Aid for Samoa Continues to Pour In

150,000 pounds of relief goods have been shipped from Salt Lake City to Samoa to help with relief efforts there, after a tsunami devastated parts of the island on September 29, 2009.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will continue to provide help, now even looking at homes that will need to be rebuilt.

Because of the structure of the Church and its lay clergy, members automatically know how to organize to help in an emergency.  All worthy males hold the priesthood, organized into quorums, and men and women are assigned to watch over assigned families on an ongoing basis.  When a general emergency occurs, members are able to assess the needs of the community quickly and get information passed up the line to priesthood leaders and then to the central leadership of the Church.  The humanitarian aid and welfare organizations of the Church rely on contributions of time and funds from church members.  These efforts are also ongoing, so that there is a constantly maintained supply of emergency goods ready to be shipped to disaster areas at a moment’s notice.

Within two hours aid was already arriving locally as coordinated by local Samoan priesthood leaders.  A Church-chartered DC-10 aircraft filled with relief supplies took off from the Salt Lake City International Airport Oct. 6 and arrived in Western Samoa that same day.  The bulk of the air shipment consisted of essential provisions needed by victims who were, in some instances, left with nothing besides the clothes on their backs: food, hygiene items, clothing, bedding, mosquito nets, wheelchairs and crutches.  The Church partnered with Islamic Relief to cover the cost of chartering the cargo plane.  Islamic Relief has developed a relationship of trust and friendship with the Church while working together in the aftermath of catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina.

When the air shipment arrived in Apia, Samoa, a team of workers that included full-time missionaries unloaded the massive payload, placed the various items on trucks and moved them to the Church’s warehouse in Samoa (formerly Western Samoa). Items in the first wave of the relief shipment were then transported to affected regions to be distributed by the local priesthood leaders to members and others in need. The remainder of the supplies were warehoused and will continue to be distributed to those in need under the direction of priesthood leaders.

Canned, boxed and bagged food items from the shipment included corn, peaches, rice, pears, beef stew and dried milk (LDS Church News, October 17, 2009).

Samoans living in less impacted regions appear to be returning to their normal, daily routines, he added. The missionaries continue to be utilized in more troubled areas.

Mormon Ward Hosts Moslem Worshippers

When a California mosque was severely damaged in an electrical fire, Mormons opened their nearby meeting house for Friday Moslem prayers for over a year.  The Moslem congregation is comprised of Ahmadi Muslims, a branch of Islam founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in 1889.  There are millions of Ahmadi Muslims in the world, but they are often persecuted by other Moslem sects.  The congregation in Chino, California, has some members who have fled persecution in other countries and enjoy freedom of worship in the United States.

Although much of the mosque was destroyed in the 2003 fire, the prayer rooms were left intact. For the first 3½ years, as the mosque raised the $3 million for the first phase of rebuilding and expansion, worshippers were able to pray most weeks in those rooms.

In October 2007, construction forced them to move elsewhere, to a nearby ward — congregation — of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The ward hosted the mosque’s Friday prayers for 1 ½ years.  The Mormon ward’s invitation to the Ahmadis came after years of friendship and members visiting each others’ congregations, said Ken Rasmussen, director of public affairs for the Latter-day Saints region that includes Chino.  Rasmussen said he didn’t know about the striking similarities between the two faiths’ histories of persecution and misunderstanding until a few months after members of the two congregations began holding joint dinners.

Just as some Muslims consider Ahmadis heretics, some Christians call Mormons heretics. Ahmadis believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the messiah; Mormons believe Joseph Smith was a prophet. Smith was murdered in 1844 during an era of severe anti-Mormon attacks and persecution in the United States.

Rasmussen said that after attending dozens of Ahmadi prayer services, he’s realized there are other similarities as well: Teachings to love others, honor your family and serve God.

“It’s been a wonderful blessing for us to be such good friends with them,” he said.

The newly remodeled mosque will be larger than the original.    The new 27,000-square-foot, two-floor mosque is more than twice as big as the old one. About 300 to 400 people worship there during Friday afternoon prayers, Anwer Khan said. The mosque is still raising the $1 million necessary to build a basketball court, industrial-sized kitchen and a home for Imam Nasir.

Article adapted from ThePressEnterprise.com, and MormonTimes.com.

LDS Church Responds to Flooding in Philippines

Tropical storm Ketsana struck the Philippines on Saturday, 26 September 2009, triggering the heaviest rainfall in 40 years and causing significant flooding.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is providing food, water, clothing, hygiene items and other relief supplies, which are being purchased locally and distributed to those in the affected region. Local Church members and missionaries are assisting with clean-up efforts. Church members in nonaffected areas of the Philippines are mobilizing to donate clothing and bedding as Church leaders continue to monitor the situation.

Twelve members of the Church have been confirmed dead (eleven in the Morong Philippines District and one in the Valenzuela Philippines Stake), and 14 were missing as of the time this article was posted.  All missionaries serving in the Philippines were accounted for and were safe.  About 25 church meeting houses suffered water damage and will need repair.  Other meeting houses were used as refuge for the homeless.

Among residents of the affected area, at least 246 died in the flooding and 38 were missing, according to reports at press time. About 400,000 families — or nearly three million individuals — were impacted by the worst flooding metropolitan Manila has seen in more than 40 years. Ketsana hit the main Philippines island of Luzon. In a 24-hour period, Ketsana (called Ondoy in the Philippines) dumped more than what is normally the average monthly rainfall in the area. About 80 percent of the city of 15 million was flooded. Some areas had floodwaters as deep as 20 feet.   Humanitarian aid provided by the Church is given to all people, regardless of their faith.

Just a day after the torrential rain, members of the Church, many gathering after sacrament meetings, pooled their resources to donate food, clothes, blankets and towels to those displaced by the floods.   Many of those donating have houses that were also flooded, but knowing there were others whose houses were completely destroyed, they gathered what was left and shared them with those in greater need. Some left their flooded homes and cared for those sheltered in meetinghouses, or visited fellow members’ homes to check on their condition.  Outside Metro Manila, unaffected stakes and districts also sent help. In the northern province of Pangasinan, where typhoon Chan Hom made landfall last May 7, members — many still living in makeshift houses or staying with relatives — surprised their leaders by giving generous donations.

Deseret Church News, October 1, 2009

LDS Newsroom

MormonTimes

LDS Aid in Tsunami-Stricken Samoa

In October, 2009, an 8.3 earthquake occurred in the sea southwest of Samoa and American Samoa.  Since there are a large number of Latter-day Saints on the islands, local Saints and church leaders first tried to locate every member.  Emergency response was then coordinated between the Church and local congregations.  About 150 people died in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, 26 of whom were Latter-day Saints.  All Mormon missionaries on the islands were accounted for and found to be safe.

Latter-day Saint authorities in Samoa and New Zealand have continued to devote substantial energies to organizing humanitarian relief locally for the battered islands of Samoa and American Samoa.

Latter-day Saints throughout unaffected areas in Samoa have been gathering supplies and are continually shipping these to the impacted communities. Aid is to be given to all people in need, regardless of their religious affiliation (MormonTimes.com).

In American Samoa, at the request of the government, church meeting houses have been opened to residents who lost their homes in the disaster.

In Tonga, the tsunami crushed the small northern island of Niuatoputapu, destroying most of the homes in its three villages and leaving roughly 90 percent of its 1,019 people without shelter and clothing. Survivors reported that the waves reached the boughs of the coconut trees and obliterated the island’s hospital, bank, government offices, telecommunication facilities, jail and airport buildings. Nine people died and four were critically injured.

No Latter-day Saints were killed in Tonga, although some lost their homes and all their possessions.

Church members on Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu provided relief for the people of Niuatoputapu. On Thursday, Tongatapu’s 12 stake presidents broadcast a message on local Tonga radio inviting church members to donate food, clothing, cooking equipment, pillows, blankets and other necessities.

Church members were invited to drop their donations at their local churches, where full-time missionaries helped load them into trucks. At first light Friday, dozens of trucks began transporting the goods to government warehouses. From there, military trucks transported them to the nearby wharf, where they were loaded into a French ship, which will carry them to Niuatoputapu.

Government leaders on all three islands were impressed with the speed and coordinated efforts of the LDS Church and its members and expressed gratitude for the help.  Rebuilding efforts will also receive the continuing attention of the LDS Church.  The Church is still continuing rebuilding efforts in the tsunami-stricken regions of Indonesia and Thailand, even though the disaster occurred several years ago.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-update-on-pacific-earthquake-and-tsunami-crisis

Click here to read a personal account of the devastation in Samoa.  This article has many before and after photographs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAaBJrn9su8