I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:1-6).

As members of different faiths and denominations begin to find ways in which they can meet on common ground for fellowship and worship, they will be able to echo the exclamation of the Psalmist, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

Methodists and Mormons Follow the Master’s Example

Easter is a very special time of year when people celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the members of the Vancouver Washington West Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one way in which they celebrate is through a production called the “Life of Christ” event. The event which was started nearly a decade ago serves to invite people to celebrate the life of the Savior. Dean Barrus, a local Latter-day Saint leader, stated, “We wanted to invite people of all faiths who had belief in the Savior too to come and join with us in that common belief.”

With that objective in mind, the West Stake extended an invitation to the Community African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church of Vancouver to participate in a unique opportunity. Reverend Joyce Smith, the Senior Pastor of AME Zion graciously accepted the invitation. She commented, “It doesn’t matter what denomination you’re from. If we know Jesus that’s the most important thing of all.”

United in Prayer, Song, and Heart

On Saturday, 21 March 2015, congregants from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and AME Zion Church gathered together for a special two-show concert which included the Nashville Tribute Band from Tennessee and the Community AME Zion Choir. The concert was held at a 500-seat Vancouver auditorium. The purpose of the event was to worship Christ through music.

Dan Truman of the Nashville Tribute band commented, “The fact the choir was going to come and sing with us — that takes our music to another level.” He further stated that “level” started during a prayer meeting with the AME choir prior to the concert. A meeting which he further states, had a profound effect on his band mates. He continued, “We were all in a circle holding hands and we start singing with them, and I look around and there [are] different guys in our group, … and there [are] tears coming down [their faces] because… it was so beautiful… and spiritual.”

During the concert the AME choir sang several gospel hymns, all the while inviting the audience to sing, sway, and clap along with them. The band performed songs from their album, “Redeemer:  A Nashville Tribute to Jesus Christ.” Speaking of the blessings of that evening, Reverend Smith remarked, “It’s all God’s children just getting together. What a time, what a time! And we saw a little of that, and for that I will be forever grateful to the Latter-day Saints.”

The proceeds from the concert were used to enable the AME Zion Church to make improvements on wheelchair access to church restrooms. “When I heard about the Latter-day Saints giving us the benefits from the concert,” said Reverend Smith, “it just made my whole world and it was an answer to prayer.”

The band was invited to join the congregation of AME Zion Church for Sunday morning worship services in which they were happy to be a part of.

Dean Barrus further commented, “It has turned out wonderfully. It’s very unifying to everybody, and we’re just all excited to participate together in this worship of the Savior and it feels really good.”

Other interesting factoids about the island nation of Kiribati include being a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the IMF and the World Bank. Kiribati also became a full member of the United Nations in 1999, is the only country in the world that lies within all four hemispheres, and it has one of the highest percentages of Latter-day Saints in the world (between 16%-17%).

An Endangered Nation and the Issue of Malnutrition

Although Kiribati may be considered one of the most beautiful and remote nations in the world, it is also one of the most vulnerable in relation to climate change. Due to rising sea levels, the nation has lost its land, resulting in a major episode of malnutrition, especially among Latter-day Saint children.

Latter-day Saints have had a presence in Kiribati since the early 1970s when a local elementary school teacher and headmaster, Waitea Abiata, sent a dozen of his students to Tonga to study at the LDS Liahona High School. While attending school in Tonga, all of the students became members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and upon returning home, they shared the message of the gospel with family, friends, and neighbors. One of the first converts was their teacher who later became the first Branch President in Kiribati in 1975. Since then, the Church has consistently grown in membership, and today there are approximately 17,000 members, most of whom reside in Tarawa and nearby islands.

At the invitation of the Pacific Area Presidency, a team from the Liahona Children’s Foundation consisting of Sara Walker (an international public health & nutrition specialist), Robert Rees (Vice-President of the Foundation), and three Latter-day Saint sisters from Australia (Carol Armstrong and Liz and Courtney Pocock of the Island Rescue Project), visited Tarawa, Kiribati between Christmas 2013 and New Year 2014. Their assignment was to determine the level and extent of malnutrition among the Latter-day Saints. Assisted by local members of the Church, senior missionaries, and Brother Iotua, former head of the Church-run Moroni School in Tarawa, former Stake President, and current Church’s Kiribati Service Center Manager, they screened children and pregnant and lactating mothers in the Tarawa East and Tarawa West Stakes.

The team conducted four screenings in the Tarawa West Stake on 30 December 2013 and five screenings in the Tarawa East Stake on 31 December 2013. A total of 550 children and 25 pregnant and lactating mothers (which includes 100 nonmembers) were screened. Of the children screened, about one-fifth (20.4%) were identified as being malnourished. Of the mothers that were screened, 8% were identified as being malnourished.

Based on growth charts established by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Foundation was able to adequately assess malnourishment using gender, age, and weight as the criteria for the data on the children which they collected. The charts are standardized for children under five worldwide. According to a 23 March 2015 LDS Mag.com article by Robert A. Rees:

The WHO growth charts also help screeners identify the type of malnutrition: wasting (low weight for height), stunting (low height for age), and underweight (low weight for age). According to the WHO, “Stunting develops as a result of sustained poor dietary intake or repeated infections or a combination of both”; “wasting develops as a result of recent rapid weight loss or a failure to gain weight”; and underweight is “a low weight-for-age.” Of the 20% of children who qualified as malnourished, 5.5% were identified as wasted, 13% as stunted, and 8.7% as underweight.

Conditions on Kiribati predict that malnutrition would be a serious problem. Kiribati is one of the poorest and least-developed countries in the world. It has few natural resources, limited local food sources (except for fish), very limited water resources (mostly from rainwater) and very high unemployment (over 60%). The infant mortality rate is 54/1000, compared with 6/1000 for the U.S. Life expectancy is nearly twenty years below that of U.S. citizens. Bacterial infections and food poisoning are common, as are skin diseases; diabetes on Kiribati and the Marshall Islands is the highest in the world; and the “prevalence of age-adjusted tobacco use is the highest in the world.

By all accounts, Kiribati is in need of dire help. If it were not for the assistance of humanitarian organizations such as the Liahona Children’s Foundation, the Island Rescue Project, the United Nations and the European Union, as well as assistance from neighboring countries to include Australia, New Zealand, China and Taiwan, the situation would be even worse.

It is not possible for the Liahona Children’s Foundation to address all of the problems, but they can focus on the main problem – malnutrition among Latter-day Saint children. Within the coming months, the Foundation will work in concert with the Pacific Area Welfare Manager and local leaders to develop a program in Kiribati which will help to accomplish two main objectives: 1) improve the nutritional status of both children under five and pregnant and lactating women; and 2) encourage self-reliance by teaching good hygiene, breastfeeding behavior, and enhanced nutritional practices.

As members go forth to share the “Good News,” they find that a large part of having an effective ministry involves providing humanitarian assistance to those who live under less fortunate circumstances. It is for this reason that the “Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18). As members strive to emulate the life of the Savior, they begin to fully understand what it means to “lift up the hands which hang down, and [stable] the feeble knees” (Hebrews 12:12).

The Church of Jesus Christ and Humanitarian Aid

The Church of Jesus Christ is involved in many humanitarian efforts around the world to help those in need. The objective is to not only render assistance where needed, but to ultimately teach those who require the assistance how to become self-reliant. It is further hoped that once people learn how to help themselves, they will have a desire to pay it forward to help others in need, and teach them how to help themselves as well.

Such humanitarian organizations as LDS Charities, established by the Church in 1996, provide wheelchairs, clean water, emergency response, food production, vision care, neonatal resuscitation training, and immunizations to people in 179 countries of the world. Donations from Church members, as well as, others through partnerships with organizations around the world, provide the necessary funding for the projects. Largely run by volunteer labor, assistance is “rendered without regard to race, religious affiliation, or nationality and is based on the core principles of personal responsibility, community support, self-reliance, and sustainability.”

The Church of Jesus Christ also maintains the Latter-day Saint Humanitarian Center which was established in 1991 in Salt Lake City, Utah to “prepare humanitarian supplies for use worldwide and train those desiring to develop employable skills to become self-reliant.”

The Liahona Children’s Foundation – Nurturing the Potential of the Children

King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon in his timely discourse asked the pointed question,

For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? (Mosiah 4:19).

He continues in verse 21 by saying,

And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.

King Benjamin also taught the people that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17). And so Latter-day Saints throughout the world do so willingly, knowing that their labors are not in vain and that as they serve their fellowman, they are in the service of God. Individual Latter-day Saints are an active part of the Liahona Children’s Foundation whose mission is “to nurture the potential of children to lead healthy and productive lives by eliminating malnutrition and providing educational opportunities among LDS children and their friends.” The Foundation began its operation in eight stakes in Ecuador and Guatemala in 2008. This summer the Foundation will be screening children in new areas of the world to include the Philippines (multiple areas), Cali Colombia, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.

One of the major problems that the Liahona Children Foundation faces as it renders humanitarian service around the world is the large number of cases of malnutrition among the children. According to UNICEF,

Over one quarter of the children in resource-poor countries are malnourished, over 100 million under the age of five are under weight, and 165 million are stunted in height. Many malnourished children suffer lifelong cognitive and physical defects that significantly reduce their earning potential as adults, invariably leaving them in poverty and reducing their capacity to fully contribute to society. These effects in turn contribute to a cycle in which their poverty leads to their own children and grandchildren being malnourished.

Largely due to the success of the Church’s missionary efforts to take the gospel to the remote parts of the earth, it is not surprising that a number of malnourished children are found among Latter-day Saint communities in many countries worldwide. This is an ongoing issue that the federally recognized 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization (which is independent from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) has striven to address for the past six years. Although the Foundation is not directly affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ, it is administered by faithful Latter-day Saints and funded by contributions from Latter-day Saints in the United States and other parts of the world. Based on their experience over the past six years, it is estimated that at present, there are at least 120,000 malnourished LDS children in the world. The Church of Jesus Christ has over 15 million members worldwide.

According to the article in the Wednesday, 9 July 2014 of the online edition of Meridian Magazine by Robert A. Rees, Ph.D.:

The inspiration for establishing the Liahona Children’s Foundation came when Dr. Bradley Walker, the Foundation’s co-founder and current president, saw the emaciated body of a young Latter-day Saint child in Ecuador. The child, who was under the care of an LDS physician (and former stake president) in the ICU unit of a pediatric hospital in Guayaquil, had been fed platano (banana) water because his parents were too poor to afford milk. Dr. Walker made a commitment to do whatever he could to end malnutrition among Latter-day Saint children.

Liahona volunteers include students from BYU and Utah Valley University. Since its inception in 2008, the Liahona Children’s Foundation has conducted scores of screenings of LDS, as well as non-LDS children, and provided nutrition supplements for the malnourished in the countries of Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa, Cambodia and the Philippines. It is projected that the program will expand into other areas of the world such as Asia, Africa, Central and South America, the South Pacific, and Haiti where the levels of malnutrition are significantly high.

According to a recent report by UNICEF,

There is better understanding of the crucial importance of nutrition during the critical 1,000-day period covering pregnancy and the first two years of a child’s life, and of the fact that stunting reflects deficiencies during this period. The damage that stunting causes to a child’s development is irreversible. Under nutrition early in life has major consequences for future educational, income and productivity outcomes.

The Meridian Magazine article further emphasized that without help “a malnourished child is less likely to succeed in school, graduate from high school or technical school, go on a mission, become employable, make a good marriage decision, and become a leader in the church or community.” And so, organizations like the Liahona Children’s Foundation are doing their part to combat the problem of malnourishment among LDS children throughout the world. All the while being reminded of the admonition of the Savior Himself when he taught, “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me” (Matthew 25:45).

This far exceeds the level of volunteerism found in other religions or in other groups. The researcher, Ram Canaan, stated that Mormons were the most pro-social people in America.

Mormons, at baptism, take on the name of Jesus Christ. They feel this means they must keep Jesus Christ’s commandments and follow His example. He taught that we must love our neighbors as ourselves and serve them. This motivates Mormons to serve others. They know it makes them more Christ-like and their goal is to become as much like Him as possible.

Some of the volunteer work, as shown, is done within the Church for other Mormons. Mormons operate a lay church, which means that everyone volunteers. Nearly every member of the church has a “calling.” This is a volunteer position serving the church. Generally, people do not select their own callings, however. The bishop—a lay pastor overseeing the congregation—offers them a specific position. Normally, the president of an organization will prayerfully select those they want in the position and then give their choice to the bishop. He and those who assist him pray and make a final decision. This is done because the bishop sometimes knows something about the person the other leaders does not, such as a family situation that limits the person’s time or that he or she is already in line for another calling. A member of the bishopric (a bishop and two assistants who are called counselors) offers the calling to the member. The member is free to refuse the calling—although few do—or to offer additional information that might affect the ability to do the calling.

After a person accepts a calling, he or she is sustained by the membership. To sustain the person means to promise to support and help them in any way the members can, which provides a powerful support network for each person.

While it may seem odd to some—the conference in which the volunteerism was discussed mentioned that it was a system largely unparalleled in other religions—the idea of callings is actually very inspired and reveals the wisdom in even the smallest aspects of God’s plan. If a member was to choose a calling, he or she would always choose within his or her own comfort zone. However, Mormons often find themselves called to do something they’ve never done before or that they think they aren’t good at. They are “set apart,” which means they are given a special priesthood blessing through the laying on of hands. Through this blessing, God gives them what they need to do it. Mormons find they can do things they never thought they could do, which improves their self-confidence. Through their callings, they learn new skills or overcome weaknesses. A disorganized person might find herself being a secretary and a shy person may find herself leading a large organization. Someone who always thought she wasn’t good with children finds herself teaching preschoolers. Some of the skills learned through callings are jobs members can take into their employment.

In addition to the skills learned, callings help to build a sense of community and belonging. A person who moves into a congregation meets people quickly through her calling and has a sense of ownership in her congregation. Her contributions make a difference to the success of the congregation, the Church, and God’s kingdom on earth.

Mormons also work through church programs to help those not of their faith. The Mormon Helping Hands program is an example of Mormon-organized community service. Many congregations do a large-scale community service project at least once a year in addition to smaller ones throughout the year. They also step in during a crisis, such as a hurricane, to help people in their community, regardless of faith, clean up after the storm. Teenagers attending their annual conference do projects and most do regular projects during the year as well. The children also perform community service through their Scouting and Activities Day programs. The Relief Society—the auxiliary for the women—runs literacy programs that are open to the public at no cost.

who are not Mormon. The program runs a number of ongoing initiatives as well as emergency disaster assistance or short-term projects. The long-running initiatives include clean water, neonatal resuscitation training, wheelchair funding, efficient food production, and vaccinations. Mormons donate to this program and some retired Mormons volunteer to spend a year or two in a developing nation doing humanitarian work. These humanitarian projects do not involve missionary work and many of the recipients do not know the Mormons provided their help.

Of course, Mormons also serve in programs not run by the church. They are taught by their leaders to be involved in their communities, so many select worthwhile programs in their own towns to assist in. Mormon parents frequently volunteer in their schools and others serve in libraries, food pantries, community leadership and other programs.

All these projects, whether they help their own members or others, strengthen their relationship with Jesus Christ. Service is a critical part of the Mormon experience.

Read the transcript of the conference on Mormon volunteerism that discusses the study.

Learn more about the Humanitarian Aid program.

Learn more about Mormon Helping Hands.

The official statement of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a single sentence:

“The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people’s lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ” (Church Statement Regarding The Book of Mormon Musical, 07 February 2011).

Michael Otterson, the managing director of the Mormon’s Public Affairs Department, wrote a less official personal response to the musical for the Washington Post. There he explained he would not be seeing the Book of Mormon Musical. “But I’m not buying what I’m reading in the reviews. Specifically, I’m not willing to spend $200 for a ticket to be sold the idea that religion moves along oblivious to real-world problems in a kind of blissful naiveté.” The Mormon Church’s official statement along with other LDS news and events can be found at the LDS Newsroom.

Brother Otterson took an interesting approach to the topic. He learned it took seven years to create the musical that made fun of African suffering. He wondered what the Mormons were doing in those seven years. Were they ignorant of real-world problems and suffering? He quickly learned Mormons weren’t making fun of Africans during those seven years. They were working diligently to resolve some of the hardships the musical mocks. In Africa, Mormons were bringing clean water to four million Africans who had never had it, providing wheelchairs for 34,000 children, vaccinating millions of children, training 52,000 Africans to resuscitate newborns, and providing emergency supplies to 20,000 people in flooded Niger. In the long run, who had the most important impact on the world in those seven years?

The world has protested the desecration of sacred Muslim texts, as they should, but the same outcry has not really been present for the desecration of sacred Mormon texts through crude language and portrayals in the musical. Mormons have a great respect for sacred things—our own and the sacred things of others.

A Mormon instructor once explained how Mormons could show respect for people of other faiths. He wrote:

“We can treat things that are sacred to them with respect. The yarmulka of an orthodox Jew, the crucifix or rosary of a Catholic, the icon of a Greek Orthodox, the shrines and temples and sacred places of other faiths—we can treat all these things with the tolerance of heart we desire people to have for our way of life. This does not mean that we need to adopt their religious practices: but it does mean that we should not treat lightly these things or their use of them. “

He also suggested, “We must never ridicule another person’s manner of worship. Many of our practices may seem strange to him, too! Though we may disagree with another person’s form of worship, we ought not to make light of it or criticize him for it. For these things represent other people’s sincere efforts to worship God, and though we may make every reasonable effort to give them a fuller understanding in the appropriate setting, these methods of worship are still the outgrowth of the individual’s sincere faith.” (See Gerald E. Jones, “Respect for Other People’s Beliefs,” Ensign, Oct 1977, 69.)

There are some who have suggested Mormons need to see the musical in order to evaluate it. Most people study reviews prior to deciding how to spend their money and reviews make it clear Mormons who practice strict obedience to the commandments and the teachings of the prophets will be unwilling to see the musical. This is not just because of its attacks on Mormons, religion, and Africans, but also because the language and content are labeled vulgar even by those who liked it.

Mormon teenagers are given a pamphlet that outlines the moral standards a good Mormon will follow. It has been made clear these standards are not just for teens—they are for everyone. Concerning media and entertainment choices, Mormons are taught:

“Whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Therefore, choose only entertainment and media that uplift you. Good entertainment will help you to have good thoughts and make righteous choices. It will allow you to enjoy yourself without losing the Spirit of the Lord.

While much entertainment is good, some of it can lead you away from righteous living. Offensive material is often found in web sites, concerts, movies, music, videocassettes, DVDs, books, magazines, pictures, and other media. Satan uses such entertainment to deceive you by making what is wrong and evil look normal and exciting. It can mislead you into thinking that everyone is doing things that are wrong.

Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable,” (“Entertainment and the Media,” For the Strength of Youth: Fulfilling Our Duty to God, (2001).

From this and other statements, it is easy to discern why good Latter-day Saints simply cannot attend a musical in which “vulgar” is the one word every reviewer uses to describe the script. Mormons subscribe to what are called the Articles of Faith, a statement of thirteen basic beliefs. The last one ends with the following sentence: “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” Conversely, then, Mormons avoid anything that is not virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.

The second purpose is to provide food for those who are in need. Much of the food canned or created goes to what are known as Bishop’s Storehouses. These look like small grocery stores except they don’t have cash registers. Church members who are in need meet with their bishops to evaluate their budgets and learn how to live on less. They can also receive permission to fill out a food order. From a list of available items, they mark what they need and in what quantities. The bishop can make adjustments (up or down) and then they take the list to the storehouse, where someone helps them fill the order.

However, the canneries are also used to help local charities feed people. The Salvation Army, Utah Food Bank Services, Jewish Family Services, Houston Food Bank, and Metro CareRing are among the many non-Mormon organizations that make use of the canneries. Some provide their own food items while the church provides them with cans, lids, labels with the name of the charity, not the Mormon Church, and free use of the cannery. Other organizations provide only volunteers to do the work.

The Denver cannery devotes three months a year to outside charities, with the remaining time devoted to serving their own people. The project in Denver began twenty years ago. At that time, the cannery arranged for local farmers to donate surplus crops to be canned for those in need. The current program provides peanut butter to the Houston Food Bank. The food bank provides the peanuts and the Mormons provide everything else. The food bank is able to produce a jar of peanut butter for only 91 cents this way and is able to provide 95,000 jars of peanut butter a year to those who come to them for help. Peanut butter is very popular with food banks because it’s nutritious and doesn’t require refrigeration, additional ingredients, or even dishes to be enjoyed. It’s also popular with children. Having a large quantity of one item consistently available and prepared in advance provides them with some security and the ability to better plan.

The Mormons provide services to the poor, both LDS and non-LDS, in a variety of ways. The storehouses food, mentioned earlier, is paid for through a unique program called Fast Offerings. Once a month, Mormons are asked to not eat or drink anything—not even water—for twenty-four hours if they are physically able to do so. This actually only requires them to skip two meals, plus snacks. They donate the money they saved by not eating to their congregation, which then uses the money to take care of the poor. In that way, Mormon congregations, who consider themselves a family, take care of their own. It takes nothing extra out of their budget, but does require some sacrifice on each person’s part. The receivers “pay” for what they receive by accepting church assignments, including working at the storehouse for a few hours. The work seldom equals what was received, but it allows the family to maintain their self-respect, knowing the help was not a handout. They also know they’ve helped others in the past, and will again in the future, and all of this makes it easier to accept help in the proper spirit.

Another way . This program serves the poor world-wide, and is not specifically for Mormons. Volunteers might use these funds to provide clean water for a village, help native people build a school yard, provide wheelchairs for those who can’t afford them, or provide training to villagers in caring for premature infants. Normally, the people who receive the gifts are expected to participate, offering some of the labor and providing people to train in maintaining whatever is provided.

These are just a few of the many programs offered by the Mormons, through a variety of programs, to assist those who need a temporary hand to get their lives back on track.

To learn about the cannery programs to assist hunger groups, see:

Church Canneries Help Local Groups