Jared Ormsby, president of the Christchurch New Zealand Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sent the folliowing message to Church members in the wake of last Friday's mass shootings in the Southern New Zealand city.
Yesterday was a tragic day for our community and we all awoke again this morning with a sense of profound sadness for the individuals and families affected by yesterday’s terrible events.
President Thomas S Monson taught: “We are surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our support, our comfort, our kindness. … We are the Lord’s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children. He is dependent upon each of us.”
We have the responsibility to minister to our Muslim brothers and sisters in the Christchurch Stake. We are inviting every member to reach out with sensitivity in your workplace, school and communities, to find out what support is needed for our Brothers and Sisters, and to actively offer assistance where you can or alert any needs to your ward leaders.
As well as this, we ask that every member pray for those affected by this tragedy, in their homes and in their Wards.
In our prayers on their behalf we should also seek for wisdom in helping those affected and our community.
Elder Richard L. Evans wrote: “It is not the usual purpose of prayer … to bring us ease without effort. Often the purpose of prayer is to give us strength to do what needs to be done, wisdom to see the way to solve our problems, and ability to do our best in our tasks.”
In the coming days there will be many opportunities to help and give assistance.
We have so much in common with our Muslim Brothers and Sisters. Both Muslims and Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in the vital importance of strong families and in the divine command to help the poor and needy and that we demonstrate our faith through acts of discipleship.
More importantly, our mandate to minister in love comes from our Saviour, Jesus Christ. May we remember this and work to help.
President Jared Ormsby Stake President of the Christchurch NZ Stake