Mormon Church Gets Aid into Pakistan

The Mormon Church has no members in Pakistan, and no meeting houses, temples or welfare centers.  Thus, there is no church infrastructure on the ground in Pakistan to help distribute aid or to inform the Church as to where aid is needed. 

Therefore, the LDS Church has partnered with International Relief and Development, International Medical Corps and Saba Aslam Welfare and Trust to locally purchase and distribute immediate relief supplies.

Additional supplies from the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City will be shipped in the coming weeks, in partnership with Islamic Relief USA. 

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Pakistan,” said Presiding Bishop H. David Burton, who oversees humanitarian efforts. “The generous donations of church members and others is allowing the church to provide aid that will relieve the suffering of many people.”

“Heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan triggered the worst flooding in 80 years, beginning in late July. More than a third of the country has been impacted, and more than 1,500 people have died; 17 million others have been directly affected.” [1]

One hundred percent of the donations given to the church’s humanitarian services are used for relief efforts. The LDS Church absorbs its own overhead costs.  The help the Church is able to give around the world regardless of their culture or religion is due to the generousity of its members.

So that Newborns can Breathe

Mormons Continue to Supply USNS Comfort with Staff and Supplies

Participation in the U.S. Navy’s Operation Continuing Promise mission improves the Mormon Church‘s capacity for responding to emergencies.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has provided 60% of the Navy emergency medical ship’s staff and supplies for its 4-month mission in 2009.  The ship visited seven countries on its humanitarian aid mission.  The plan is to continue the mission this year.

Nate Leishman, the manager of Humanitarian Emergency Response for The Church, has tracked natural disasters and noted that they are on the increase.  He cites prophecies of last-days disasters as part of the reason.  Expecting this increase, the Church has ramped up its ability to respond, partially by teaming with other charitable organizations.

The LDS Church has recently responded to flooding in the Northeast; earthquakes in Chile, Haiti and Indonesia; a tsunami in Samoa; typhoons in the Philippines; and civil unrest in Zimbabwe.  “We’re really responding to something almost every day somewhere around the world,” Leishman said.  The tsunami in Southeast Asia and the earthquake in Haiti were the biggest disasters in recent history.  Leishman expects the Church to be involved in humanitarian efforts in Haiti “for years to come.”  The Church is still offering relief in Asia.

Haiti was among the seven Caribbean, Central American and South American nations visited by the USNS Comfort between April 1 and July 31, 2009. The LDS Church’s role began when a representative from humanitarian partner Islamic Relief suggested that the Navy’s annual humanitarian voyages were a worthwhile project to be apart of.  Leishman attended a conference in January 2009 where he was told that the Comfort needed supplies, but also nurses, translators and general volunteers.

The Presiding Bishopric approved the Church’s involvement, and LDS Humanitarian Services loaded the comfort with hygiene, medical and school supplies.

It was easier than expected to find volunteer support. Forty-five Latter-day Saints were stationed aboard the Comfort on a rotating basis, each serving at least one month. The church also made 137 volunteers available in-country from its missionary force and church membership.  With the help of in-country volunteers, the 650 medical professionals onboard the Comfort, of which 600 were active duty and reserve military, counted 432,846 healthcare service encounters, treated 100,049 patients, performed 1,657 surgeries (such as cataract removal and cleft palette repair) and helped 15,003 dental patients.  Eleven other countries besides the United States had military personnel involved.

The Church was able to strengthen relationships with other non-governmental organizations, U.S. military leaders, ambassadors and the governments of the seven nations (Haiti, Dominican Republic, Antigua, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua and El Salvador).

The USNS Comfort has since returned to Haiti to provide aid for earthquake victims. Participation in projects such as Operation Continuing Promise helps facilitate future humanitarian efforts, Leishman said.

LDS Church Responds to Earthquake in Chile

Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are determining how the Church can be of most assistance in the wake of one of the most powerful earthquakes of the last century. With over half a million Latter-day Saints living in Chile, the Church has a substantial presence.  There are well over 100 Mormon missionaries in the country.  They were well prepared for the quake through the guidance of the Holy Spirit given to their mission president, who was warned ahead of time by the Lord that the disaster was coming.  All safe and accounted for, they were able to render assistance to their neighbors almost immediately.

“We, along with the rest of the world, are watching with concern as reports from the massive earthquake in Chile continue to unfold.  As with any disaster, immediate details are difficult to confirm.

“We have confirmed that all of the Church’s missionaries in Chile have reported in and are safe, including the two elders on the Juan Fernandez Island.” (This is an update from a report earlier today when some missionaries had not reported in).

Latter-day Saints are counseled by their leaders to store food, water, clothing and fuel against unpredicted emergencies, and this helps them weather such disasters and again be ready to help their neighbors.  Local leaders and members began relief efforts shortly after the quake distributing food and water already located in Concepción. Early reports indicate that one Church member has died.  [Later reports confirmed 7 church members dead and one missing.]

Church leaders have identified that food, water, tents, blankets, hygiene kits and sleeping mats are needed to assist people in the affected region. Representatives of the Church in Chile have been in contact with the country’s Interior Ministry to determine how the Church can most appropriately assist in relief efforts. Emergency response personnel at Church headquarters are poised to provide assistance as appropriate.  Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile delivered six tons of food from local bishops’ storehouses to the city of Talca on 2 March to help meet needs in several cities north of Concepción.  A second shipment of 20 tons of food is expected to reach Concepción on 3 March. Two additional shipments of food have been sent to affected areas to the south of Concepción.

Most Latter-day Saint meetinghouses in Chile fared well in the quake, though many are filled with dust. At least three meetinghouses suffered extensive structural damage, and another was severely flooded. A house that also served as a meetinghouse was swept away in the tsunami triggered by the earthquake.  Those wishing to donate to the Church Humanitarian Aid Fund can do so here. Resources from the Church Humanitarian Aid Fund make it possible for the Church to conduct humanitarian activities all over the world. One hundred percent of all contributions are used to help the needy.

Update: March 3, 2010

Food supplies are being pulled from Bishop’s storehouses in locations in Chile for delivery to earthquake-stricken areas.  Six tons of food were delivered Tuesday to the city of Talca to help meet needs in several cities north of Concepcion. A second shipment of 20 tons of food was to reach Concepcion later Tuesday.  Also, two additional shipments of food have been sent to affected areas south of Concepcion.

Update: March 17, 2010

An airlift of tents, tarps, diapers and other supplies sent by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Chilean government arrived in Santiago from Miami on Monday, 15 March. The supplies had been specifically requested by the previous Chilean government and will provide relief in the wake of the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile in February.  The Church’s Chile area presidency, which directs the work of the Church throughout Chile, met with Rodrigo Hinzpeter, Chile’s new interior minister, and Cristobal Lira, the general coordinator of donations, to formally donate the shipment. The ministers expressed their gratitude for all the Church was doing to help the Chilean people.

Local Church leaders are also continuing to coordinate the delivery of food, water and other supplies provided locally from bishops’ storehouses in Chile to affected areas, including the Juan Fernandez Islands, which were hit by a major tsunami. Several tons of relief supplies have already been provided by the Church from resources in country.  Still, nearly 450 Church members are temporarily using 25 Church meetinghouses as living quarters.

Update: April 19, 2010

Click here to read a piece about the Mormon missionaries in Chile, the protection they were blessed with, and the service they were able to provide.

Mormon Church Provides $4.25 Million in Aid to Haiti

In the first month following Haiti’s devastating January 12, 2010, earthquake, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provided an estimated $4.25 million in assistance, with plans for ongoing relief and recovery support for the ravaged Caribbean nation.

Relief efforts have included providing food, relief supplies, shelters for displaced Haitians and medical teams to treat the injured and ailing.

The LDS Church has shipped 28 truckloads of relief supplies — including nine air shipments — to Haiti.

Food and relief supplies included 208,834 pounds of food, 16,070 water-filtration bottles, 12,840 hygiene kits, 11,760 blankets, 4,000 first-aid kits, 2,304 newborn kits, 1,696 tents, 1,319 tarps, 600 quilts and 25 medical supply modules.

Other items range from gas-powered cooking stoves to mattresses.  Additionally, five truckloads of food and relief supplies were driven across the island from the church’s Caribbean area facilities in the neighboring Dominican Republic, while local church leaders were authorized to use fast-offering funds to purchase food and water in the first days immediately after the quake.

Nine of the Port-au-Prince LDS meetinghouses have been used as emergency shelters, with up to 9,000 people total — not just LDS Church members — seeking assistance or staying on the meetinghouse grounds.  The Church has also provided food, relief and some cash assistance to a number of nongovernmental organizations, including CARE, Food for  thePoor, Red Cross, International Relief and Development, Islamic Relief and Healing Hands for Haiti. Local church leaders also have provided additional assistance to Haitian charitable organizations.

The church has sent several first-response medical teams, totaling 17 doctors and three nurses, with specialties including trauma, orthopedics, family practice, emergency room and critical care.  Two mental health counselors also assisted at the shelters. Additional medical and mental-health professionals have since gone to Haiti to continue the assisting and assessing needs. [1]

Read more…

Haitian Latter-day Saints

“Those who are members [of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] begin with a gift not easily duplicated—and that is they see themselves differently.  This is the secret, the very key to escaping the culture of poverty.

“They see themselves not as helpless or hopeless, but on a spiritual journey of growth, children of God with a destiny that lies far beyond the broken hovels.  They have testimonies, understand the scriptures, talk with insight about the meaning of their lives.  They have as President Ezra Taft Benson used to say, not just been taken out of the slums, but have had the slums taken out of them.

“They have vision.  They see themselves differently than do their fellows. While Haiti seeks to build a new infrastructure, the Haitian Latter-day Saints have a personal foundation that is unwavering and firm.  An infrastructure in their nation will follow the building of an internal infrastructure based on a sure foundation.

“We have never met better people than among the Haitian Latter-day Saints, nor seen former missionaries who were so in love with the people they had taught and baptized.

“We have never seen miracles more lavishly given from the Lord than among the members in Haiti who are coping with such difficult odds.

“Beyond that, the Church works to promote education and leadership among the people.  Those who have everything given to them, without expectation of work and effort, grow heavy and dull-eyed with apathy and expectation.  In contrast, the Church is there to bring food and shelter in an emergency, but it is all toward the end of ultimately developing the people, their self-sufficiency and their eternal nature.  They are taught to help themselves, become someone who can be counted on, someone who is productive.

“We remember being in Ghana at the time of the temple dedication, learning about the huge numbers of unemployed Latter-day Saints there, the many that were sunk below the poverty line.  We were told by priesthood leaders there that the goal for the area was to be self-sufficient in fast offerings and be able to cover the needs of their own poor.  That is a high expectation, indeed, but not an unrealistic one, as the ability of people to stand is developed by their membership in the Church.”  (Meridian Magazine Report.)

Update: April 26, 2010
One hundred days after the earthquakes in Haiti, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues its aid projects there.  More than a million pounds of food has been delivered and another half-million pounds of additional relief supplies provided.

The totals do not include additional supplies — such as hygiene kits, tents, blankets and medical supplies — given to other charity- or relief-based non-government organizations (NGOs) in Haiti.

However, efforts to build hundreds of shelters are moving very slowly, partly because so much of the land is covered with rubble or near unsafe structures, and residents are unable to show the proof of ownership or landowner’s permission to erect a structure.

The church has hired a local building contractor to oversee future efforts while continuing to donate to other NGOs, such as International Relief and Development, which is building multi-shelter communities on open properties.

The LDS Church has property and plans to build a bishop’s storehouse in Haiti, but the Freres neighborhood land is still housing some 360 homeless, with the meetinghouse grounds now clear of temporary residents.

Deploying an employment specialist and small management staff, the church has established an office in the Centrale Ward meetinghouse that works with bishops to pair individuals with prospective basic-wage jobs, such as the United Nations-sponsored cash-for-work program and groups like Catholic Relief Services and MercyCorps.

Other efforts include working with other NGOs to restart a projected 100 businesses that existed prior to the quake and to foster new businesses.

Another partnership program provides mentoring to would-be employees, as the church “hires” — or pays — individuals during a short training period while a business provides training and job experience for that company or its industry in general.

Update, May 14, 2010:

A banquet was held in Salt Lake City to honor the Utah Hospital Task Force, a Utah group that was the largest non-military response team in Haiti following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the island country on Jan. 12, killing an estimated 230,000 people.  The banquet was the formal launch of a program with a goal to build a new hospital in Haiti by Jan. 12, 2011, the one-year anniversary of the earthquake.  At the dinner, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert officially declared May 12 as the state’s Haiti Volunteers Day. Herbert commented on the overwhelming support that poured into Haiti from Utah.

Hospital plans call for 130 beds and treatment options for a wide range of patients. In addition to meeting basic health care needs, the hospital would also provide maternity and child care services and treat malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

Fundraising efforts are in the early stages, and the task force faces the daunting task of constructing a hospital in less than nine months.

While in Haiti, the task force treated more than 5,000 patients, delivered food to more than 250,000 people and provided housing and work to numerous Haitians.

Mormons Remember 1985 Fast for Ethiopians

2010 is the 25th anniversary of an especially successful and heartwarming humanitarian aid project funded by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Leaders of the LDS Church visited a feeding camp in Ethiopia which housed 120,000 refugees.  30,000 more were trying to be admitted.  The people were hollow-eyed and starving.  The Church had called upon its members to hold a special fast and to donate the money that would have been spent on meals to the starving people in Ethiopia.  Latter-day Saints fast on the first Sunday of each month, anyway, and then donate the money saved on skipped meals to the Church for the support of the poor.  That day is called “fast Sunday” by members of the Church.  This special fast brought in donations of $6 million US dollars from Latter-day Saints worldwide.

Elder M. Russell Ballard, then of the Presidency of the Seventy and now a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Glenn L. Pace, then managing director of the Church’s Welfare Department and now of the First Quorum of the Seventy, were in Ethiopia to determine how best to use the money donated.

“While the Church has always responded to the suffering caused by various disasters, the Ethiopian famine triggered a more methodical and organized effort than had been experienced before,” Elder Pace said.  Church leaders held sacred the funds raised in the fast, as well as a second fast held in November 1985 that raised an additional $5 million. To expedite its Church’s humanitarian endeavors, the Church began to form relationships with humanitarian organizations to help those in need.

In the 25 years since that fast, the Church has sent $1.1 billion in assistance to 167 nations. That includes 61,308 tons of food, 12,829 tons of medical supplies, 84,681 tons of clothing and 8.6 million hygiene, newborn and school kits.

And each year the Church’s ability to assist others increases as other humanitarian organizations (many with which the Church now partners) have become acquainted with the Church, said Presiding Bishop H. David Burton. “They know our integrity. They know that when we commit, we follow through. I think we have earned a place among the very best of the non-governmental organizations around the world.”

Today, members may provide support for humanitarian work by donating online, donating through LDS Philanthropies, by giving items to the Deseret Industries or by serving at some of the hundreds of established Church welfare facilities located around the world.

The Church guarantees that every penny donated to the humanitarian fund is used for the care of the poor and the needy.

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.

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

LDS Response to Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan

August 21, 2009 — LDS Newsroom Blog

The deadliest storm to hit Taiwan in 50 years, typhoon Morakot surged through earlier this month, killing 141 people and leaving hundreds more missing. Roads to dozens of villages also remained blocked, and thousands of people were living in disaster relief shelters.

In addition to helping church members with immediate needs, the Church is working with government and other agencies to provide relief.  Food, water, hygiene supplies, generators, pumps and other relief supplies have been purchased or rented to assist families and individuals in the community. Donations from Church members of rice, water and other daily necessities have been collected and distributed.

Church buildings are being used as staging areas for cleanup projects.  More than 1,000 Church members from across Taiwan have joined with missionaries to assist in cleanup efforts in affected areas.  Nearly 50,000 Church members in 100 congregations live in Taiwan. There is also a Church temple there.

LDS, Islamic Leaders, share relief efforts

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has partnered with Islamic Relief USA to provide assistance in the wake of the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.  The partnership continued with emergency relief response following the May 2006 Indonesian earthquake.  In July, 2009, leaders of Islamic Relief USA met in Salt Lake City with LDS Church leaders.  Together, they toured church humanitarian aid facilities.  Abed Ayoub cited recent talks with the Jordanian government, saying that the LDS Church was highlighted.

Islamic Relief USA is part of the larger Islamic Relief Worldwide family of charities.  The worldwide entity recently celebrated its 25 year anniversary.  The USA branch has been operating since 1993.  Islamic Relief is one of 1,500 registered non-government organizations and charitable agencies across the world that partner in humanitarian efforts with the LDS Church.

After the 2004 tsunami, the Church provided immediate relief by supplying water, food, hygiene kits, medical supplies, body bags, blankets, and clothing.  Long-term assistance by the Church is still ongoing, with home construction, the construction of schools and clinics, water and sanitation systems, and other projects under way.

In May, 2006, Islamic Relief provided a jumbo jet to transport $1.6 million worth of relief supplies provided by the Church after the Indonesian earthquake.  Islamic Relief was impressed that there were no strings attached to the generous donation of aid.  “[There was] no price tag and no attempts at conversion,” said Ahmad El Bendary, Senior Advisor for Islamic Relief.  “The Church has been welcomed with open arms because of their neutrality.”

The “Third Pillar” of Islam is called the principle of zakat, or the principle of charitable giving.  Muslims donate 2.5 percent of their annual savings, 10 percent of their investment net profits, and a third of their crops to charitable projects.  Mormons donate 10 percent of their income to the Church, and a monthly donation to the poor.  There are also separate funds for education benefits and humanitarian aid that Mormons routinely donate to through the Church.  In addition, Mormons donate many hours of labor to the Church’s humanitarian efforts.  Said Diana Sufian, a senior humanitarian consultant for Islamic Relief, “This is God’s work, whether it be in the language of Islam or the language of the Mormons.  It’s a moral obligation.  We can do it — so we must do it.”

From Deseret News.com

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