God’s covenant daughters are a conduit through which Jesus Christ provides His relief. Anytime someone does anything to bring relief to others — temporal or spiritual — they are bringing them the love of Jesus Christ.
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson said that as people bring the Savior’s relief to others, they will find their own relief in Him. Then, they will desire a covenant connection with Him.
Because the Relief Society’s purpose has always been to bring the Savior’s relief to others, at the request of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Relief Society organization is leading the effort in the Church’s global initiative for women and children.
This initiative seeks the greatest possible impact by putting money into efforts to particularly bless the lives of women and children under 5 years of age — through the areas of maternal and newborn care, child nutrition efforts, immunizations and education worldwide.
The Church envisions an enduring commitment, with plans to extend this effort for years to come.
“Global progress starts with nourishing children and strengthening women,” President Johnson said. “When you bless a woman, you bless a family, a community, a nation. When you bless a child, you invest in the future.”
Needs are evaluated globally — and then satisfied one by one, just as the Savior ministered, healed and blessed one by one.
And all Relief Society members are a part of this global effort when they seek to offer the Savior’s relief to those closest to them, President Johnson said.
Desiring a covenant relationship
The Church’s global initiative for women and children is an opportunity for the members of the Relief Society to provide temporal relief for others.
“Providing temporal relief leads to a desire for the blessings of a covenant relationship with God,” President Johnson said.
Her hope is that as sisters have the opportunity to bring relief to those around them as the Savior would, they will desire a covenant relationship with Him.
“Our objective, of course, is exaltation, an opportunity to return to our heavenly home and to live like our Father in Heaven. Covenants and ordinances are critical to that. A covenant relationship with God is central to our objective,” she said.
The Relief Society was organized as the Nauvoo Temple was being built. Women were preparing physically and spiritually for the ordinances and covenants to be offered in the house of the Lord.
Today the objective remains the same: to prepare a people temporally and spiritually for the blessings of the house of the Lord.
“Providing the Savior’s relief is a path to those covenants and ordinances that lead us to exaltation,” President Johnson said.
Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, said as women give relief or receive it, they feel the Savior’s love.
“Things shift in our hearts, and our desires shift towards Him to turn to Him, to desire that relationship with Him. That’s the hope,” Sister Yee said.
A $55.8 million donation and gathering together global organizations
The latest contribution from the Church in this effort is the combined $55.8 dollar donation announced on June 12 to eight nongovernmental organizations to work together particularly to strengthen health and nutrition programs.
The aim is to reach 12 million children under age 5 and 2.7 million expectant and new mothers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia.
The eight organizations — CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Helen Keller Intl, iDE, Map International, Save the Children, The Hunger Project and Vitamin Angels — have met together and will continue to work together to amplify their efforts.
In early June, the Church gathered representatives of each of those eight organizations in Accra, Ghana.
Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, was there.
“These are humanitarian organizations that are working in their own right so successfully, but now this is a new model,” Sister Dennis said.
Rather than compete with each other, the organizations were able to align and share their developing implementation — working in consortiums to leverage their unique strengths, resources and expertise.
Sister Dennis called it exciting and inspiring to see how hard everyone has been working together on efforts focusing on the health and well-being of women and children.
“Our singular purpose is to reach the day when no mother bears the pain of watching her child suffer from malnutrition,” Sister Dennis said. “Every child deserves a healthy start to life and ultimately the ability to reach their full potential.”
Besides these efforts to improve nutrition, the Church has donated funding and will continue to support organizations that work to better the lives of women and children in the areas of education, immunizations, and maternal and newborn care.
Member-focused efforts
While in Accra, Sister Dennis witnessed the member-focused portion of the global initiative. This is where the Church in several of its geographical areas has prioritized nutritional screenings for member children under age 5.
Sister Dennis attended a stake council where they had a stake nutrition specialist reporting on families whose children had received poor test results from nutritional screenings at the meetinghouse and what the next steps would be for education and improvement.
The stake Relief Society president and ministering brothers and sisters are a part of these screenings and educational efforts, but others can be as well.
“When you educate this younger generation, so when they are a part, for instance, of a screening and the young women come in or the young single adult women come in, then they’re being educated in a way that when they have their own children, they already know this. And so it’s breaking that cycle,” Sister Dennis said.
When President Johnson was in Guatemala in early June, she saw a follow-up screening at one stake where the children’s nutritional status had vastly improved with the help of local Relief Society leaders and ministering brothers and sisters who connected families with community resources and local healthcare providers.
Where necessary, children who are severely malnourished need therapeutic foods. Bishops get involved in providing relief through fast-offering funds.
“Isn’t that marvelous when you step back and think about it, where our fast-offering contributions are going to bless those that are in greatest need?” President Johnson said.
She added, “These children are going to be the future leaders in the Church, and as they have had sufficient opportunity for brain development in those critical first five years, we see the future is so very bright as they lead the Church moving forward.”
Being a part of the global initiative by meeting local needs
In the same way the Church brings together global organizations to address global problems, every day, local Relief Society members bring together their local communities to help meet local needs, said Sister Yee, who saw this happening in Guadalajara, Mexico, in early June.
She saw many examples of sisters gathering others to meet a local need. For example, people were waiting in lines to receive treatment at a hospital. Many had to travel a long distance and didn’t have much food or clothing or blankets with them. A stake Relief Society president saw that need and gathered people together to then go out and gather donations for the waiting patients and families.
“As women and members of the Relief Society, … when we see a need, we step in and bring people together to help solve problems and to meet needs within our own spheres of influence,” Sister Yee said. “We bring the love and relief of Jesus Christ to all of God’s children.”
Sister Yee said she hopes every member of the Church can see how they have the opportunity to provide relief within their own spheres — and she hopes they see themselves as a part of the global initiative.
Maybe someone’s season right now is to mother little children or to care for aging parents or to serve in the community. They are a part of the global initiative as they care for a child, teach someone to read, prepare food for the sick or sit with someone who is grieving.
“Each of us can do something as we prayerfully ponder what that might be,” she said, adding, “Perhaps the best humanitarian outreach is done close to home, as you reach across the fence or across the street.”
President Johnson sees parallels between what is happening in local congregations and communities and what is happening globally.
She hopes all women feel they are a part of the global initiative.
“The initiative fosters outreach to our friends and our neighbors. Many of them want to learn how they can bless the lives of their own children, but it also provides a gospel-centered cause that allows our members ministering opportunities.”
This is especially impactful to younger members of the Relief Society who desire to be a part of a cause greater than themselves. As part of the Relief Society, “they are part of the greatest cause on earth.”
And that’s just what President Russell M. Nelson invited the sisters to do at the Relief Society worldwide devotional on March 17, President Johnson explained.
“He said that with our divinely appointed attributes, we can change lives. In fact, we can change the world,” President Johnson said. “What an extraordinary occasion it is now for us with that prophetic blessing.”
