Church Gives Donations To Fisherman In Japan

Eight months after the earthquake and tsunami hit in Japan, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church“) contributed donations to the fishermen of Kuji and the small village of Noda Mura in Japan.

The fisherman in those cities were devastated when the tsunami destroyed almost all of their equipment. The Church donated “three trucks, 4,500 nets, 3,000 octopus cages and various other fishing supplies to the local fishermen’s cooperative” to the city of Kuji, and “trucks with refrigeration equipment and fish tanks, a fork lift, a large-volume digital scale and 70 large containers for hauling the day’s catch” in Noda Mura. In Kuji, the head of the fisherman’s co-op, Kenichiro Saikachi, thanked the Church saying, “For us who received the shock of this great disaster, the donation today from your church is a reassuring act of kindness.” This is a part of the ongoing effort of the Church in contributing to the welfare of those affected by the disaster in Japan. “Both the mayor and the head of the co-op were visibly moved by the help they had received from people they were not aware of before the earthquake and tsunami.”

To read the full story, please visit the official Mormon news website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Learn more about the Church humanitarian aid program.

Mormons Aid with Drought Relief in Africa

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church“) is working together with other organizations, to assist in drought relief efforts in Africa. Millions are in need of assistance as the past several years have been harsh drought conditions. The Church partnering to provide water, hygiene kits, medical supplies, as well as medical training. the Church is also working on projects in the future that would help the people of Africa be more self-reliant. These projects include digging wells, installing pumps, and sanitizing water. This example of assistance given by the Church and other organizations, shows that there is a great need for additional Christ like assistance around the world.

 With an estimated 13 million people in Eastern Africa in need of assistance, the conditions there being the driest recorded in the past 50 years, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is working with various other organizations to coordinate the distribution of aid in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda.

In Dadaab, Kenya, the world’s largest complex of refugee camps is already full, with an estimated half million people living there. Tens of thousands of people are living outside of the complex due to lack of space and supplies. In September, an average of 1,000 people arrived each day.

For a full report, please visit the official Mormon news website for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”)

Muslims Honor Mormons for Charitable Service

On April 8, 2011, representatives from four Southern California chapters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community held an event to show appreciation for the Christ-like example shown by the Mormons towards Ahmadi Muslims over the years.  In 2003, a fire at a Chino mosque deprived local Muslims of a place to worship.  During the rebuilding phase from 2007 to 2009, the local Chino Mormon congregations opened their building to the Muslim group for their required weekly Sermon and Islamic Prayers every Friday, as well as other religious gatherings.  The Mosque re-opened in October of 2009 to serve the 700 members of the Ahmadiyya community.

The event was held in the remodeled structure, the Tahrir Hall, and Indian food was served.  A commemorative plaque was given to Mormon Chino Stake President Daniel Stevenson that contained a verse from the Muslim Holy Book, the Quran, which read:

“. . .And thou shalt assuredly find those who say, ‘We are Christians’ to be nearest to the believers in their love for God. That is because among them are savants and monks, and because they are not proud.” [1]

President Stevenson addressed the group, decrying the fact that as recently as May 28th of 2010 until Feb. 6th of this year, more than a hundred Ahmadi Muslims have been viciously murdered by Muslim extremists in Pakistan and Indonesia. He called on God to protect and provide for the persecuted members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community throughout the world.  Speakers from the Mormon attendees and Muslim representatives stressed the similarities between Ahmadi Muslims and Mormons, including references to persecution.  There was a question and answer period to increase understanding.

LDS Church Donates to Samoan School

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has donated desks and chairs to the Satupaitea District Primary School in Apia, Samoa.  The Church also has donated other materials, including library books, reading books, texts books for English, Science and other subjects, reference books including encyclopedias, and self-filtering water bottles for students.

The school district was nominated to receive the aid by the Samoa Ministry of Education.  Before the donation of desks and chairs, the children sat on mats on the floor.  The new desks and chairs arrived from China needing assembly, which was accomplished by the LDS missionaries serving in the Savaii Central Missionary Zone – assisted by villagers.   

President Laulu Mokesi Laulu of the Church’s Savaii South Stake spoke on behalf of the Church to formally present the assistance under the Church’s humanitarian aid programme.

“The Church’s assistance is given indiscriminately to those in need regardless of race, religion, and colour.”

Mormon Church Continues Aid to Haiti

It has been one year since the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti.  Recovery has barely begun, set back by a serious cholera epidemic and non-existent government performance.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is often the first on the ground and last to leave when natural disasters strike — relief work is still ongoing in southeast Asia many years after a tsunami took hundreds of thousands of lives.  The Church is still providing relief in Haiti.

“We’re in as good or better of a place as any NGO,” said Lynn Samsel, the church’s director of humanitarian emergency response and community services. [1]

The Church has authorized the construction of a “bishop’s storehouse” in Haiti’s capital, Port au Prince.  Though the Church has approved a ground-breaking for the building, Haitian government approval is still pending.  Bishop’s storehouses have a supply of foodstuffs, clothing, and other necessities provided through the charity of the members of the Church.  When people are in need, they may apply to the bishop of the local congregation.  With the help of congregation leaders, the needy assess their needs and fill out an order form to be filled at the storehouse.

“Fast offerings” are used to finance charity for the poor who are members of the Church.  Members fast for two meals on one Sunday each month, and then they donate the monetary value of the meals to the Church for the care of the poor.  In Haiti, bishops of congregations are now obtaining supplies locally with the use of fast offerings.

The Church has also been trying to build temporary shelters, but only 10-15% of the rubble from the quake has been cleared.  Because so many people died, and so many records were destroyed, it is often difficult to determine ownership of usable land.

The Church has been striving to rehabilitate its own members on the island.  Three hundred fifty-six have been placed in jobs and 296 in self-employment. Business partnerships are continuing as others are being trained in new and much-needed skills, such as welding and construction.  The Church is also investigating the possibility of creating church schools, since the infrastructure, including the education of children, crumbled along with homes and schools.  In the meantime, the church has distributed thousands of school kits and has helped fund some training of new teachers in Haiti.

Clean water has been an important issue, brought to the eyes of the developed world by news of the outbreak of cholera.  LDS humanitarian shipments have included shipping large water systems, water-filtration bottles and bags, soap and treatment products and prevention/education materials and supplies.  The Church is also fine-tuning its medical aid response by studying the effectiveness of the original medical teams sent over immediately after the earthquake.  The Church is learning which medical supplies are most needed, and how to coordinate staff pulled together from various locations.

LDS humanitarian aid to Haiti has included the following:

FOOD/WATER: 1 million pounds, 13 pallets of kitchen/cooking sets, 16,000 water-filtration bottles

MEDICAL: 25 pallets of medical supplies, 110,000 hygiene kits, 4,300 first-aid kits

SHELTER: 3,000 tents, 4,000 tarps

BEDDING: 13,000 blankets, 600 quilts, 48 cots,

COMFORT/CARE: 9,400 newborn kits, two pallets of toys

EDUCATION: 800 school kits

And later, specifically for cholera response, the LDS Church sent:

MEDICAL: five large medical tents

WATER: three large water-purification systems; 8,500 water-filtration bottles, with 5,000 extra filters; water-filtration bags and extra filters; water-filtration pumps and extra filters

HYGIENE: 390 cases of hand soap, 17,000 hygiene kits

EDUCATION: Cholera-education kits with instructions in French and Haitian Creole

Utah Mom Helps Albino Children in Africa

In the United States, just one child of 20,000 is born without pigmentation, a condition called albinism.  But in Kenya, the percentage is much higher due to intermarriage.  The condition is caused by a recessive gene; one recessive gene from the father, and one from the mother, and an albino child is born.  Some Africans believe that there is magic in the body parts of albinos, so there is an active black market for them (bringing $10,000 per child, and putting albino children at great risk).

Jami Quesenberry was a 47-year-old Mormon mother and homemaker who joined a charitable expedition to Kenya to help build schools.  While there, she saw a native mother with an albino child.  The child was in need of medical care because of her condition, plus ways to be protected from both violence and from the sun.  Quesenberry’s heart was touched, but she didn’t know what she could do to help.  Some months later, Koins for Kenya asked her to manage another expedition.  Remembering the mother and child, she heard that Hussein Lumbambo, was starting a school for albino children in Kinandaongo, a safe school with a high-walled dormitory for the students.  There had been a benefactor, but money had run out.

Quesenberry and her family went through their substantial amount of “stuff” and had a garage sale.  She is looking for other ways to raise funds.  There are probably 100 other albino children in the surrounding area.  The mother she had seen actually had two.  The father divorced her and chased her and the children with a machete.  They had found refuge behind the walls of the school grounds.  Word about the school and the protection it provides is getting around, and more children are being brought there.  Koins for Kenya is seeking personal sponsors for the children.

Bret Van Leeuwen, an Alpine businessman and founder of Koins for Kenya, said the school for albino children is purposefully located in a village that’s not easily accessible. He said when the school opens in January, he expects 80 children but is prepared for 100. [1]

Read more.

Mormon Church Helps Fight Cholera

Cholera epidemics have broken out in island nations in two hemispheres, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is lending a helping hand.  The Church is sending humanitarian aid to Papua New Guinea and Haiti.

The death toll in Haiti is in the thousands, and the death toll in Papua New Guinea is in the hundreds, with 75 casualties among members of the Church.  As of December 10, 2010, the Church had sent 25 tons of emergency food and medical supplies to the affected regions.  The church’s Salt Lake City Humanitarian Center shipped to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 2,500 water bottles, to be used in making stream and catchment water clean enough to drink.

In Papua New Guinea, the Church is working with AusAID, Médecins Sans Fronti?es/Doctors Without Borders, the World Health Organization and other groups.  In Haiti, the LDS Church is providing a shipment of tents, large water-filtration units, rehydration salts and hygiene supplies, in addition to aid already provided to the area.   The cholera outbreak is the latest in a series of disasters befalling Haiti since the January 12, 2010, earthquake that killed an estimated 230,000, injured some 300,000 and resulted in a million Haitians being left homeless.  The Church has provided continuous aid since the original disaster.

LDS Church Donates to Local Homeless Shelter

The South Provo homeless shelter is only about 30 miles from the Salt Lake City headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Brent Crane, executive director of the Food and Care Coalition received an e-mail from Church Humanitarian Services and LDS Charities in November, 2010, announcing a donation of $341,000.  The donation would arrive immediately to go toward its transitional housing center in south Provo.  The goal is to get more people off the streets this winter.

The homeless shelter still has not reached its goal of $700,000 in donations, but the offering from the Church is a big leap.  Crane must prove that he has enough money to operate for one year before the board of directors will allow the upper floor to be opened to homeless singles and couples.  The LDS Charities donation will be enough to finish off the living quarters that will house 26 homeless men and 12 homeless women.

The funds will go for construction and finishing materials and furnishings.  The coalition leadership had contacted the LDS Charities several months ago.  Funds come from the volutary donations of members of the Church.

LDS Church Helps 'Operation Smile'

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced on October 27, 2010, that it would donate more than $900,000 to Operation Smile.  The money comes from the donations of church members to the LDS humanitarian aid fund.

Operation Smile sends operating teams to third world countries to correct cleft palates in children.  This particular effort will benefit children in Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Jordan.  During the coming year, this donation will be enough to help 3,864 children.  These four countries were selected by the Church for specific reasons — (1) the great needs of the children there; (2) Operation Smile has already scheduled medical missions there; and (3) The LDS Church already has a history of humanitarian service in those countries.  The Church will also urge church members with medical expertise to volunteer in those areas and will also receive help from church members living in those countries.

Operation Smile, is a nonprofit, international medical charity founded in 1982.  It has a presence in more than 60 countries, with some $60 million in annual donations.  The medical staff provides safe, effective reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities, such as cleft lip and cleft palate.  These children otherwise have no hope for their deformities to be corrected.  Many have trouble eating and speaking, and many do not attend school, because they are outcasts.  In the past, the Mormon Church has given a total of $275,000 to Operation Smile through the LDS Foundation.

The Church has also helped in other ways.  LDS full-time missionaries are able to speak the languages in the countries Operation Smile visits.  They have often assisted the organization with various behind-the-scenes volunteer duties.

Operation Smile has already assisted 150,000 children.  The Utah chapter is the oldest, having been founded in 1984.  For more information, or to make a donation, go to www.operationsmile.org.

Mormon Singles Provide Humanitarian Aid

Tyler DeLange, a life-long member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and an emergency room M.D., has not yet met the woman of his dreams.  There are many activities for single adults in the Mormon Church, but service projects are the most worthwhile. DeLange decided to launch his own.  Called Singular Humanitarian Experience, Dr. DeLange’s fledgling non-profit organization, attracts single Mormons to the third world to provide several kinds of service.

The organization’s first project was launched among the poor of Polochic Valley of Guatemala.  The group built a brand new two room school.  DeLange tended to the sick.  The group dug the foundation for the area’s first hospital and helped to teach local villagers the basics of midwifery, dentistry and emergency medical care. Schoolteachers conducted development workshops for the area’s education professionals. Business specialists helped native women to design their own business plans.

The organization will next begin serving in Bolivia and Nepal. Young LDS singles from all over the world have flocked to sign up for the expeditions.

Read more.

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