Gloria Ikegbule
The Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints in Nigeria kicked off the Yuletide season with the launch of her ‘Light the World’ programme.
It is an initiative by the church that compels people to show love through acts of services in commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
This Christmas initiative started with a colourful event at the Radisson Hotel, Ikeja with the theme, ‘Give As He Gave’.
The ‘Light the World’ campaign is a four-week programme which centres on giving to targeted
beneficiaries as a sign of love to humanity.
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During the first week in December, the church will be focusing on acts of service to the needy globally. The second week is on the community, the third week on the family while the fourth week will be on improving individual relationship with God.
Chairman of the event, Elder Frederick Akinbo said: “This Christmas initiative is designed to touch the lives of people during the four-week event. This initiative is what the Lord wants us to do and we have prayerfully packaged the programme. It’s not only for members of the church.
“It is an act expected to change someone’s life, and bring smile to the face of someone. This act of service we have been invited to partake in will be seen as an act unto our saviour.
“As you go through this month, think of someone that you will render an act of service to and his life will be better.”
President of the church’s Lagos Mission, Cornelius Tay added that the exercise had further expressed the capacity of the church to give to humanity. He, however, pointed that the greatest gift the church has given and will continue to give is the gospel of Jesus Christ that transcends from
darkness to light.
The keynote speaker, Ven. Francis Falako, explained that Christmas brings to mind the love of God and the need to reciprocate.
“God gave because He is love. We are where we are as a nation today because of our inability to give. Hence, our nation is full of paradoxes: grinding poverty amidst stupendous riches, super rich pastors leading malnourished flocks; high religiosity in a fantastically corrupt nation.
“Christ is calling on us today to give and make a difference. Tomorrow may be too late,” he
warned.
Editor, Daily Sun, Mr. Onuoha Ukeh, who was one of the moderators at the event, lauded the church’s initiative of selfless service to humanity.
He said the event was impressive, coming at a time when people play lip service to acts of love.
Hence, he encouraged Nigerians to make their giving this Yuletide to be motivated by love and not from ulterior motives.
“It is refreshing to see an organisation telling us the true meaning of love and encouraging us to show service. Jesus said the leader is the servant. If you are a leader, you should serve and service
should come from the heart. This season is the auspicious time for us to show this service.
“Jesus, throughout his ministry, rendered services without expecting anything from anyone. Service to humanity is service to people with no strings attached,” he said.
The National Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Ikpe Nkanang also stated: “No matter how poor you are, you can give out. If you do not have money, you can give service or you give a smile to uplift someone who is depressed. You can also use the hagtag, #lighttheword to showcase your impact.
“During this Yuletide, the church in Lagos is partnering with the National Television Authority (NTA) to give relief materials to orphanages, the handicapped and old people’s homes. In Port Harcourt, our members there will be renovating government facilities for good of the society, as well as other acts of kindness that will be expressed in other areas as we count down to Christmas.
“Prior to now, the church has assisted the IDP camps with relief materials, sanitary materials, renovated and equipped over 100 primary health facilities, provided boreholes for communities,
provided wheel chairs to disabled citizens and has given skill acquisition and soft loans to members
of the community and members of the church,” he explained.
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Stake President, Agege Stake, Asuquo Udobong, said his personal responsibility to this act of giving designed by the church to make members more Christ-like is to pray more to improve his faith and to give more.
He also noted that as the Stake President, he would encourage the members to take the weekly exercise seriously, especially in the area of fostering family bond. He said he would also plan programmes with the members to impact members of the public.