheran ministry providing international relief efforts.
About The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), is a mission-oriented, Bible-based, confessional Christian denomination headquartered in St. Louis, Mo. Founded in 1847, the LCMS has more than 2.3 million baptized members in some 6,200 congregations and more than 9,000 pastors. Two seminaries and 10 colleges and universities operate under the auspices of the LCMS, and its congregations operate the largest Protestant parochial school system in America. The church broadcasts the saving message of Jesus Christ over KFUO Radio, and it has relationships and active mission work in 89 countries around the world. In the last five years, the LCMS has awarded more than $35 million through more than 900 domestic and international grants for emergency response and disaster relief. Today, the LCMS is in full doctrinal fellowship with 33 other confessional Lutheran church bodies worldwide and is a founding partner of Lutheran Services in America, a social ministry organization serving one in every 50 Americans. For more information, visit www.lcms.org.
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