2014
Websites Tell of Service, Faith
May 2014


“Websites Tell of Service, Faith,” Ensign, May 2014, 136

Websites Tell of Service, Faith

Latter-day Saints provide service and share their faith all over the world. Reports about such activities appear on country newsroom websites, which are regularly summarized on newsroom.lds.org, the Church’s official resource for news media, opinion leaders, and the public.

In the Pacific area, Latter-day Saints supplied water, food, chain saws, water filters, generators, and other emergency supplies to help Tongans following the devastation of Tropical Cyclone Ian. In Samoa, LDS youth joined in a two-day interdenominational event with spiritual encouragement, music, dance, and sports.

In Brazil, Church members wearing Mormon Helping Hands shirts assisted in cleanup efforts and distribution of supplies after flooding damaged local neighborhoods and businesses, leaving many homeless. Elsewhere, members assisted with distribution when the Church’s Humanitarian Services donated 211 wheelchairs to individuals with special needs. The ongoing donation in Brazil now totals nearly 700 chairs.

In Africa, national and global organizations joined forces with LDS Charities, the humanitarian arm of the Church, in Ghana’s first national campaign to eliminate measles and rubella by immunizing children from infancy up to age 14. In Nigeria and Ghana, a Helping Hands day benefitted thousands of people in 100 communities as Latter-day Saints of all ages pitched in to build bridges, plant trees, weed, paint structures, and clean and beautify neighborhoods. In Zimbabwe, more than 60 LDS youth volunteered to donate blood. And in South Africa, Latter-day Saint Nozibele Makanda, the mother of six, was elected mayor of Queenstown, a city of 200,000.

In Central America, more than 500 LDS youth in Guatemala worked with the local government to plant 1,944 trees. In Costa Rica, LDS meetinghouses became collection points for milk, and 370 Church volunteers helped deliver it to supermarkets participating in an activity to provide for those in need.

And in Canada, Latter-day Saints worked with the Christian-Jewish Dialogue of Montreal (Quebec) to prepare video interviews prior to government hearings on values. Those interviewed spoke in support of community commitment to respect, understanding, tolerance, and religious freedom, stressing that religion remains important in the lives of many citizens of Quebec.

For a list of international country newsroom websites in various languages, see mormonnewsroom.org/newsroom-country-sites.