Contribute to Africa mission's 'net effect'

Mosquito net treated with long-lasting insecticide? $10.00 ... Helping West Texans control one of Africa's biggest killers? Priceless ...

A mission team from First Presbyterian Church-Midland will be headed for Tanzania June 17-29. A full schedule of diverse activities will include the distribution of specially-treated mosquito nets to residents of that part of Africa - where mosquitos are FAR MORE than just a nuisance.

The efforts in Tanzania by First Prez-Midland are part of an ongoing campaign - fought by a wide variety of individuals and organizations - against debilitating, even deadly diseases that plague the Third World. The fight against malaria, in particular, was documented in this article by Robert M. Poole, in the June, 2007 issue of Smithsonian Magazine. The article focuses particularly on former-President of the United States Jimmy Carter's efforts in Ethiopia, but it provides good insight into the mission and methods of this "crusade to eliminate malaria, an elusive and ever-changing killer" from the African continent.

"Now rare in developed countries," the article notes, "the disease kills more than a million victims each year in the world's poorest regions. At least 300-million people worldwide are incapacitated by malaria infections. The disease's aches, fever, chills and other flu-like symptoms not only inhibit economic productivity but also suppress immune systems in its victims, making them more susceptible to tuberculosis and AIDS—both of which kill even more people than malaria does—and other life-threatening ailments."

The new nets being distributed in Africa add a high-tech twist to the old protective strategy: they not only block the insects, but also kill any that come in contact with the nets, since they have an insecticide (one with no apparent risk to humans) woven into the mesh.

And they cost just $10 apiece. Won't you help? Please leave a contribution at First Prez-Midland, on the northwest corner of A and Texas streets, on the west edge of downtown Midland. For more information, please call Pastor Walter Thompson at 684-7821 (Ext. 115)