[RMC News] [2008 General Conference News] Two Stepping in Texas Written Report for April 25th

[Strickland, Skip]

Two Stepping from Texas
General Conference 2008
Fort Worth, Texas
Walter “Skip” Strickland &
Olon Mulford Lindemood
 
Friday, April 25, 2008
 
REMEMBER THE CENTER OF THE ROOM
 a table.
 
On the third day, the end of the morning sessions were completed with most of the Delegates filing by the center of the room
  Yes, The TABLE was turning green with the green of   $10.00  bills!  Bishop Thomas Bickerton had just completed an invitation to the delegates stating that ten dollars is the cost of a net that can prevent a Mosquito from infecting children with Malaria!
 
  mos·qui·to   Pronunciation   [muh-skee-toh]
–noun,
1.
	
any of numerous dipterous insects of the family Culicidae, the females of which suck the blood of animals and humans, some species transmitting certain diseases, as malaria and yellow fever.
 

BUZZ KILL tee shirts could be seen all around the arena where the delegates were hanging out! 
 
Bishop Bickerton once shared with leaders, “we need to LIGHTEN – UP, LOOSEN – UP, and HAVE A LITTLE FUN!”  The Bishop stands 6 feet 6inches above the crowd and is a presence.  He is the spokes person for the movement. Yes, A MOVEMENT!  The Nothing But Nets movement has continued to grow!
 
On this World Malaria Day The United Methodist Church announced that it will receive $5 million grant from the United Nations Foundation, with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to help eliminate malaria and other diseases of poverty.
 
The Bishop remembered his first trip to the poverty of Africa.  As he was on the plane returning home he reflected: “The people in the midst of poverty have joy! We in the U.S. in our abundant culture are stripped of our joy.”
 
In contrast to the tall Bishop, the day before was a child.  Katherine Commale at age 6 became aware that children like her could die if they were bit by a mosquito.  So she built a panorama with her Barbie bed and a tiny net and a toy bug
 she has raised thousands of dollars.
 
In the midst of this global health initiative there is the innocence of one small child making a difference in the life of other children.  Each person at the General Conference and each United Methodist throughout the globe can participate in saving the life of one small child.
 
You to can save a life today.  Just go to nothingbutnets.org and check out the partners. Send $10.00.  Or the next time you are in worship at your local United Methodist Church, simply put one ten dollar bill in an envelop and mark it, “nothing but nets.”  You see give ten dollars and you save one life!

The table was covered with green bills at General Conference ... we are still waiting for the count? 
 
Observations by:
 
Olon Mulford Lindemood
Assistant to the Rocky Mountain Conference Director of Communications, Walter “Skip” Strickland.  Skip's getting better with that video stuff!?!?
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