The Sunday Mail
Desire Ncube —
THE Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is embarking on a global Christmas initiative to encourage people to dedicate themselves to service this December.
Dubbed #LIGHTtheWORLD Christmas Initiative, the programme will be officially unveiled on November 25, 2016. In a statement, the church said the initiative would be unpacked through a special video presentation and other material that would be available in 29 languages across their various social media platforms, that include YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
“During Christmas, we are reminded that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. This year, we have an amazing opportunity to share that light by resolving to do the things Jesus Christ did,” said the church. The statement said #LIGHTtheWORLD Christmas initiative would give a worldwide audience of participants a chance to connect and showcase their service in “25 Ways over 25 Days”.
“To facilitate this, the church has prepared a special calendar of themed service projects. The service calendar will run from 1 December through 25 December, with particular focus on the needy, the sick and the homeless.
“The initiative will also present opportunities to mentor young people. Every day leading up to Christmas, we will focus on a different Christlike behavior and provide suggestions for ways we can emulate His example,” the church said.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing steadily in Zimbabwe, with statistics indicating that it now has a membership of more than 26 000 people who are organised into six stakes (regions). Three of those are headquartered in Harare.
In April this year at the church’s 186th Annual General Conference, the world president Mr Thomas Monson announced plans to construct its first temple for Zimbabwe in Harare.
A local church official who declined to be named said prior to the temple construction announcement, Zimbabwe had registered the second-highest number of church members in the world without a temple behind Nicaragua. Currently Zimbabweans are using the temple in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Other nearby African countries that will also benefit from the new temple in Zimbabwe include the DRC, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.
This will be the seventh Church of Latter-day Saints temple in Africa.
