Youth Malaria Weekend

This fall, the Senior High Youth at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas hosted an event called the Youth Malaria Weekend to raise awareness about malaria and funds to send life-saving bed nets to the Central African Republic.

To get the buzz going within their congregation, the group invited fellow church members to a special presentation. Together, they discussed the importance of malaria over a delicious, authentic Tanzanian meal.

To further raise awareness, the youth group spent the night sleeping outside, under bed nets — prompting questions from passers-by and highlighting the importance of using a net, since malaria-carrying mosquitoes only bite at night.

Beth Stephens, one of the participants, said, “The weekend widened my view of the world and inspired in me a desire to make a difference.” And they certainly did make a difference! Not only did the group educate their community about malaria, they raised enough funds to send more than 520 bed nets to Africa. What a great way to have an impact both around the corner and around the world!