RELEASE THE SKEETERS!

I woke up to an email from my beautiful wife with a link to an article about Bill Gates. Basically, he was speaking to a bunch of people with a ton of money about malaria, and, to make his point, he opened a jar of mosquitoes, releasing the biting little buggers into the auditorium. I guess the people laughed, but you can bet that most were pretty uneasy with the whole thing. Sure, these were "malaria-free" mosquitoes, but the point was definitely made.

While in America malaria is seen as nothing more than a tropical disease found only in areas where people run around naked and sleep in huts, it is a reality for millions of people worldwide. As Tiffany and I prepare for our upcoming trip to Zambia, we are looking at our options for malaria medication to prevent getting the disease, but as we do so we are struck by the situation. Here in the States we have a variety of possible drugs to choose from, but many in the parts of the world affected by malaria cannot afford these drugs, nor do they even have access to them.

I find it interesting that this article was brought to my attention a day after my comments on Salma Hayek increasing awareness for mothers and infants suffering around the world. Here we have another celebrity (with a whole lot more money) increasing awareness in the States of the suffering of others in the world and donating huge sums of money to help meet their needs. He's even helping develop a malaria vaccine.

But, as good as all this is, the needs of the suffering will never be fully met unless their spiritual needs are attended to as well. The Bible tells us that all have sinned (Rom 3:23), and therefore all are subject to eternal death (Rom 6:23), an eternity of torment and despair separated from the love of God. But, in His love God has provided the way to spend eternity in His presence. He sent His son, Jesus, to become sin on our behalf that those who trust in His sacrificial death may be declared righteous before God. Providing the medicine for the disease that causes physical death is only part of the goal; providing the message of the remedy to eternal death should be the aim of those desiring to truly help the world.

So, thank you, Bill, for releasing the skeeters, but let's not forget that more work is still to be done.