Representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met with Papua New Guinea’s Deputy High Commissioner, Jacinta Warakai-Manua, on 19 June 2014.
The meeting was held at the offices of the Papua New Guinea High Commission, in Canberra, Australia.
The Latter-day Saint group comprised Elder Jeffrey D. Cummings, Pacific Area Seventy; Neville Rochow SC, Barrister, National Director of Interfaith Relations; and Elder David G. Moore, a public affairs specialist.
From left: Neville Rochow, Jacinta Warakai-Manua, Elder Jeffrey D. Cummings.
The first Latter-day Saint services in Papua New Guinea were held in 1944, during World War II. Church membership is currently 22,000 in 73 congregations.
Latter-day Saints support many humanitarian efforts in Papua New Guinea, including: clean water projects; sanitation and hygiene training in Wewak; wheelchairs donations in Port Moresby and Lae; food initiative projects in Suki, Sogere and Daru; and assistance given to Daru families whose homes were destroyed in recent storms.
“The Church attempts to be first on the ground in a disaster and desires to work with other charities,” Mr Rochow said. “We are willing and happy to help where possible and will always try to make things better.”
Watch videos about Latter-day Saint humanitarian efforts and some of the basic tenets of the religion.