The Cup
(Dedicated to Bishop Gregory V. Palmer
Of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference)

The flames upon the cup I see,
Reminds us of Christ’s sovereignty,
And, for His love poured out for all,
Upon the cross we hear Him call.

For each and every one to serve,
Upon the straight path; never swerve,
To share His love to all in need,
With all our being, thought and deed.

Within the cup of simple wood,
The gift of life for which He stood,
And, died so all may truly live,
I pray to you my life to give.

Peter Lowell Paulson
December 9, 2010

Photo is of wooden cup purchased in Sierra Leone in November 2010 while visiting on request of Gregoy V. Palmer at the beginning of the "Imagine No Malaria" initiative.  Being one of two representatives from Illinois (along with two representatives from Texas), to examine the bed net distribution in 3 weeks to 300,000 recipients in the Bo District by 2,700 Sierra Leone villagers, in 3 weeks.  This was all accomplished without the use of ANY electronic media.  Town criers were sent out, after the chiefs decided that this mosquito net distribution would help the community.  The backdrop in the photo is the tunic presented to me by a woman only known as Mother Bea (Beatrice), at a service in a local Sierra Leone church.  These tunics were presented to each of the four voluteers from Illinois and Texas, as we were to go back to help raise 2.3 million dollars in Illinois toward an eventual raising of 75 million dollars to help eradicate malaria forever by the year 2015.