Worm Project:
It is an honor to be selected to serve as coordinator of the Healthy Women, Healthy Liberia Worm Project. I visited your very informative website and learned a lot about the project and the hearts of those involved. It is refreshing to see the sincere desire to help unfortunate children. We know children are the most vulnerable among us and we have a responsibility to care for them as representatives of the Body of Christ.
Dr. Marcella Ruch has done a magnificent job in coordinating this ministry and we thank her. My assignment will continue where she left off in building relationships with the UMC in Liberia, with Dr. Chris, in fundraising, in hosting these annual meetings, and in reporting to the director of the program. Given the urgent need for this program, we may need to consider using Ambassadors for Christ in local areas and to identify new partners to join this worthwhile ministry.
A cup of cold water:
There are several inspiration texts on the worm project website. One of the encouraging statements from the website says, “If giving a cup of cold water deserves a reward, why not the giving of a worm pill?”
This reminded me of the specific text in Matthew 10:42 and also found in Mark 9:41, which goes, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward” (NIV).
The text focuses on givers and recipients of generosity through the simplest offering of a cup of cold water. We don’t always know the faith of these children, but I agree with the statement about offering them a cup of water they can take their worm pills with. One of the pictures shows a child taking the pill with a cup of water.
The water the children take the pills with should be of concern to us. Many communities do not have clean drinking water and if they are taking the pills with contaminated water, will it reduce the effectiveness of the pill?
Prevention measures:
This invites us to consider promoting preventative measures such as good hygiene that includes regular hand-washing, especially before meals and after restroom breaks, discouraging thumb-sucking, and if possible, discuss how we can support clean drinking water in areas that don’t have them, as well as providing flip flops to reduce the number of children walking with bare feet.
In this way, we will address not only the symptoms, but the problems and include public health education for parents and community leaders to cultivate and develop new health habits for themselves and their families.
A story about a man and a boy:
A successful man known for his generosity was driving his new car through a poor part of town. A boy tried to flag him down. The man didn’t want to get involved, so he pretended he didn’t see the child. As he slowed for a red traffic light, he heard a loud crash. Someone had thrown a brick at his car, causing a dent in his trunk.
The man stopped, jumped out of his car and grabbed the boy that threw the brick. “You juvenile delinquent!” he yelled. “You’ll pay for this or go to jail!”
“I’m sorry, mister,” the boy cried. “My mom’s lying on the floor in our apartment. I think she’s dying. Our phone’s been cut off and I’ve been trying for ten minutes to get someone to stop. I didn’t know what else to do! Take me to jail, but please, call a doctor for my mom first.”
The man was filled with shame. “I’m a doctor,” he said and asked, “Where is she?” The boy took him to his mother and the doctor administered CPR and called an ambulance.
“Will she live?” the boy sobbed. “Yes, son, she will,” the doctor said. “Then it’s worth going to jail. I’m sorry I ruined your car. You can take me in now.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” the doctor said. “It was my fault you had to throw a brick to get my attention.”
The doctor made sure the boy was taken care of, and as he drove home he made a decision not to fix the dent. He kept it as a reminder that not everyone in need has a brick to throw.
A call to action:
The health conditions of these children have claimed our attention as the brick hitting the nice car of this good but cautious doctor. We have stopped. We have paid attention. Now we send medicine to where the children are to help them and by helping them, improve their quality of life. Just as a small thing as the eggs of these worms can enter these children and make their lives miserable, so a small pill can give them a better, healthy life.
Many of these children feel helpless about their condition, especially when their bodies are under attack from the parasites that drain their nutrients and destroy their bodies. We Christians, especially American Christians, are known for our generosity.
Let us resolve as a community to continue this great work. So today, we come to recommit ourselves for another year to offer the symbolic cup of water in the form of the small pill that will chase those shameless creatures out of the bodies of little ones.
Today we come to renew our promise to fight against the parasites that drain children of health. What we do for the little ones, the least of these, we do to and for Christ.
Thank you, Marcella, for your leadership and your faithfulness in bringing the project to this point. Thanks to everyone who has been faithful to the Gospel of compassion and the mission of action in making this project a reality.
I ask you to work with me as we continue this great ministry. I will listen to you and I encourage you to please feel free to reach out to me at any time with suggestions. As a minister, I am a servant of God and servant of Christ, as well as a servant of the church. We are a team and together we can make a difference in the lives of God’s children as we offer them a cup of cold water and a worm tablet.
Thank you.
By Pastor Jerome Kennedy, HWHL Board Member, Worm Project Coordinator
