December 4, 2006

“Remember the Children This Christmas”

One of the real joys of Christmas is seeing small children receive gifts, give gifts, and enjoy Christmas. This Christmas, I invite you to share Christmas with even more children. There are two ways you and your church can do that: (1) Give to the Indiana Area Christmas Offering for Children, and (2) Give to our new “Nothing But Nets” campaign of the United Methodist Church in partnership with Sports Illustrated. Let me remind you about those two options.

(1) The Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church has a long history of giving to the “Bishop’s Christmas Offering for Children.” Most of our over 1200 United Methodist congregations take that offering some time during December, send it into their respective Conference offices, and then it is passed on to the Indiana Area committee which selects children’s ministries to receive grants to help them care for children. In a typical year, this Christmas offering yields upwards of $100,000, which is used to help children around Indiana and around the world.

I recently received a large Thank You Card from the children of one of those projects, the Bridges project in South Bend which ministers to children with disabilities. I was both proud and humbled to receive that Thank You Card – proud of what we United Methodists do for children, but also humbled to realize I am only being thanked as a representative of all United Methodists in Indiana.

Please, please make sure that your congregation provides an opportunity for your members to give to the Indiana Area Children's Christmas Offering for Children this year. More information about the offering is available on our Indiana Area web site at www.inareaumc.org. 

(2) A new opportunity for giving to children is now available through a unique partnership our United Methodist Church has formed with Sports Illustrated and with the United Nations Foundation. This new project is called “Nothing But Nets” and its goal is to provide mosquito nets which can protect sleeping children in developing nations in Africa and elsewhere in the world. For $10, a net can be provided which will protect a child for up to five years, preventing them from being infected with malaria. Right now, about 30,000 children a day die of malaria – the most deadly killer of children in the world. Imagine that for $10 a net can be provided which will save a child’s life.

At our recent meeting of the Council of Bishops we heartily endorsed this unique partnership, and you can learn more about it at www.nothingbutnets.net. 

Churches can take up offerings for this project, or individuals can make direct donations right on the web site. Here in Indiana where we all understand the importance of “nets” in sports, wouldn’t it be great to have every United Methodist home give at least one net to save a child’s life?

So there are two important options for you to offer Christmas to children this year. I hope that you will participate in making sure that every child can share some of the joy of Christmas through your generous giving.

from Bishop Michael J. Coyner

Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church
"Making a Difference ... in Indiana
and around the world"

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