BENIN CITY- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will embark on environmental Sanitation and selfless services to the community to mark the All Africa Service Project on Saturday.
The activity which will include repairs of failed portions of roads, clearing and cleaning of blocked drains repair and painting of public places and buildings will be held simultaneously in all countries where the church is located across Africa.
In a press conference yesterday in Benin City, the Director of Public Communications, Benin City Coordination Council, Austin Akoma-Mordi disclosed that the All Africa Service Project(AASP) began in 2006 with the aim of serving the community and encouraging the public to imbibe the traditions and habits of environmental cleanliness and also encourage the spirit of sacrifice.
“The AASP is a three hour event running from 7.00 am to 10.00 and it takes place on the third August every year. In Benin City, members of the church, also called Latter-day Saints, would converge in eight active religious jurisdictions known as “Stakes” to execute some select projects that would be beneficial to the immediate communities.
“These stakes includes Ihogbe stake, Ikpokpan stake, New Benin stake and Oregbeni state. Others are Sakponba, Siluko, Ugbowo and Uzebu stakes. And outside Benin City, there are also the Ekpoma, Asaba, Warri and Ekete stakes with smaller gatherings called districts in Agbor, Ogwashi Uku and Nsukwa” he noted.
According to him, together, it is estimated that this labour of love of the Latter-Day Saints in these units will positively affect over 50,000 members of the public and as part of tranfering the blessings of this wonderful gesture to benefitting communities, the church encourages partnerships with them.
He said several bodies, including local governments have graciously supported the project in the past as partners providing things like lorries to evacuate wastes, working implements, supply of paints and brushes and manual labour, adding that this year the story is the same as some organizations and groups have voluntarily accepted to partner with some stakes in this venture.
“Like the name implies, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints belongs to our Saviour Jesus Christ. He is the founder and the owner. During His mortal ministry, the Saviour asked all his followers to do the things that they had seen Him do- For He went about doing good (Act 10:38) This is our task” he added.
In his remarks, Mission President Barr. Declan Madu in response to a question said the final charge of Jesus Christ to the disciples was that they should go into the world and preach the gospel and that is what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints is doing, telling people to consider their relationship with God.
