The church has been painfully aware of its negative publicity, especially in the 1800's. That has resulted in trying to put the church in a positive light publicly whenever possible.
Here is our new mission president, President Erickson meeting with the mayor of Lusaka after a joint public service event.
Below is the the logo that the church has now adopted world wide when its volunteers are out helping. If you had looked closely, they have always been present and often first with relief for disasters around the world. Now we are just a bit more visible than before.
Often the service projects are with disasters on a major scale with major funding, but locally each Ward or unit is encouraged to help where needed in their local community.
These are some of the Lusaka Branch members who were helping to renovate the Manda Hill Police station. I took this photo before they started working and were still very clean.
I hate to sound too negative but there is very little money directed at the police and they are lacking in equipment and money for upkeep. This Police Post is next to one of the nicest shopping complexes in town. It was pointed out how poorly it was equipped when an inmate broke through the ceiling and escaped.
Do you think the paint donor got his money's worth?
Here are the branch members when I yelled through the window, "Hey, they finally got all the Mormons in jail". They had shocked looks on their faces at first then really cracked up.
This is Elder Bruce Louthan, a senior missionary who is serving here with his wife and concentrating on finding these kind of projects.
Here are some church members working on the surrounding grounds to spruce that up a bit too.
Zambia is a large country in square miles but relatively small in population so every thing on the news is national news. That is Pres. Lumbama, the District President, on the left side of the Lusaka police chief. He was very surprised at the number of people who told him they had seen him on television.
As a newspaper guy, I can tell you that page three is not a bad place to be.
There is something about giving service to others that brings the biggest benefits to the giver.
I suppose it is all about forgetting your own troubles and realizing that there are others who have tougher issues to deal with than you do. Jesus Christ is the perfect example.
