Somewhere in Africa, a single mother makes a long and tiring trek over parched ground; her children slow her journey as they stop to throw stones or explore new terrain. Determined to accomplish the only thing in her control in the endless battle to protect her children from malaria, she clutches precious coins en route to the area's village drugstore.

     That she has any hope of winning the battle is a remarkable tale itself. Her trek over hard ground and unseen obstacles is not at all unlike the struggle that's made these wondrous drugs available to her. Hundreds of nameless heroes and heroines fought the early stages of this fight, in their roles as researchers, government officials, front-line physicians and pharmacists, missionary and relief agency workers.  Each one tackled often thankless tasks in obscure roles in places most people don't know exist.

     The mother, too, is a hero in the tale. Overcoming her own fears and superstitions about medicines; overcoming pride and fear about accepting help from people she doesn't know; she has squeezed out the coins she now holds in her hand by choosing medicine over food or clothes. 

     What a story of courage and triumph! If only.

     .if only a cowardly group of men and women hadn't discovered there's great profit to be mined by producing counterfeit malaria medicine and selling it to unsuspecting Asian and African medical pipelines; or

     .if only one Christian in the long chain of plotters and designers and producers and marketers and shippers had the courage to out the group for their murderous greed.

     This is not a small operation: It includes IT specialists, graphic design specialists and holographic artists, assembly line workers, truck drivers and dock workers.  The "law of averages" alone suggests more than a few Christians are aware of this operation.  Their silence turns the noble trek of a loving African mother into a date with unending sorrow.

     Enough already!

     Followers of Jesus Christ are called to active faith. 

     It is active faith that's needed in this tiny section of China's border with Vietnam, where one Christian with courage could save thousands of lives by placing one phone call.

     Active faith transcends quiet times and church services, challenging us to carry the love of Christ, and the eyes of Christ, into every part of our world. It is the courage to speak when speaking saves lives.  We all know too well that the opportunities to speak-and act-present themselves far more often than we want to admit.  It isn't just China where codes of silence allow sin and greed to introduce needless greed and sorrow into countless households.  Every conspiracy of silence built to hide wrong-doing at any level, explicit or implicit, dishonors God. No family bonds, no brotherhoods, no shared experiences or life-and-death debts of honor grant one person the right to ask or insist someone else cover up their acts of omission or commission.  Active faith means breaking that code and speaking truth.

     Like all such acts of courage, though, the Chinese Christian who finally stands up to end this murderous, merciless production of fake medicine must choose carefully how to safely speak up.  If you're that voice click here for ideas on how to protect yourself and your family when you do.

     Ours is an active call to find the hungry and feed them; to find the naked and clothe them; to find the oppressed and free them; to find the sick and care for them. Not merely online; not merely with our checkbooks; not merely on Sundays, and not merely in shelters or food banks or soup kitchens.  If you're one of our many readers in China, and you know someone who knows someone who knows something that might save the lives of other mothers' children, please find a way to tell someone now.