The children at Tsakani Primary School in Kagiso, South Africa, love to play soccer. And they were proud to tell their recent visitors about their school club’s winning record.
But the field below the school campus is uneven, and it floods easily when rain pours down the hillside.
And so, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is going to do something about it by funding improvements.
In a visit to the school to see the Church’s previous efforts and to announce the new projects, Church leaders also brought new soccer uniforms and balls with them for the students.
The children immediately had to try out the balls, as children do. But they weren’t alone — Elder S. Mark Palmer of the Presidency of the Seventy and Elder Edward Dube, General Authority Seventy and the president of the Africa South Area, started to play with the students.
Elder Palmer began dribbling a soccer ball with his feet, and Elder Dube — with impressive footwork and a huge smile — deftly moved another ball around several children who enthusiastically joined in the game.
As my laughter bubbled to the surface, I raised my smartphone camera to capture some of the moment. And then a phrase came to my mind: “We are His hands and His feet.”
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson had said this in an interview with the Church News earlier this year: “When we serve, when we are His hands and His feet or His listening ears or His kind-speaking lips, then we receive His relief in return.”
The Savior Jesus Christ in Matthew 25:34-40 taught that when we see someone in need and serve them, it is as if we are serving Him. And when we serve others, we are serving them as the Savior would.
The Church has given so much support and funding to the Tsakani school already that there is a sign at the entrance gate with the name of the Church by the name of the school. But this school isn’t the only one. Schools across the African continent and around the globe have received new classrooms, bathroom facilities, funding, technology, books, equipment and more from the Church. In fact, 530 education projects were completed in 2023.
During the March 17 worldwide Relief Society devotional, President Johnson spoke about how the Church strives to care for those in need through humanitarian efforts with the greatest impact — not just in education, but also child nutrition, immunizations and maternal and newborn care.
And Church members worldwide are a part of this global cause, not only through their monetary offerings that fund such efforts but also through service in their own spheres.
“When you serve your families and your neighbors, you are part of our global cause,” President Johnson said. “Thank you for expressing your testimony of Jesus Christ by being His gentle hands, His nimble feet, His listening ears, His kind-speaking lips.”
Elder Palmer and Elder Dube showed “nimble feet” in the courtyard of the school.
When I told my husband about the experience, he said it made him think of another phrase he had heard in a stake leadership training meeting: “Be where your feet are.”
A bishop had asked in the training how he could juggle all his responsibilities. He felt like a plate spinner, without enough attention to give to his calling, family, job and more.
The answer, “Be where your feet are,” a sentence attributed to sports executive and Latter-day Saint Scott O’Neil, represents mindfulness — staying grounded in the present moment, paying attention to what you are doing and not worrying about the future or fretting about the past.
That day at the Tsakani school was part of a ministry visit throughout the Africa South Area, and Elder Palmer and Elder Dube were balancing schedules full of responsibilities, training, assignments, interviews and travel. But they stayed where their feet were.
And in that soccer game — in the loving attention and joyful ease they shared with the students — they showed God’s feet and hands to me.
— Mary Richards is a Church News reporter.
