Teaching principles of provident living
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Vincent Dzungudza is a successful entrepreneur in Zimbabwe, Africa, who with his family, runs a profitable business.
But that has not always been the case. Once, not too long ago, the Church member struggled just to provide life's temporal necessities — food and shelter.
Then Brother Dzungudza turned to the Church. His success started with the organization's garden project. He planted tomatoes and a variety of other vegetables. His garden produced enough vegetables to feed his family, provide staples, pay tithing and fast offerings, and save a little extra.
With the extra money, he was then able to buy 25 day-old chicks. He raised the chicks to six weeks, sold them and repeated the process. Today, he has anywhere from 100 to 300 chicks at one time.
Money earned from the chickens and the garden also enabled Brother Dzungudza to purchase three sewing machines — which his wife and sister-in-law use to sew a variety of salable goods.
From the family's combined efforts, they have now earned enough money to buy visas so they can take their two children to South Africa to be sealed in the Johannesburg South Africa Temple this September.
The Dzungudza's story represents the "magic" of the Church's welfare system — an unsung program whose scope, size and impact are largely unknown to the average Church member, said Presiding Bishop H. David Burton.
"We teach basic welfare principles, we help them find employment, we help to educate them, we help to make them self-reliant," he said, speaking with the Church News about the international reach of Church welfare and its three areas of emphasis: fast offerings, employment resources, and food production and home storage
Originally called the Church Security Plan, the program now known as the Church Welfare Program began in April 1936 during the Great Depression.
"The primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves," said President Heber J. Grant four months later in the October 1936 general conference.
The principles emphasized then are still in place today as the program — in accordance with Church growth — has spread across the globe, said Bishop Burton.
"We continue to teach the basic principles of provident living, even in economies that are modest in their nature," he said. "People can still live modestly, and hopefully can acquire sufficient personal reserves to take care of their needs during times of distress."
Bishop Burton said breaking the cycle of poverty in many international areas is one of the thrusts of Church welfare. To compliment the Perpetual Education Fund — a fund established by President Gordon B. Hinckley in April 2001 to provide education loans for returned missionaries in developing nations — "we have an emphasis in helping people in the placement of employment," he said.
When people are gainfully employed, they can have the opportunity to attend school and "break the ever dangerous cycle of poverty that is so difficult to get out of."
The Church currently operates 153 international employment centers spread around the world.
Once a member finds a job, and no longer has to focus entirely on sustaining life, he can accept Church callings, attend the temple and contribute tithing and fast offerings, which is "the heart and soul of welfare in international areas," said Bishop Burton.
Fast offerings, he said, are "the first line of defense after the individual, and after immediate and extended family. A bishop has the cash reserve to help."
Vladimir Nechiporov, Europe East welfare manager, said fast offerings make all the difference in his area. "The main thing I would like to tell you about is the confidence which our members feel," he said. "They know that they would get help from the Church if they need to."
Brother Nechiporov said he has been working hard to teach local leaders about the principle of fast offering. "The Church is new in our area and it will take time to learn this principle, but our members learn fast," he said. Members, he added, like helping other Latter-day Saints in the area, where resources are so limited that while a person can apply to local civic authorities for financial assistance, in most cases, they will not get anything.
John Mulligan, Europe West Area welfare manager, said employment resource centers are an "excellent service to members," providing education and employment advice that help literally thousands find work each year.
Brother Mulligan also noted that Latter-day Saints are grateful for the fast offering program. "Members express their special appreciation for the care and encouragement they receive and the lack of stigma or cold judgment," and they are eager to become self-reliant once again, he said.
Such self-reliance is important, said Bishop Burton, because there is no way the Church can take care of individuals long-term.
"Our program is predicated on people following the principles of self-reliance," he said. "Really, the storehouse of the Church is in the homes of its members. We can institutionally only take care of a very small percentage of our people. We have to rely on people being able to take care of themselves."
Self-reliance is also necessary for one to progress spiritually — especially in developing nations where members may work 16 hours a day, seven days a week, just to sustain life, he said.
"If people are temporally successful, they then have the time and the means and the energy to participate spiritually and receive the blessings that are inherent in spiritual preparation for the eternities."
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