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.

Mormon Helping Hands in Nova Friburgo, Brazil

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons,  went to the mountain region of Nova Friburgo,  in the state of Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil, to clean the city on Saturday, 19 February 2011.  More than one thousand LDS volunteers cleaned streets, hospitals and schools after devastating floods and landslides in January.

The Mormon Helping Hands project in Nova Friburgo is one of many that have taken place in Brazil and other parts of the world following natural disasters since 1998. Through Mormon Helping Hands Latter-day Saints have also pitched in at other times and in many areas of the world to clean and beautify communities. Thousands of volunteers have donated millions of hours of service.  Winter of 2010-2011 has been severe enough to warrant clean-up projects in many locations.

LDS volunteers at the service project in Brazil included local Mormons and Mormon missionaries serving in the area.

Missouri Mormons Open Meetinghouse to Muslim Neighbors

Mormons have opened their meetinghouse in St. Charles, Missouri, about 25 minutes west of St. Louis, to their Muslim neighbors who need a place to pray five times each Friday.   Fifteen to thirty local Muslims use the church “cultural hall” as a mosque.

The invitation was extended through the work of LDS member Deborah Coffey, who works with other faiths as part of the Interfaith Counsel in St. Charles.   Several years ago the Muslim leaders came to the Interfaith Counsel in St. Charles asking for a place to worship on Fridays.   Deborah contacted the stake president.  The stake president did not hesitate.  Both felt it was a honor to be helpful.

St. Louis is home to is home to about 75 thousand Muslims and 14 thousand Mormons. 

The Muslims in St. Charles, are hoping to one day build a mosque on a piece of land a short distance away from the LDS church where they currently worship in order to keep up with the growth.

No date has been set for the construction of the mosque in St. Charles. At this time they are still in the process of purchasing the land, so it could be a while before anything is built.  [1]

“It was a blessing for us that we have a bigger place, said Khan. “God bless Mormon church they opened the door for us and we are very pleased, very happy and god will give them a reward.”

Mormons Set Records for Food Donations

The Guinness world record for food collected in 24 hours at one location was broken Sept. 14, 2009, by a group of Mormons in Calgary, Canada.  Knowing that, the North Carolina  School of Science and Mathematics in Durham called on local Mormons after failing to break the record in 2010.

“It’s the perfect partnership,” said Sue Anne Lewis, student life instructor at the Durham school. “They’re providing the manpower, the energy and the enthusiasm.”

The church, which has an extensive welfare program and a regional network of farms, storehouses and canneries, has always taken good care of its own. But members of this 13.8 million-member worldwide church also undertake numerous humanitarian and relief projects around the globe. [1]

Mormons sorted through donations in the parking lot of the Mormon temple in Apex.  Local congregations set goals for the number of pounds of food to be donated and solicited help from neighbors.  The goal is to beat the 509,148-pound-record for food amassed in one location on one day. School leaders hope to go beyond the record and top 550,000 pounds. The food collected will benefit the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

Other churches and neighborhood organizations also are partnering with the school, plus businesses such as Walmart and Chick-fil-A.

But the Mormons contribute a special kind of expertise.

As far back as 1937, former Mormon Church President J. Reuben Clark Jr. decreed that members keep a year’s supply of food and water in case of emergency. The church’s “Provident Living” website includes a food storage calculator, and instructs families on how best to package and store foods.  Each Mormon congregation has a designated “welfare and food storage specialist,” and that person will put in orders for bulk items, such as wheat, that members can sign up to buy.

30 Quebec Wards and Branches Help with Cleanup

Mormon congregations are formed on a geographical basis and are called “wards.”  Smaller groups of Latter-day Saints are called “branches.”  Both types of congregations are found in Quebec, and thirty of them joined together  through the Mormon Helping Hands program to participate in the 17th annual Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup.

More than 400 Helping Hands volunteers showed up to help and worked at two cleanup sites in the Montreal area. The projects were at Montreal’s Angrignon Park and along the St. Lawrence River in Longueuil. This was the first ever Quebec-wide Mormon Helping Hands Service Day.

Over the seventeen years it has been held, the Quebec shoreline cleanup project has grown to be one of the largest projects of its kind in the world.   Nearly 1 million kilograms of shoreline litter has been removed from Canadian Shorelines since 1997.   This year’s cleanup covered over 4 miles of shoreline and gathered over 4,000 pounds of trash. 

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The Children with Cancer Christmas Foundation (CCCF),

The Children with Cancer Christmas Foundation (CCCF) was founded fourteen years ago by Mac Boyter.   Boyter is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He attended a priesthood meeting wherein late prophet Gordon B. Hinckley spoke.  The prophet counseled the brethren, reminding them of their duty to the community, that they should seek to bless the lives of others, regardless of religious affiliation.

Boyter, a cancer survivor, wanted to do something for Utah Valley, Utah, children who were then suffering with cancer.  They numbered around 80.  He dicussed this desire with some close friends.  They had no clear idea of what they might be able to achieve, and they had virtually no funding, but they did what they could and have been doing so for fourteen years. 

CCCF has provided help over the years for around 1,000 families.   The organization stages an annual Christmas party with gifts, food, Santa, Cosmo the Cougar mascot and the BYU basketball team.   The party spans two days.  The first evening, the parents have dinner and pick up gifts for their children at the Cougar Room on BYU’s campus.  On the second evening, whole families gather to have dinner, socialize, do fun activities, pass out more gifts, rub shoulders with the BYU basketball team and be entertained and meet Santa Claus.

Families who attend have children newly diagnosed with cancer, cancer in remission or have lost children to the disease.  

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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.

Winnipeg Canada Mormons Feed the Hungry

Hundreds of volunteers from the six Mormon congregations in Winnipeg, Canada,  picked up canned food and non-perishable items from residents of a dozen Winnipeg neighbourhoods.  The food will go to Winnipeg Harvest to feed the hungry.

This July, 2010, food drive is the fifth one supported by the city’s Mormons. The goal is to add 13,500 kilograms to the food bank’s supplies.  The food bank distributes food to more than 5,000 families weekly.  Flyers were distributed to 60,000 households in preparation for the drive.  Residents left food on their doorsteps to be picked up by the volunteers.

Latter-day Saints are prepared to help without making an extra trip to the grocery store.  For many years they have been urged by church leaders to lay up a store of food, clothing and fuel.  The method is to gradually stock up on the food the family eats on a regular basis until there is a three-months supply, then rotate through the pantry, so the supply is refreshed.  Emergency water rations can be stored in cleansed plastic containers that used to carry other products, or in containers purchased specifically to store water.  After the three months’ supply is in place, then the Chuch instructs its members to store a year’s supply of items that have a very long shelf life, so they don’t have to be rotated.  These items include wheat, dry beans, rice, sugar, salt, and honey.

Latter-day Saints also prepare 72-hour kits for emergency evacuations.  For more on emergency preparedness and food storage, go to MormonPreparedness.com.

LDS Help Presbyterians Build Park

An ecumenical service project is under way in American Fork, Utah.  The project was undertaken by the Community Presbyterian Church for the benefit of children with autistic disorders.  The church had run a pre-school and day center for three decades, but closed the program when other pre-schools sprung up in the growing community.  However, in 2008, the church was approached by the North County Summer Autistic Program, which was looking for a new home.  The group is an 11-year-old cooperative of parents with children who have autism spectrum disorders. They operate a school and recreation program during the summer months.

The playground was deteriorating and had not been designed for children with autism spectrum disorders.  The Presbyterians began raising money for the project but also needed help with physical labor.  Dex Andrews, mission leader for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Highland First Ward, approached the Presbyterians to offer assistance.  Mormon volunteers brought shovels, a dump truck and an earth mover and trailers to help with the work, accomplishing in a day what would have taken a year without their help.  They removed bushes and dead trees,  trimmed trees, and removed asphalt and old fencing from the area. 

The project took place on June 5, 2010, with 20 adults and 17 older youth from the Highland ward joining about 20 Presbyterians to clean up the playground.

LDS Members Rally in Central America

Thousands of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) have been affected by a pair of disasters in Central America  which killed hundreds, destroyed homes by the thousands and prompted a ongoing Church humanitarian response.

Guatemala’s Pacaya volcano erupted May 27, spewing lava and rocks and blanketing sections of Guatemala City — located 19 miles to the north — in ash and debris. The eruption forced the evacuation of hundreds of families living near Pacaya, including several member families. The international airport was closed because volcanic ash and debris.

Two days later, a devastating tropical storm, Agatha, made landfall at the Guatemalan border with Mexico.  As it moved south, the storm wreaked havoc not only in Guatemala, but also in Honduras and El Salvador.  The storm dumped rain, caused flooding and landslides, and even created sinkholes.  About 129,000 people were displaced.

No Church meetinghouses were harmed by the disasters and many building are being utilized to shelter LDS families who have been displaced.  Many LDS members were evacuated before the storm hit. 

“The Church provided emergency food, water, clothing and tools to victims and local priesthood leaders. The Central America Area was also working with civil authorities in the three affected Central American nations to purchase and distribute medicine, building supplies and other relief provisions.”

The Church will continue to assess the needs of church members and their neighbors to see what ongoing aid needs to be rendered.  Help rebuilding houses and planting crops is forthcoming.

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