Christmas is a time of great excitement around the world and especially so in Uganda. During this season, families get together, there is a lot of sharing and its a time when for once people take their minds off work and focus on family relations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints has this year launched an initiative known as "Light the World" to encourage people to serve others duirng the christmans season. This global effort to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ through service started reaching world wide audiences on Friday 25th November and will go on through January 1st 2017.
The initiative focuses of celebrating and sharing the light of Jesus Christ, the "light of the world" (John 8:12)
In a general conference held in October 2015, the Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Thomas S. Monson said "As we follow the example of the Saviour and live as he lived and as He taught, that light will burn within us and will light the way for others"
Speaking about the initiative, Elder David A. Bednar, a member of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles said "It's the Christmas season, we all have lights - all kinds of lights on our houses, on our trees, on our dining tables. So if we link those wonderful tradditions with the source of truth, even Christ as the source of light, it just made great sense to all of us that that would be the theme that we would employ this year."
Sharable content is now available at mormon.org, including a video tht invites the public to perform acts of service fllowing Christ's example during the Christmas season.
There will in addition be a serve effort that will kick off on December 1st, with a worldwide day of service.
Elder Bednar explained, "The whole purpose of this initiative is to celebrate and share the Light of Christ. What we do is not simply think about the Saviour during this Christmas season, or even just learn more about Him. What we hope is that they will come to know Him by doing what He did."
A playable/downloadable version of the main video is also available on the Church’s Gospel Library app. In addition, 25 short videos offering daily ideas for service can be shared on social media during the initiative.
Elder Bednar said the Church is not trying to overwhelm people with ideas for service during the Christmas season. “These are very simple things that the Savior has provided the example. And we, in a very appropriate, simple way during this Christmas season, can do the same things that He did. He healed the blind. We can help the blind to see. We might, for example, read a story to someone in a nursing home who cannot see. Doesn't take a lot of time, but a small, simple act of service that exemplifies the Light of Christ.”
The shareable content is being posted on the social media pages of mormon.org such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. Those on social media are encouraged to share their experiences by using the hashtag #LIGHTtheWORLD.
The website, available in English, Spanish and Portuguese, features a downloadable advent calendar, “In 25 Ways. Over 25 Days.” A web landing page is provided for 26 other languages. The calendar provides daily ideas for planning service opportunities in December leading up to Christmas Day.
In addition, the initiative is offered via internet sites, displays in English-speaking Churchvisitors’ centers worldwide and the Mexico City Visitors’ Center, member and missionary tools and outdoor advertising, including billboards in New York City’s Times Square; Salt Lake City; Los Angeles; Johannesburg, South Africa; Philippines; and Mexico.
The video was produced in 33 languages. It will be available in Albanian, Armenian, Cebuano,Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Fijian, Finnish, French, German, Greek,Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish,Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Tongan andUkrainian.
The Church’s Missionary Department has been sponsoring Christmas and Easter initiatives for the past several years to reach broader audiences with the Church’s message that Jesus Christ was born, lived, died and was resurrected to save all mankind.
Last December, the “A Savior Is Born” Christmas initiative reached millions of people around the world. The video had more than 50 million views. Millions were also reached last spring with the “Follow Him” Easter initiative.