M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

The Kingdom and the Third World—Best of Meridian
by James W. Lucas and Warner P. Woodworth

The typical church member in this new century will not be English speaking nor financially well-off.

Book Excerpt from Working Toward Zion by James W. Lucas and Warner P. Woodworth

     Barring catastrophic or apocalyptic intervention, on Saturday, April 6, 2030, a gathering in the Salt Lake Tabernacle will celebrate the bicentennial of the restoration of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. Counting children, a majority of members of the Church alive today can reasonably expect to witness this glorious occasion. Projecting trends decades into the future can be hazardous in retrospect. Nonetheless, conservative estimates are that, at current growth rates, the Church will have from 75 to 175 million members on April 6, 2030. Elder Neal Maxwell has estimated 90 million. Approximately 70 percent of these will live in Latin America, and 15 percent will live in Asia. As few as 10 percent will live in North America and Europe combined. The vast majority, possibly 98 to 99 percent, will live in areas where Latter-day Saints will still constitute a small minority of the total population.
     By the year 2000, at present growth rates, over half of all Latter-day Saints will speak Spanish or Portuguese. The days when the majority of Saints were white, English-speaking U.S. Citizens are rapidly coming to a close. The "typical" LDS person of the next century will be tan or dark-skinned, urban poor or working class, from a Latin cultural background, and will not speak English.
     Juan and Elena Flores live with their seven children on the outskirts of Mexico City. Elena became a Mormon as a child when her parents were baptized, and Juan joined the Church in his twenties, so they are essentially a second-generation LDS family. Juan has served as a bishop twice, and the family is strongly committed to building the kingdom. In contrast to Elena's life growing up, when the family was able to enjoy a relatively simple, happy existence, Mexico City is a tough environment in which to survive.
     The Flores parents both work to try to make ends meet. Juan has been laid off about a dozen times from various factory and construction jobs. Elena has worked in several markets in their barrio and now works three days a week at a neighborhood beauty shop. However, their combined wages are far below the minimum needed for a Mexican family to move up into the middle class. None of their three oldest children has actually graduated from high school, and the same bleak future appears before the other four.
     Their LDS chapel is a twenty-minute bus ride away, and many times when Juan was bishop, he had to go to Church alone because he and Elena could not afford to pay the round-trip fare for the entire family. For the parents, Sunday was a special day when they tried to "splurge" on the children by giving them two regular meals on the Sabbath, perhaps with some fruit or flan dessert. Although Juan and Elena felt guilty about not taking their children to church when he was bishop, the stark struggle for survival seemed to override the luxury of Church meetings.
     Half a world away, another Third World LDS family also strives to make ends meet. This is the Illagan family in Cebu, the Philippines. Missionary work in this island nation was launched in 1961. During the 1970's, Church researchers projected that the Church would grow to around 30,000 in the Philippines during the next two decades. In actuality, conversions mushroomed ten times faster than expected, to the present estimate of 300,000.
     Reggie and Perla Illagan, their four children, and Reggie's aunt and uncle all live together in a five-room shack near the Cebu city dump. Smoke from burning refuse is always in the air, along with severe pollution from congested roads and factories in the area. The family speaks Cebuano at home, one of 87 native languages and dialects used in the country, but they are all fluent in English, which is often used in public. Filipinos enjoy a high literacy rate (99%) and the Illagans all have good educations.
     The family's pride and joy is their 22-year-old son Ben, who recently returned from serving a mission in Manila. While on his mission, young Elder Illagan was supported financially by the Church. He wore a white shirt and tie, served in leadership positions, and had his own bed, a private room for him and his companion, and three meals a day.
     But having returned home, Ben seems quite depressed because he is again forced to wear old clothes, eat only one or two meals a day, and sleep in a room with three brothers and sisters. He would like to finish high school and go on to college, but there is little opportunity to do this. On the other hand, he also cannot get a job. So he waits and looks for new possibilities. Their house is on a rich landowners's parcel, like 20 percent of Filipino Latter-day Saints who are squatters. Some 68 percent of Latter-day Saints are completely unemployed. The average household income of approximately $2,200 is not much for a family of eight people. Crime in the area is so great that someone must remain home, even during church, for fear the house might be broken into and completely cleaned out. Like about half of all LDS members in the Philippines, the family has no running water or indoor bathrooms.
     Life is becoming increasingly hard in the Philippines. The islands used to have the second strongest economy in the Pacific Rim, but the country has slipped until now it is second from the worst. Things are so tough now that Perla has decided to seek work as a maid in Hong Kong. Some 15 other LDS mothers in their stake have done this recently, getting $400 a month pay, compared to $50 or so if they succeed at finding employment in Cebu. It would be difficult for her to leave the children, returning each year only during the Christmas season. The aunt could help out so Reggie could keep his job. But for the children it just will not be the same to sit around Monday night for home evening, and talk about how "Families Are Forever" with their mother way up north in Hong Kong.
     The struggle to meet the physical needs of life is a universal characteristic of this mortal existence. The importance of the larger "temporal" society to individual spirituality and righteousness can be seen in the word of God. Many of God's commandments are social and economic in nature. For example, at least seven of the Ten Commandments relate in some way to economic activity.1
     One scholar has counted 28 percent of the lines of the Doctrine and Covenants as directly relating to economic matters.2
     Of the . . . revelations that the Prophet Joseph received, some 88 deal at least partially with financial matters.3
     At the October 1873 conference, Wilford Woodruff observed:
     "Strangers and the Christian world marvel at the 'Mormons' talking about temporal things. Bless your souls, two-thirds of all the revelations given in this world rest upon the accomplishments of this temporal work. This is the great dispensation in which the Zion of God must be built up, and we as Latter-day Saints have it to build. We have it to do, we can't build up Zion sitting on a hemlock slab singing ourselves away to everlasting bliss; we are obliged to build cities, towns and villages, and we are obliged to gather the people from every nation under heaven to the Zion of God, that they may be taught the ways of the Lord. We have only just begun to prepare for the celestial law when we are baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
     The celestial law to which apostle Woodruff referred is the law of consecration and stewardship.

Call for Reader Response

     We have almost taken it for granted that when people join the Church, they are lifted from grinding poverty through the disciplined habits and blessings that come from living the commandments. The grandchildren and great grandchildren of Welsh coalminers and English factory workers, who joined the Church in the nineteenth century, are now educated and even prosperous, living well beyond the tedium and desperation of scrambling for daily survival. That pattern may not hold true for members of the Church in Third World nations or struggling countries where the very structure of the government or the economy makes progress difficult.
     During the 2lst century, as the Church expands rapidly until the majority of the members live in the Third World, what are the responsibilities of the more affluent Church members? How can one truly be a Christian in today's difficult economic environment? What do the economic principles of Zion mean today?
     What do concepts like consecration and stewardship mean for those who have an excess of material wealth--and what is an excess?
     Write us your thoughts on these issues, and we'll print some of them here. Click here.


Reader Responses

I have been a member all my life and thought I understood the financial duties of members to others. But as time has passed, and the world gets more complicated, I do not know what my duties are as addressed in this article. I have asked several people but no one seems to know. More information would be most helpful in regards to what our duties are to all of our members no matter where they are.

By the way, I live in a very isolated part of America where the living conditions are largely third world. Any additional information would be appreciated.

Phyllis Elmore
Eastern Shore, Virginia

Joining the Church does not free one from the trials of the world, or the society in which he lives. Joseph and Emma Smith, for most of their married life, did not even have a home of their own and had to rely on the kindness of more well-to-do Church members.

So, what can we, as the more affluent members, do about it? Several things. We can pay our tithing and fast offerings. We also have the option of giving to humanitarian causes, either through outside charitable organizations such as United Way or Red Cross, or we can make a contribution through the Church. The new forms for the donation envelopes now have a block for donating to "Humanitarian Relief." If you're living in a unit where these new forms are not yet available, you can still donate. Simply write "humanitarian relief" in the "Other" block on the old form, and your finance clerk should know how to see that it gets to the right place. (I know it can be done; I used to be a finance clerk.)

For those who have medical training, one can serve a Welfare Services mission in a third world country. My wife, a registered nurse, served such a mission in Indonesia. She visited homes of Church members and anyone else who invited her, teaching them about such things as personal and family preparedness, health and sanitation, and literacy and education, thus helping them to help themselves, which is by far the best way to help people. "Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll eat for a lifetime."

So you see, there are many things we can do to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters. And we don't need [to formalize] the law of consecration to do them. In fact, we cannot establish this sacred order until the Lord commands through his authorized servant, the current living prophet.

Thank you,
Jim Dorigatti
Vacaville, CA

As long as raw materials and cheap labor are all that first world countries "use" the third world for, we are headed for a disaster of simultaneous depletion (third world) and gluttony (first world). Both are noxious to the human soul, and wealthy countries hold the primary responsibility for both creating and solving this dilemma. The unique makeup of the Church's welfare and tithing system hold within it the seeds of such a resolution. We are truly our brother's/sister's keepers in every sense of the word and thus, should not hesitate to share of our time, talents, and wealth.

Monica Williams-Murphy
three-year convert
Medical student, University of South Alabama
Mobile, Alabama

When people of the Third World accept the gospel, we still leave them temporal captives to the economy of unbelievers. This is wrong. Salvation is supposed to be both spiritual and temporal. The struggles of saints in impoverished countries makes our delinquency apparent (D&C 38:26).

Unfortunately, since we in North America have been too selfish to live the law of consecration ourselves, we have also denied its benefits to those who are most in need of its temporal salvation. If we had been living the law ourselves, our missionaries would not only be preaching the gospel, but also setting up and administering united orders among these new converts. However, since we have no missionaries with any experience in living the law of consecration, we cannot offer our brothers and sisters in the Third World this blessing.

Instead of establishing united orders, so they can have the means to build up the church in their country and send out their own missionaries, they continue to be at the mercy of their local economy and dependent on the North American church.

How long before Zion arises and puts on its beautiful garments? The glory of Zion is not measured in numbers of baptisms, stakes, or temples, but lies in the hearts of people filled with the love of God and each other, united in the celestial law of consecration.

Anyone with further interest in this topic should read Lorenzo Snow's address given April 21, 1878 in Ogden (available on Infobase). He urges those with means and ability to step forward and "lead the Latter-Day Saints to this union."

Mike Burgess

Two weeks ago, I returned from my missionary efforts in a third world country and one of the poorest -- PERU. I can really relate to this article. My heart cries for these people of Third World countries. I have seen how they live and have, to some extent, lived like they live. Many times I found myself frustrated about how to help them economically -- those people whom I love. I believe that there is no set or exact answer to this dilemma. What should we do?

I think what I could do to support them might be different than what you would do or another brother would do, for God needs us to figure this out for ourselves through the whisperings of the Spirit. This may sound like a generic LDS answer, but I know it is true. The influence from our Heavenly Father through the Spirit will guide us to decide how we can, in our position, personally help these people from the Third World and what really our responsibilities are for them.

Benjamin R. Bigler
Orlando, Florida

I am a convert of 17 years. Although we live in an area [that] would be considered an area of affluence, we have had our share of troubles. No one promised me temporal riches when I joined the church, and I have not received many, although we have always had sufficient for our needs. However, I have received numerous other blessings.

There are two things to remember:
1. Much of the affluence of the saints living in established areas of the Church can be attributed to the sacrifice and faith of their ancestors who struggled to establish the Church and a new land. Allow these third world saints 150 years, and they, too, will achieve the same results.
2. Read Alma 24:13 - 16. While those of us new to the Church, who are struggling to change our lives and establish our families in the Church, would like our burdens to be removed, more often those burdens are "made light" as they were for Alma and his followers. This is a tremendous blessing that all, no matter our circumstances, may receive.

Thus each of us, in any way we are able, must be the Lord's "helping hand" in working to indeed make those burdens light. Then we will all be blessed.

Ken Pohl
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

I live in Miami which you may know is considered by many to be the epicenter for third world Carribean immigration into the United States. I am a Professor of Podiatric Orthopedics and Biomechanics, and as part of my medical training, I completed surgical Fellowships in Israel, Switzerland, and participated in additional training in Korea. I presently head an international committee called The Yucatan Crippled Children's Project, in which I have the privilege of taking surgical teams down to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico every four to six weeks to perform surgery without cost to disadvantaged children who suffer from lower extremity deformities. I offer this background to suggest that I have some experience with third world countries.

The issue you raise is extraordinarily complex. This world has bountiful resources to offer, more than enough for everyone, but subject to the promises we have read many times in the Book of Mormon. The only way any third world country will prosper is by fostering a population which largely keeps the commandments of God. The U.S. is often condemned for its wickedness, but less spoken of is the fact that the U.S. also has more churches per capita than any other nation in the world. We prosper because, up until now, we have largely supported a governance of integrity and supported a system of laws founded in Judeo-Christian principles, proven over many millennia.

How do third world countries pull themselves out of a seemingly bottomless economic abyss? First, they accept the principles of the Gospel -- though not, perhaps, as actual members of the Church. They become active in supporting honest, visionary political leaders and policy-making mechanisms within their own country which will support a stable growth in economy. That will invite investment from a booming Western economy. So long as a dollar can be spent helping more than a dollar to grow, there will be those willing to spend and invest. But, clearly, there must be an environment of ethics and integrity to support that growth. Only a literate, morally founded, dedicated people can enact such paradigms, not those countries which are crippled by graft and government corruption.

The Gospel is truly the only plan which can solve the world's problems. Those brethren and sisters who live in third world countries are faced with many of the same trials that we hold in high esteem for our own pioneer forefathers. We should also hold financially disadvantaged members in such esteem so long as they are true to both the Gospel and their own nationality. On their own soil, they will do more to raise their communities out of poverty than anything we can do with any financial dole.

As a Bishop, I had to deal for many years with the balance between church and state on this last issue. If we truly believe in "honoring, obeying, and sustaining the laws of the land," how does one reconcile the harboring of illegal aliens by offering Church assistance because they are destitute on our soil? I was troubled enough about this at one point to seek guidance from Church leaders through our Stake President to Elder Wells, who was in the area presidency at the time. Elder Wells provided us with excellent counsel which was inspired and specific to that time and place. It was not general counsel because the same solutions would not work in every other situation on this planet.

Many years ago, while serving as a missionary in California, I had occasion to meet someone who was a part of the State Department. He was an emissary to Mexico and had occasion to ask a Mexican consulate what we could do to help his country. After pondering for a few moments, and aware that the inquiry was being advanced by a member of the U.S. State department who was a Mormon, the Mexican consul diplomatically replied; "Send us more of your young Mormon Missionaries. They come to our country and, without taking from our economy or becoming directly embroiled in our politics, they leave our people better able to care for themselves." Isn't that what we can do to most help brothers and sisters in the third world?

Sincerely,
Chip Southerland
Miami, Florida

There is considerable evidence that the first world standard of living structurally depends on the maintenance of a cheap labour and production force in third world communities. Maintaining such cheap labour is difficult and often requires draconian economic and political measures.

If we who are more affluent are structurally advantaged by the disadvantage of the third world, what is our responsibility to them? Could it go beyond charity, potentially to accountability? In addition to sponsoring church or non-church aid efforts, we could help change the underlying structural disadvantages by using our buying power to visibly support ethical companies who will not unfairly exploit third world economics.

There will be those who argue that undifferentiated Western investment in the third world helps those people to increase their quality of life. Historical evidence suggests that a small proportion of these communities benefit greatly, while the wider population sinks deeper into structural debt and poverty. The cycles of corruption and poverty in the third world will only be broken when a critical mass of people and corporations adhere to gospel principles. We can hasten this day by applying gospel principles more deeply in our purchasing decisions. Some goods cost a great deal more in human terms than their price tag suggests.

Craig Perritt
Gerringong, Australia

I have heard that a group of BYU students is going to Honduras to set up a series of banks to issue "micro-loans" [$50 loans that are enough to give the members some kind of start in business]. The son of a member of our ward is involved. He was a missionary in the Dominican Republic. Since then, he has done work in Peru designed to improve the economic conditions in third world countries. My understanding is that the payback on the loans is very high, which reinforces the principle of self-reliance and makes it an economically sound plan. I don't know anything else about it, but perhaps those who have easy access to BYU can investigate this micro-loan approach and report back the details.

Mark Kintz

Editors' Note: One of the authors of the excerpt we published is Warner Woodworth, a professor of Organizational Behavior at BYU. He and 50 BYU students have started a project called HELP Honduras. Todd Manwaring, President of Humanitarian Link, which is the sponsoring organization for HELP Honduras, says the project is raising over $100,000 to send people to Honduras this summer to set up multiple microcredit banks in the communities impacted by Hurricane Mitch. You can contact the HELP Honduras Project at info@HELP-Honduras.org or at Manwaring@msn.com or by phoning (801) 361-9810.

Microcredit is a method for providing small loans ($50-200) to people in the Third World which get paid back and are recycled into a perpetual microloan fund. The payback rates on microcredit loans often run above 95%. BYU sponsors an annual microcredit conference (the last occurred in March 1999) and is starting a journal on microcredit called The Journal of Microfinance: Practitioner and Development Perspectives. You can obtain more information about BYU's involvement in the microcredit movement from Gary Wooler, Professor of Public Management: gary_woller@byu.edu or (801) 378- 5956.

Additional information about microcredit can be located at the following web sites: www.microcreditsummit.org, www.grameen-info.org or www.villagebanking.org.

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Notes

1. The commandments to not make graven images (a major business activity in ancient times and a commandment which modern prophets have interpreted to include worship of money and financial success--see Spencer W. Kimball's "The False Gods We Worship," Ensign 6 [June 1976]:3-6), to not work on the sabbath day, to not kill (getting gain being a primary motivation for murder since the earliest times--see Moses 5:31), to honor our parents (which includes financial support if necessary), to not steal, to not bear false witness (which includes being honest in business dealings), and to not covet our neighbor's property.

2. Dean D. McBrien, "The Economic Content of Early Mormon Doctrine," Southwestern Political and Social Science Quarterly (September 1925): 180. While this book focuses on its economic aspects, the law of consecration involves the devotion of time, talents, and heart as well as property. See chapter 10. The economic aspects are, however, as important as these others (Luke 18:25),

3. Kent W. Huff, Joseph Smith's United Order: A Non-Communalistic Interpretation (Orem, Utah: Cedar Fort, 1988), 12.

 

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