The COVID-19 pandemic did not stop members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world from participating in the annual #LightTheWorld campaign in December 2020. Many found creative ways to serve others, in accordance with local social distancing guidelines and regulations.
During a time of global need, Latter-day Saints have the opportunity to make a difference in “small and natural ways” and “be a light that can shine to the world,” said Elder Marcus B. Nash, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Missionary Department, at the beginning of the campaign.
Below is a summary of ways Church members around the world participated in the #LightTheWorld campaign in their various communities, as reported by Newsroom:
Brazil
RedeTV — one of Brazil’s major television networks — broadcast “The Christ Child: A Nativity Story” as part of a special Church-sponsored Christmas program. The program also featured a compilation of music performed by Latter-day Saint youth including “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night.”
Caribbean
In the Dominican Republic, more than 1,000 Church members responded to the #LightTheWorld campaign’s invitation to find ways to “serve others” on Dec. 5, a date that coincided with International Volunteer Day. They cleaned up various cities, including Pedro Brand, and distributed personal protective equipment (PPE) — including approximately 30,000 face masks — with city employees.
Puerto Rican Latter-day Saints sewed hundreds of “heart pillows” to help breast cancer patients recover from mastectomy surgeries. On the island of Aruba, many Church members helped clean the island’s coastline including Rodger’s Beach in Saint Nicolas.
South America
Near the town of Puerto Vilelas, Argentina, many local Latter-day Saints gathered donations of food, clothing and toys for Huellitas de Amor, a local food cafeteria that provides free meals for low-income children. Missionaries sang Christmas carols while the food was distributed.
Saints in Mendoza and Tucumán participated in local blood drives. In Antofagasta, Chile, Latter-day Saints also donated blood, specifically at Antofagasta’s Regional Hospital.
Central America
Diego Paiz, a Guatemalan Latter-day Saint, organized “Un Tamal, No Está Mal” (“one tamale isn’t bad,” in English), an activity where volunteers made and distributed tamales to hungry people.
In San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Maria Fernanda Servellon participated in a toy drive to help children who survived Hurricanes Eta and Iota. Other Central American Latter-day Saints picked up garbage and found ways to enhance public parks, streets and beaches.
Africa
Church members in Ghana, Africa, made news headlines when one of the country’s television news channels reported that Latter-day Saints launched the #LighttheWorld campaign in Jamestown by handing out personal protective equipment and food items to 350 households.
Nigeria Port Harcourt Mission President Victor Bassey and his wife, Sister Uche Bassey, delivered a couch and suction machine to the Etche Health Centre on behalf of Church members.
Latter-day Saints in Praia, Cabo Verde, organized and prerecorded a physically distanced Christmas-day concert that streamed on social media channels. The choir, also known as “Angel’s Voice,” performed traditional and international holiday music in celebration of the Savior’s birth.
Pacific
Two weeks before Christmas, Latter-day Saints in Western Australia published ads in five regional newspapers to spread word about the availability of “The Christ Child: A Nativity Story” on the #LightTheWorld campaign’s website.
In addition to newspaper ads, #LightTheWorld campaign billboards on well-traveled roads in Auckland, New Zealand, helped increase awareness of the Church’s invitation to serve others for 25 consecutive days.
Church members in Guam filled up boxes in “Operation Christmas Drop,” a humanitarian mission sponsored by the U.S. Pacific Military Forces that provides donations to islanders living in remote areas of the Pacific.
Asia
More than 800 people attended a walk-through and streamed open house Christmas Nativity Display at a local Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Okinawa, Japan. The event included more than 150 nativities and Christmas decorations and featured live Christmas music and displays of Jesus Christ paired with kakejiku, or Japanese hanging scrolls.
In Cambodia, local Latter-day Saints participated in a livestreamed devotional by sharing Christmas messages. Missionaries performed musical devotionals. Church members and missionaries also placed #LightTheWorld ads on tuk-tuks, local meetinghouse fences and customized pass-along cards with an invitation to participate in the campaign and serve others in need.
United States
Local Church leaders in Boise and Meridian, Idaho, partnered with faith, civic and community leaders to host the Inaugural Idaho Community Christmas Carol Sing-Along — in drive-in movie style. Carolers drove to host parking lots, remained in their vehicles, tuned into a local radio station and sang along to a prerecorded program of familiar Christmas hymns and carols.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Latter-day Saints created a drive-thru Nativity for their community. More than 2,000 visitors drove their vehicles through the Nativity experience.
Youth in the Paris Ward in Lexington, Kentucky, wrote Christmas cards to every resident at the Bourbon Heights Nursing Home. A total of 138 Christmas cards were written and delivered. About 80 miles west in Louisville, many Latter-day Saints served at the local Salvation Army Angel Tree warehouse and helped make Christmas happen for nearly 10,000 children.
Brinley Baird of Viera 1st Ward in Coca, Florida, delivered gifts to recipients of Aging Matters in Brevard. Aging Matters is the leading agency for senior services in Brevard County in Florida. The donations were made by United Way of Brevard.
Find opportunities to serve year-round at JustServe.org.
