Ethiopia and Somalia are in crisis. The people are facing the worst drought they’ve had in sixty years and at the same time, they are struggling with violence from a militant terrorist group called Al Shabab, which is trying to use extreme violence and cruelty to impose Islamic law—a version not practiced by mainstream Islamics.

One Muslim man, Abdulahi Muse,  born and raised in the Horn of Africa, but sent away to be educated, has returned to try to help his homeland. He is aware of the 150,000 desperate people who, just in the last year, have fled Somalia, taking a painful week-long journey on foot to find food, water, and escape from the violence. When they arrive in Ethiopia, they inadvertently create new problems, as they compete for fresh water, firewood, and land already in short supply.

Many organizations have stepped in to help, but they tend to focus on the camps. The border cities—the intersection of Somalia and Ethiopia—are largely neglected. Today they are being helped by Abdulahi Muse. He has traveled from the capital city, far from his children, to find a way to help his people. He works for International Relief and Development, an organization most haven’t heard of because, unlike most humanitarian groups, they don’t spend money on banners, signs, or bumper stickers. They just quietly do the work that needs doing. They work with a smaller group of people, which gets them less attention.

IRD has worked with the government to identify the twenty-two villages in most danger and that is where they are focusing their efforts. They are partnering with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes called Mormons. The Mormons are providing the funding for the project and have been a partner to this agency for many years.

IRD hopes to avoid the humanitarian programs of the past, in which organizations dug a well and then left the people with something they didn’t know how to care for. Instead, IRD follows the pattern the Mormons have long used in their humanitarian work. They use the local people to help with the building, which provides both employment and training.

The water is needed immediately, however. There is no time to build first, so the Mormons assure him they will begin to truck in water. Abdulahi doesn’t really believe them—charities often fail to follow through on promises, but 20,000 liters of water start arriving within a few days and more will be delivered over the next ten months. The Mormons funded the trucks used for delivery.

Abdulahi notes the plastic containers the villagers are using to store water won’t hold up to the harsh weather, so he decides to create cement-lined storage tanks. He asks the Mormons to pay for the building materials and they do. The villagers build the tanks so they will understand how to fix them when IRC is gone. They will have a sense of ownership. Most programs leave the villagers feeling the tanks belong to the charity and when they break down, they remain broken and unused. With the system used by IRC and the Mormons, the villagers own the tanks and care for them themselves. The organization also helps the people start an irrigation project for farming to provide food.

In addition to these projects, another organization, International Medical Corp.,  requested funding for three programs: additional latrines so women don’t have to leave the safety of the camp, nutrition and health centers, and a women’s center to assist victims of domestic violence and mothers could receive job training and counseling. These projects will cost two million dollars. Three Mormon congregations in the capital are also assembling and donating hygiene kits for refugees. Every month, fewer children are dying in these camps due to the improvements being made.

The Mormon involvement in the Horn of Africa is not about taking care of Mormons or about missionary work. There are no Mormons at all where the Mormons are working there and the people they serve have never heard of Mormons and don’t know the Mormons funded the projects they are carrying out. There are no missionaries in the camp and the project is done only to carry out the command of Jesus Christ to care for the poor. It is pure Christ-like humanitarianism. This project is one of 111 projects that were carried out last year.

Learn more about this project and life in the Horn of Africa:

Praying for rain: Sustainable strategies deliver water, hope to East Africa

How one man’s faith is helping end famine with help from LDS Church, By Jesse Hyde, Deseret News

Learn more about LDS Charities

Watch a video of the reporter’s experiences in reporting on these projects:

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes mistakenly called the “Mormon Church,” are well-known for their volunteerism, giving both service and funds in their church and their communities.  In early 2012 the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released findings associated with a comprehensive study of Mormons.  The focus was Mormon volunteerism, which was found to be far and beyond what most Americans, even very religious Americans give in terms of time and money.

An event was scheduled along with the release of the results of the study, called Mormons and Civic Life (read the transcript here), in which the results were discussed by those who mounted the study, scholars, members of the press, and others.

The findings of the study showed that while about 30% to 50% of Americans volunteer, they do it for about three to four hours a month.  Studies by the Corporation for National and Community Service show that Utah has the highest rate of volunteering.   Utah is the American state with the most Mormons.  The Pew study (using a 14 page, very detailed questionnaire) showed that Mormons do much more on a monthly basis.

For religious activities, people give on average 242 hours. For church-affiliated volunteering to help meet social needs of people in the church, 96 hours. For church-affiliated activities helping people outside the church, 56 hours. And for activities outside of the church totally, 34 hours.

If we take the value of the hours volunteering for an average member of the Latter-day Saints, it’s about $9,140 annually. This is a major, major contribution.

When analyzing the giving habits of Mormons the Pew study divided “giving” into three types — secular giving (outside the Church), giving as tithing (10% of one’s increase), and giving to the Church over and beyond tithing.

For secular giving, meaning giving money to worthy causes outside of the church, an average person in the church gives $1,171. Giving to welfare through the church — $650. And on top of tithing — $203 per person for religious activities.

The first thing that I said about tithing — 88.8% of members of the church that we interviewed reported that they provide full tithing. Remember, we went to the church; people that we interviewed were active members of the church. They went to a Sunday service, and this is where we found them. Another about 6% said that they do partial tithing. The total social donation — I’m excluding now the religious donation outside — if we only take what they gave for social causes within the church and outside the church, we have $1,821.

To conclude, we found a group of people that are most generous in our society. Through their theology of obedience and sacrifice and strong commitment to tithing and service, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints are the most pro-social members in American society. We couldn’t believe the findings. But that’s what we have.

Discussed at the event was the remarkable fact that Mormons show up after every major disaster, ready to provide relief; that Mormons believe in preparedness and self-reliance; that there is a social structure within each congregation that binds members together and encourages them to provide more service.  Most Mormons interviewed said that taking care of the poor and needy is a very important aspect of their faith.

Additional Resources:

More on the Pew Study on Mormon Volunteerism

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

Mormons Believe

Our Search for Happiness

The country of Malaysia consists of West Malaysia on the Malaysian peninsula, and East Malaysia, with the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the north side of the island of Borneo.  Malaysia is unique in that there is little to fear from either earthquakes or storms.  Even the devastating tsunami of December 2004 originating just west of Indonesia caused relatively minor damage and the loss of less than 60 lives.  But there are ongoing needs in the country, and humanitarian aid missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have done much good in finding those needs and providing aid through The Church of Jesus Christ’s ongoing humanitarian efforts.

In early 2012 LDS senior Mormon  missionaries, Kenneth and Gloria Larson, traveled to Tawau, Sabah, East Malaysia, where they have three current Humanitarian Projects.  They are in the process of completing a vision project with the Rotary Club of Tawau, where they have distributed about 1500 pairs of eyeglasses to poor school children who live in villages in and around Tawau.  They have also provided several pieces of new optical equipment which are portable and can be  used for eye exams in these remote villages.  They worked closely with Dr. Adjit who is the only ophthalmologist in the Tawau area, and a member of the Rotary Club, the partnering organization.

The Church of Jesus Christ is also working on a large water project with the Rotary Club of Tawau as its partner.  This charitable project will supply clean water to a village of about 4,500 people.  This village has a source of fresh spring water, but no way of supplying the village.  The government built a small, unusable dam for them, but still no way of getting the water to the people.  LDS Charities, in partnership with the Rotary Club, has built a bigger, better dam with two 10,000 liter storage tanks, a solar powered generator to pump the water to the storage tanks, and all new PVC pipes to take the water to the homes.    The total cost for LDS Charities is $125,000-$150,000, all of it donated by caring Mormons and their friends of other faiths.

As part of the ongoing “wheel chair initiative” of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, partnering in this case with Cheshire Homes and the  Red Crescent Society,  LDS Charities has donated 620 wheelchairs to Kota Kinabalu this year.  Jennifer Liew  of Cheshire Homes in Sabah  has helped to distribute these chairs in Sandakan and Tawau.  Red Crescent Society is helping to distribute these chairs in Tawau.   The partnering local organizations must assure that recipients have been properly assessed for the correct size of the wheel chairs they receive, and are responsible to train recipients how to care for and use the chairs.  For this, the partnering organizations receive training from LDS Humanitarian Aid missionaries.

Additional Resources:

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

LDS Church Finances

Jesus Christ in Mormonism

An organization called  Family Humanitarian Experience (Fhe) is serving hundreds of remote Q’eqchi’ villagers in the remote Polochic Valley of Guatemala and doing it right alongside their spouses and children.

FHe is a new 501(c)3 non-profit organization geared for LDS families who want to serve together and have spiritually uplifting experiences along the way. At the core of an FHe expedition are the training workshops which provide skills and knowledge to villages in the areas of medical and dental, economic development, and teacher training. There are also building projects and numerous cultural experiences that take place. [1]

Last summer seven FHe leaders joined with Singular Humanitarian and CHOICE Humanitarian to lay the groundwork for FHe’s expedition this July to Guatemala. CHOICE Humanitarian is a distinguished non-profit organization based in Salt Lake City with over 30 years of experience in sustainable village development. SHe is a sister organization to FHe for LDS single professionals that develops and provides curriculum and hands-on training to villages around the world in much the same way as FHe, focusing on the areas of business, healthcare, and education.

In July 2011 FHe and SHe worked together to train local volunteers to provide aid in Guatemalan villages.  Aid includes the building of a hospital, enabling teachers to provide education, and health workers to provide care and instruction on sanitation and hygiene.

Families who serve with FHe will go home with deeper gratitude, a deeper love of mankind and for each other, and with the desire to not take anything for granted, especially relationships. This is the gift the Q’eqchi’ people give to us, the ability to love and live more deeply.”

FHe recently launched their website, www.familyhumanitarian.org, and will be closing registration soon for their expedition to Guatemala in early July 2012.

Earthquakes, a tsunami and massive flooding have combined to make 2011 the costliest year for natural disasters on record according to a recently released Welfare Services report of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). [1]

LDS Presiding Bishop David H. Burton Delivers Aid to Japanese Fishermen

Disasters which occurred during the first half of the year caused $265 billion worth of damage.  This broke the record set in 2005, the year that hurricane Katrina hit the southern states in America.  The amount of damage caused by disasters in 2005 was approximately $220 billion.   Japan’s earthquake and tsunami damage alone has been estimated at $235 billion.

The humanitarian services arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes inadvertently called the “Mormon Church“) offered help throughout the year.  The LDS Church responded to 111 disasters in 50 countries, providing a total of $22 million in emergency aid and organizing thousands of volunteers through the Mormon Helping Hands program to assist those affected. In addition to natural disasters, east Africa experienced one of the worst droughts and famines in more than 60 years.

2012 is starting out to be another difficult year.  The end of February and beginning of March yielded over 100 destructive tornadoes in the Midwest and southern U.S. states.   The Church of Jesus Christ always has relief supplies standing at the ready to offer aid fast.  Hygiene kits and other supplies were immediately shipped to stricken areas.

The Church of Jesus Christ participated in the following initiatives:

• After the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, more than 250 tons of supplies were distributed during the first few months following the disaster, including food, water, blankets, bedding, hygiene supplies, clothing and fuel.   Twenty-two thousand Church-sponsored volunteers have provided more than 175,000 hours of service in Japan to date.  The Church of Jesus Christ continues to give aid in Japan.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints responded to the famine in east Africa by committing $2.25 million in support of relief efforts.  The Church partnered with Islamic Relief, International Medical Corps, International Relief and Development and other organizations to provide food, clean water and medical supplies.
• After a rash of violent tornadoes in the United States, the Church of Jesus Christ provided relief in 8 states, with 5,000 Latter-day Saint volunteers helping with cleanup efforts.
• In response to flooding in Thailand, church members in Thailand assembled food kits, sanitation kits, blankets, clothes and other relief items for those affected by the floods.
• In response to Hurricane Irene in the U.S., the Church provided 120 tons of relief supplies and 50,000 hours of service from more than 7,000 Church volunteers and missionaries.

Read More at LDS Newsroom.

Additional Resources:

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

LDS Philanthropies

Mormon Self-Reliance

Written by Ryan Nimer, a BYU student, studying a volume of scripture known as the Pearl of Great Price, which is written by prophets; members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “Mormons” revere it as sacred text. This post comes from a book within the Pearl of Great Price known as The Book of Moses; it is an extraction from the translation of the Bible as revealed to Joseph Smith the Prophet, June 1830—February 1831.

God the Father is the Literal Father of Our Spirits

Throughout time people have asked and still ask: what is the purpose of life? One of the wonderful things about the restored gospel, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the “Mormon” Church), is that we have the answer to this question. Although the purpose of life encompasses a few important principles, one of the most significant realizations needed to understand this purpose is that we are children of God, our Heavenly Father. One of the Great Old Testament prophets Moses was visited by the Lord and taught about his relationship to God. As we learn about Moses’ experience we can understand more about our purpose in life and our relationship to God as well.

In a book of scripture known as the Pearl of Great Price (book of scripture revered as sacred by “Mormon” members), Moses chapter 1, the Lord visited Moses and told him specifically that he was a son of God and that he had a work to do (See Moses 1: 4-5). With this insight, Moses learned that he was connected to God the Father as his son and that God expected Moses to perform a work. We are just like Moses, children of God, with things that the Lord expects us to learn and do. The Lord showed Moses the creation of the world and all the children of men, helping him understand that God knows all the people of the world and has a plan for each of them (See Moses 1:8). We can take comfort in knowing that the Father really does know each and every one of us and that he has a plan for us that is bigger than we can comprehend. Moses’ experience of being visited by the Lord taught him that “man is nothing” and that the Lord is all-powerful and it requires spiritual eyes and power to comprehend God’s glory. We too can know that God the Father is all-powerful and that we must increase our spiritual knowledge and power to comprehend Him more fully.

After this experience, Satan visited Moses commanding him to worship him. Since Moses knew the power of God and that he was His son, he was able to recognize that Satan was trying to deceive him. Moses remembered he was a son of God the Father and cast Satan out (See Moses 1:21). We too can gain a stronger testimony of our relationship with God and be able to overcome Satan’s temptations in our own lives.

What a great blessing it is to know our true relationship with our Heavenly Father and to be able to receive spiritual guidance in our lives, like Moses knew and applied. I know that as we strive to develop our relationship with God our Father we will gain spiritual power. We will learn more about the purpose for our life on earth, and that we can withstand the temptations of the adversary that come our way.

Additional Resources:

We can become like our Heavenly Father. Learn more at the official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).

Request a free copy of the Book of Mormon or Bible.

Learn more about God.

Written by Kristen Knecht, a BYU student, studying a volume of scripture known as the Pearl of Great Price, which is written by prophets; members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “Mormons” revere it as sacred text. This post comes from a book within the Pearl of Great Price known as The Book of Moses; it is an extraction from the translation of the Bible as revealed to Joseph Smith the Prophet, June 1830—February 1831. 

God the Father’s Visit to Moses Teaches Us a Lot

One of my favorite parts of the teachings from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called the “Mormon Church” by the media) is that everyone can obtain the blessings that obedience brings. All blessings, covenants, and opportunities are available if we live worthily and strive to do our best. No one is more important than the other is; no one has special privileges that another person cannot obtain. Even though women cannot hold and exercise the priesthood (the eternal power and authority of God the Father) like men can, that doesn’t mean that women will not receive all the blessings of the priesthood as they support the priesthood.

With all of these things in mind, I read in a book of scripture known as the Pearl of Great Price, in Moses chapter 1 , and found it to be a very rewarding experience. Moses was told things by God the Father that not only apply to him, but they apply to all of us. In verse 2  it says “…God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence.” When I think about what it takes to have eternal life and to dwell in the presence of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ I know that we have to meet certain requirements. We will not be able to dwell with them in the hereafter, if in this life we do not keep the commandments and figuratively have “God upon us.” Just as Moses was prepared to be in the presence of God the Father, so must we be prepared. In verse 6 it says “…Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten…”, this is such a wonderful statement because we can all know that we are in the similitude of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love verse 12, which reads, “…Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.” I love this verse, because even though Moses had just had the blessing of being in the presence of God he was tempted! Being tempted and experience hardships is an essential part of life! We could not know the greatness of God the Eternal Father if we didn’t know how evil Satan is.

While still in the presence of Satan, verse 18 says, “And again Moses said: I will not cease to call upon God, I have other things to inquire of him: for his glory has been upon me, wherefore I can judge between him and thee.” This is such a great reminder that I need to remember the spiritual experiences I have had. When we remember the confirmations of the spirit, we can know the difference between impressions of God and the temptations of Satan. This is also a good example that no matter how spiritual we may think we are we still need to “call upon God” and “inquire of him” so that we may constantly grow in the gospel and in the light of our Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. Verse 26 is very applicable to myself, to all Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and to the world. It reads “And lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days; for thou shalt deliver my people from bondage, even Israel my chosen.” Our Heavenly Father will never desert us! He is always going to be here to cheer us on and assist us in our endeavors.

Every member of the Mormon Church has been called to preach the gospel to Heavenly Father’s children on this earth. We have been commanded to share the gospel with others. Moses, Chapter 1 is such a great chapter to be able to read about the similarities in the relationship between God and Moses and the relationship between God and myself. So many of the things that Moses learned and experienced are things that I know can be applied in my own life. We are all eligible to have the blessings and experiences that Moses had as long as we are striving to be obedient and worthy.

Additional Resources:

Find a local Mormon meeting house.

Chat with a Mormon online and ask them questions about their faith.

What are Mormon beliefs concerning God?

In late January 2012 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes erroneously called the “Mormon Church,” opened a huge bishop’s storehouse in West Salt Lake City, Utah, as reported in the Deseret News.  A Bishop’s Storehouse is similar to a general store supplied with food and basic needs for the poor and needy members of the LDS Church.  The Church of Jesus Christ has a remarkable welfare program based on self-reliance that has been studied and used as an example by leaders all over the world.

This new bishop’s storehouse has 570,391 square feet and will also be used as a staging point for humanitarian aid shipped out worldwide when disasters strike. The Church of Jesus Christ has its own farms, orchards, vineyards, dairies, and ranches, and canneries operated by Mormon volunteers.  The products from these concerns stock the shelves of bishop’s storehouses around the world, and fill boxes that stand ready to ship out for humanitarian aid.

The new facility in Salt Lake City has the capacity to store 65,000 pallets of food and supplies.  The building was constructed for a single purpose — to enable the bishops of the church to meet the needs of the poor and needy.

The massive structure replaces the previous Bishops’ Central Storehouse, located on 1600 Wallace Road, and was paid for with LDS Church fast offering funds, which are earmarked to help those in need.

Ground was broken on the facility May 18, 2010, and construction began in July of that year. The facility, completed Oct. 7, 2011, was dedicated  by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the LDS Church’s First Presidency.

The facility will be the central hub of the Church of Jesus Christ‘s welfare efforts.

The facility also includes Deseret Transportation — which utilizes 43 tractors and 98 trailers and logs about 3.5 million miles per year delivering goods to some 110 church storehouses across the United States and Canada.

The storehouse includes a bulk storage area, rack storage and 63,000 square feet of freezer and cooler space that is humidity-controlled.  The storehouse and preparedness system of the LDS Church is so efficient, that supplies can go out during the first incoming emergency phone call and be gone before the parties hang up.  For example,

After Hurricane Katrina struck the southern United States in 2005, the LDS church staged fully loaded semi-trucks from Texas to South Carolina. When the storm hit New Orleans, the emergency supplies were on site within 24 hours. Another 450 semi-trucks filled with food, water and other needed items were sent to the disaster zone from the Bishops’ Central Storehouse in Salt Lake City in the weeks after the emergency.

Read more at Deseret News.

Additional Resources:

Man’s Search for Happiness

Basic Mormon Beliefs and Real Mormons

We Have Always Existed

At the end of 2011, Deseret News named its best articles in six categories, one of which was care for the poor and needy.  This is a review of those best articles.

#10 — Turning Skills into Jobs

This article explains the charitable works of a non-profit organization called Global Artisans.  The organization helps skilled refugees open their own businesses using their unique skills.  The non-profit was founded by Ze Min Xiao, refugee services liaison for Salt Lake County in 2009.

In collaboration with the Utah Refugee Coalition and American Express, Xiao started Global Artisans to help refugees to put those skills to good use. On Thursdays and Saturdays, people from all over the world — Tibet, Iraq, Bhutan, Burma, Eretria — gather to knit, weave or sew together. To make their skills more applicable in an American market, Global Artisans offers business, finance and computer classes.  [Read more...]

#9 — Keeping Families Intact

This article profiles the House of Hope, a residential rehabilitation facility.  House of Hope is a government funded non-profit organization. Ten years ago the facility pioneered a family-centered approach to substance abuse treatment.   This is often the last hope for addicted mothers and their children, who begin by residing at the facility and then report on an out-patient basis.  Funding cuts have put the programs in danger.

The children manifest many problems due to the drug use of their parents.  Some are physically impaired because their mothers used drugs during their pregnancies.  Others are behaviorally impaired because their lives have been chaotic and insecure.  (Read more…)

#8 — Pennies for Change

The internet is transforming the way people make charitable donations.  While there are websites for large, well-known charities, the ease of building one’s own blog, website, or social media venue has enabled people to establish charities that work through very, very small donations.  As a result, nonprofits are beginning to rely less on the rich.

Using social media members of the Millennial generation who are movers but not spenders are able to mount their own charitable campaigns.  (Read more…)

#7 — It Takes a Village

Humanitarian projects that are mounted in third-world countries fare better when they have local leadership on site.  In the early 1980s, James B. Mayfield trekked from village to village in Indonesia, tracking down projects planned and paid for by the World Bank and USAID.   He found that over 80% of charitable projects had failed and fallen into disrepair and disuse.  The people were waiting for the Americans to come back and fix everything.  Mayfield decided to come up with a new idea —  he founded CHOICE Humanitarian, a Utah-based nonprofit that builds schools, water systems and micro-enterprise programs in Africa, Latin America and Asia, he would insist: “The local people will lead the way.”  (Read more…)

#6 — The Children Left Behind

More than 5,100 children are in the foster care system because their parents have been detained or deported.

Twenty-two percent of the 397,000 illegal immigrants deported in 2011 were parents to U.S.-citizen children, compared to just 8 percent from 1998 to 2007. If deportations continue on trend, the ARC estimates the country will add 15,000 immigrant children to the foster care roles over the next five years.

Immigration policies and laws are built around the assumption that families will, and should, be reunited, but this is very complicated.  (Read more…)

#5 — Hurting Charity

Obama and Congress are considering cutting back on tax deductions for charitable donations.  Many charities worry donors will give less and needy people will go without.   Because of the U.S. recession, donations are already down, and funding cuts have also hurt charities.

“People are struggling and donations are hard to come by,” said Steve Taylor, vice president of public policy at United Way Worldwide. “It’s the people at the bottom of the economic spectrum who were already hurt the most by the recession and, if these plans go through, they’ll be the ones to suffer again.” (Read more…)

#4 — A Judge Who Made a Difference

Judges who are compassionate enough to listen to the accused, have an effect on their future behavior.

A judge’s disposition — whether respectful and caring or mean and disinterested — may make the difference between a trip back to prison and an addiction-free life for a drug offender.

In a study of 101 drug courts across the country, NPC Research discovered courts where the judge spends an average of three minutes or more speaking with each offender were more than twice as successful at keeping participants from reoffending. The reduction in recidivism increased as one-on-one time with the judge increased.  (Read more…)

#3 — Seeds of Hope

Cindy Packard and her  husband founded the nonprofit Care for Life, which has brought her back to Mozambique many times.

In the villages where Care for Life works, the death rate has dropped from an average of 22 deaths every six months to five. The percentage of people with adequate housing is up from less than half to an average of 85. Thirty percent more children attend school. Employment statistics have more than doubled. Adult literacy rates have increased from 50 to 77 percent. More than that, though, Care for Life seems to have discovered a formula for inspiring hope among the destitute and giving them tools to help themselves.   (Read more…)

#2 — Water and Hope

This article profiles humanitarian aid work performed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often erroneously called the Mormon Church, in Seamay, Guatemala.  In rural areas of Guatemala, clean water was scarce and almost half of all students failed the first grade.

…the coffee industry, once the backbone of Guatemala’s economy, had essentially collapsed in the mid-1990s when, due to deregulation and free trade, factory farms in places like Brazil and Vietnam flooded the global market with cheap beans, resulting in the loss of half a million jobs in Guatemala. Seamay had been hit particularly hard.  (Read more…)

#1 — Stolen Innocence

The slave trade is alive and well in the United States of America, but some people are trying to stop it.

With job descriptions ranging in scope from prostitute to waiter to maid, more than 150,000 people in the United States are living in slavery, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Because of a deep-seated perception that slavery is a Third World issue, states have had a hard time getting the ball rolling on anti-trafficking initiatives.  (Read more…)

The Deseret News — Best Articles of 2011

Of all the numbers in the Pew Research Center’s recently released survey of “Mormons in America,” the highest, most overwhelming numbers are these: 98 percent of respondents said they believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and 97 percent say their church is a Christian religion.

This comes on the heels of earlier surveys indicating that 32 percent of non-LDS U.S. adults say the LDS Church is not a Christian religion, and an additional 17 percent are unsure of LDS Christianity. The theological and semantic reasons for this can be complex, but for the 1,019 self-identified Mormons who participated in the Pew survey, their theological position is clear: Mormons believe in Jesus Christ, and they consider themselves to be Christian.

“Certainly in Latter-day Saint theology is this idea that if you understand who you are, you understand that there’s a purpose in life, you understand your connection to God, that certainly has an impact on how you live your life and what you do, but also how you feel about your life and what you are doing,” said Michael Purdy of the LDS Church Public Affairs office.

For the vast majority of Latter-day Saints surveyed, those life choices have much to do with their religious beliefs. Eighty-two percent of survey respondents indicate that religion is “very important” to them, 83 percent say they pray every day and 77 percent say they attend church at least once a week. Beyond that, a stunning 69 percent of respondents fit all three descriptions, saying that religion is very important to them, that they pray every day and that they go to church every week.

“By this measure,” the report says, “Mormons exhibit higher levels of religious commitment than many other religious groups, including white evangelical Christians.”

Part of the explanation for these high numbers may be that the survey focused only on those who self-identified as Latter-day Saints.

“The method they used tended to identify people who are strongly committed,” said BYU sociologist Marie Cornwall, who advised the Pew Forum on the new survey. “They don’t have the people who are kind of marginal. But that’s okay; we just have to be careful with the way we interpret the findings.”

One such finding is the relationship between religious commitment and education among Mormons.

David Campbell, a University of Notre Dame associate professor and another adviser on the survey, noted that the more educated respondents were, the higher their levels of religious commitment.

“I was a little surprised by that,” said Campbell, who is LDS and who has extensively studied on the role of religion in the public square. “The more educated a Mormon is, the more likely they are to be wholehearted in their commitment to the church and its teachings.”

That is different from other churches, he said, where more education tends to lead to more religious skepticism.

Pew Research Center officials also noted “a significant gender gap in religious commitment, with more Mormon women than men exhibiting a high level of religious commitment (73 percent vs. 65 percent).”

According to the Pew report, a similar “gender gap” is seen among the general public. A 2007 survey found 36 percent of U.S. women exhibited a high level of religious commitment, compared with 24 percent of men.

One series of questions asked about what it means to be a good Mormon. According to the respondents, in order to be a good Mormon it is “essential” to believe Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ (80 percent), work to help the poor (73 percent), hold regular family home evenings (51 percent), not drink coffee and tea (49 percent) and not watch R-rated movies (32 percent).

Combining those who said “essential” with those who said “important but not essential,” the order changes a little bit: working to help the poor (97 percent), holding regular family home evenings (96 percent), believing Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ (93 percent), not drinking coffee and tea (81 percent) and not watching R-rated movies (79 percent).

“I think that result is rather interesting,” said Cornwall. “Mormons are known for not drinking coffee or tea and not watching R-rated movies. But compared to believing that Joseph Smith saw God and working for the poor, Mormons don’t seem to focus on the coffee and tea as much as people probably think.”

Other manifestations of religious commitment in the survey included:

The number of respondents (65 percent) who say they hold a current temple recommend (a certificate from local ecclesiastical leaders, issued every other year, indicating that an individual has permission from the church to enter LDS temples and participate in temple rites and sacraments)

The number (79 percent) who say they pay tithing (donating 10 percent of their income to the church)

The number (27 percent) who have served full-time missions for the church (this number includes 43 percent of men and 11 percent of women and varies significantly according to the age and education of the respondent, as well as whether or not the respondent was raised Mormon)

The number (82 percent) who keep food in storage for emergencies or disasters, as they have been counseled to do by LDS Church leaders (This number includes 23 percent who say they have three months’ worth, 35 percent who say they have more than three months’ worth and 23 percent who say they have less than three months’ worth)

The percentage who pay tithing is especially interesting to break down. According to the survey tabulations, “tithing is most common among Mormons with the highest levels of religious commitment (96 percent) … fully 91 percent of college graduates say they pay tithing … compared with 66 percent of those with a high school diploma or less education. And among those whose family income exceeds $30,000, 83 percent say they pay tithing, compared with 69 percent of those with incomes of less than $30,000.”

While previous surveys have clearly established LDS agreement with certain key Christian doctrines — 90 percent of Mormons believe in God, 91 percent believe the Bible is the word of God and 98 percent believe in life after death — the new survey explores Mormon confidence in points of doctrine that are unique to LDS theology. And in these points of doctrine, Mormons proved to be unified and believing. They believe overwhelmingly that God and Jesus Christ are separate physical beings (94 percent), that the president of the LDS Church is a prophet of God (94 percent), that families can be bound together eternally in temple ceremonies (95 percent) and that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets and translated by Joseph Smith (91 percent).

Overall, 77 percent say they believe “wholeheartedly” in all of the teachings of the LDS Church. That number increases to 82 percent among Mormons ages 18-49, and to 85 percent among Mormons who are college graduates.

“Ultimately, I suppose other Americans will judge our church — and perhaps all churches — by their relevance in how they touch and improve human lives right here on Earth as well as what they offer in the life to come,” wrote Michael Otterson, Public Affairs director for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in his “On Faith” blog in the Washington Post. “Meanwhile, we welcome the friendship and regard of all groups, even as we retain our commitment to a unique identity. In the end … Latter-day Saints will strive to be good Mormons, true believers, kind neighbors and faithful friends.”

Pew Study Reflects Mormons’ Religious Commitment to Christ, Mormon Beliefs in Tithes and Temples

Mormons in America