After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and Mississippi in 2005, among the first responders were an emergency team from the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintains a group of trucks in the southeast United States that is dispatched right after a storm to help people who may have lost their homes and their lives. My former stake president, an executive at Ryder trucks, helped plan this emergency response unit.
The trucks are filled with just about everything needed: food, water, clothing, blankets, first aid. Then trucks roll in with chain saws, gasoline, more food, tents and other emergency gear. As you may remember, government on all levels completely failed the victims of Hurricane Katrina, but the Church did not. We gave comfort to hundreds of thousands of people within hours after the storm.
But the effort did not end there. Thousands of volunteers from throughout the southeast poured into the stricken area for months afterward to help people rebuild their homes. I helped organize one trip, which is described here. Twenty-eight people from South Florida drove in five vans from Miami to southern Mississippi to help people rebuild their homes. As I say in the story, a Baptist minister, hostile to the Mormons, said he would never say a bad word again after seeing the outpouring of Christian love.
The absolutely disgusting hit job on the Church by Businessweek magazine of course ignores the difference between a secular business and a Church that exists to bring people to Christ. The story makes a passing reference to humanitarian efforts but of course ignores successes like Hurricane Katrina.
The Businessweek story fails on all levels. Readers do not come away having any understanding whatsoever of why people like myself are willing to give at least 10 percent of our earnings and hundreds of hours every year to the Church.
So let me try to explain: the Church succeeds where most other organizations fail. The Church helps people on this Earth and, I believe, in the eternities. Temple work helps bring salvation to millions who cannot help themselves. The Church obviously spends a lot of money on temples; anybody who has looked at one can see the quality of the work. The Businessweek story does nothing to explain why hundreds of thousands of people would travel for hours to go to a temple, and why so many people volunteer every week or every month to serve there. Completely ignored are the stories of faithful Latter-day Saints, like those in interior Brazil, who would travel for weeks by boat and bus just to get to a temple for a few days. How can such faith be explained without an understanding of the burning desire to provide charity to others?
My ward in Colorado has service events several times a month. We have sent dozens of volunteers to help build Habitat for Humanity houses in our town. I have met the new owners of these homes. They are humble, hard-working people who are grateful for the thousands of hours spent to help them have a place to live. After a snow storm hit our town in October, cutting electricity to thousands of people, we went door to door helping people affected by the storm. Just next week, nearly everybody in our ward, including young children, will participate in service projects in our county to clean up parks, paint buildings and volunteer where needed.
I have witnessed bishops meeting with people who need assistance. Never is a truly needy person turned away. Tithing goes to help people who have lost their jobs, or need a little extra help paying an electricity bill. I witnessed the case of one man, who was not a member of the Church, coming to the bishop after the boat he lived in was destroyed in a hurricane. Without asking any questions, the bishop got out the check book and wrote a check for the man.
There are a lot of different volunteer organizations around, but why is the Church so successful? Because of the faith of its members. Everybody talks about volunteering, but fewer people actually do it. The Church provides an effective, focused vehicle for people to channel their desire for service into action. In my ward, the opportunities for service are constant.
When I write my monthly tithing check, and my monthly fast offering check, I do not give a thought to where the money goes. I already know it will be well-spent. My local leadership are volunteers, people who work 40 hours a week in one job and give at least another 20 to 30 hours a week in service to others. They are humble, Christ-like people. I often think: “if only I could give more.”
The Savior gave everything he had, his life and his blood and flesh, for other people. We are not asked to do that, we are asked to give our time and a percentage of our money. If only I could give more.