Mormons, Muslims work together to help refugees

Rasa - An LDS Church leader reaffirmed the faith’s commitment to working with religious groups and other agencies to provide humanitarian aid and help refugees around the world in a meeting at the United Nations Thursday.

News ID: 428908

Date: 14 April 2017 - 23:46

RNA - An LDS Church leader reaffirmed the faith’s commitment to working with religious groups and other agencies to provide humanitarian aid and help refugees around the world in a meeting at the United Nations Thursday.

Sister Jean B. Bingham, the church’s new Relief Society general president, said faith-based organizations need to build bridges, understand each other’s work and cooperate more.

"While beliefs may vary, we are united with other faiths in our commitment to a higher cause that transcends our personal interests and motivates us to give of our substance, our time and our energies on behalf of our fellow men and women,” she said during a panel discussion.

LDS Charities organized the event that brought together Islamic Relief USA, Episcopal Migration Ministries, UNICEF, the State Department and a resettled Afghani refugee as part of the U.N.'s Focus on Faith series. The discussion centered on the role of religious organizations in refugee assistance and resettlement. About 700 people attended.

Left on its own, Sister Bingham said, LDS Charities, the worldwide humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, would have limited impact.

“When we reach out to other faith-based organizations, there is a certain affinity — a shared language, a common motivation — that allows our resources to complement each other. Our common purpose lends power to our work,” she said.

Anwar Khan, CEO of Islamic Relief USA, said people are surprised to learn that LDS Charities was his organization's first interfaith partner.

"It’s not what people expect. That's cool. We get to change the way that people think," he said.

The cooperation between the Muslim and Mormon relief groups started when they worked together to aid Somali refugees fleeing to Kenya in 2011.

"They don’t need to work with us. They can do it themselves. But we together can do it better," said Khan, who was born in Pakistan and grew up in England.

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