Refugees

December 20, 2023 07:00 AM MST
In the final months of 1938, the shadow of war was spreading across Europe. Meanwhile, a twenty-nine-year-old Nicholas Winton was preparing for a ski vacation in Switzerland, until his plans drastically changed.
6 Min Read
September 28, 2022 09:42 AM MDT
Take a look back at the last six months of news, projects, and messages from Church leaders since last general conference.
1 Min Read
August 09, 2022 10:18 AM MDT
This week’s issue of People magazine includes a heartwarming story of one family truly exemplifying the Savior’s admonition to “love one another.”
1 Min Read
From the earliest hours of the crisis, the Church—through its members and humanitarian partnerships—has been actively involved in the relief efforts for refugees in Europe.
16 Min Read
May 19, 2022 09:57 AM MDT
Here are five stories that show some of the sweetest insights into President M. Russell Ballard’s life, testimony, and ministry.
5 Min Read
By  YA Weekly
April 29, 2022 01:53 PM MDT
Latter-day Saint Anastasia gave birth to a baby boy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Two days later she and her newborn son were rushed out of the hospital to flee from a city under attack.
1 Min Read
April 29, 2022 08:15 AM MDT
For many Latter-day Saints, leaving Ukraine meant bidding farewell to loved ones remaining behind and beginning a very foreign journey with an unknown future.
1 Min Read
April 11, 2022 11:43 AM MDT
Ukrainian Latter-day Saints taking refuge in Poland have suffered greatly, but their lives were made a little brighter after a visit and special message from Elder and Sister Uchtdorf.
1 Min Read
April 01, 2022 12:23 PM MDT
Romanian Ambassador visited the First Presidency to speak in part about Church response to the refugee crisis in Eastern Europe.
1 Min Read
March 31, 2022 01:56 PM MDT
"Though the conditions are dire, we are not helpless. Our connection to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can heal our wounds, our hearts, and the world," Elder Uchtdorf said.
1 Min Read
March 23, 2022 10:01 AM MDT
“I worked with refugees for years, but I never thought I’d be one.”
4 Min Read
The Church’s donations to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Program will help those displaced by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
1 Min Read
March 07, 2022 10:45 AM MST
“What we really care about is helping people spiritually, emotionally and physically recover and build their societies back.”
1 Min Read
November 01, 2021 02:00 PM MDT
When a fire destroyed 188 tents earlier this year, Latter-day Saint Charities helped provide the resources to build more permanent concrete structures to replace the lost homes. Read more:
1 Min Read
By  LDS Living
August 21, 2019 11:48 AM MDT
Hakim Kambere wasn't there when his aunt, Anifah Barobi, collapsed, overwhelmed by their beautiful new home in Ogden, Utah.
1 Min Read
May 16, 2019 01:22 PM MDT
For the third year in a row, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is providing a grant to the nine national refugee resettlement agencies in the United States. Representatives of Latter-day Saint Charities, the humanitarian organization of the Church, were on the East Coast this week to hold discussions and deliver a $4 million grant, which includes $1.2 million in cash and $2.8 million in commodities.
3 Min Read
December 08, 2018 04:00 PM MST
Leonard Bagalwa watched as the rebel officers who had captured him and forced him to train as a child soldier walked away to drink at a shop. With his captors’ backs turned, he heard a voice in his mind repeat, “You need to run.”
1 Min Read
Addressing an audience at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, England, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called on non-governmental organisations (NGOs), governments and faith groups to refocus their efforts in responding to the personal and family crises suffered by refugees and internally displaced people.
4 Min Read
June 05, 2018 12:30 PM MDT
On June 7–9, a group of refugees from Myanmar's Karen and Karenni tribes will reenact moments from the Book of Mormon in "Mormon Speaks." With no Church materials translated into their native language, the experience of creating this production has shaped their faith and understanding of God's power and love.
1 Min Read
April 26, 2018 04:10 PM MDT
“We get to teach people, and they get to teach us,” Mormon missionary William Valadez says about his work teaching refugees English. “They love to teach us Nepali.”
1 Min Read
February 03, 2018 02:36 PM MST
Following are the incredible stories of Justin Bisimwa, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Collins family, a family of 15 in San Diego, California, who have now teamed up to create a non-profit organization called New Neighbor Relief that helps refugees in San Diego become self-reliant.
11 Min Read
December 11, 2017 10:00 PM MST
What incredible stories from the life of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that show how, through all of his challenges and missions as a pilot, the Lord had been preparing him for the greatest mission of all. The following was originally written by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and posted on lds.org, but this story written in President Uchtdorf's own words can also be found in his new book, The Gospel at 30,000 Feet, available in Deseret Book stores and on deseretbook.com.
2 Min Read
December 07, 2017 08:13 PM MST
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently donated $5 million in an effort to help aid refugees in the U.S.
1 Min Read
November 14, 2017 01:23 PM MST
“I cannot remember a time when there was no war,” George Ngunza says. “My earliest memories are of the fighting that ravaged my village." In fact, when Ngunza was just 14 years old, militiamen wielding machetes attacked Ngunza’s family in the middle of the night, killing his father, mother, and two brothers and leaving him for dead.
1 Min Read
September 26, 2017 06:47 PM MDT
Service opportunities rarely come at convenient moments in our lives, but this story shows the power of following a prompting to serve, even when it's difficult.
1 Min Read
August 05, 2017 04:00 PM MDT
When Liz Shropshire saw a round-trip airline ticket to Brussels, Belgium, for $135, she had no way of knowing that in a few months she would be witnessing first-hand the unthinkable results of mass slaughter while sleeping on the hard floor of a former brick factory, now a displacement camp. She had no way of knowing that maybe this was a way God provided for her to discover her calling in life.
9 Min Read
May 25, 2017 03:54 PM MDT
"Their needs are so great," said Sister Herway. "They literally have nothing. They have left it all behind in reaching for a better life. Their gratitude for the smallest kindnesses shown them is wonderful. I wish everyone could have this experience. Their worlds will never be the same."
1 Min Read
May 18, 2017 05:51 PM MDT
Bolaji Oyebanji Adepoju is not like most missionaries. Before he left for his mission in Italy, Adepoju survived a shooting attack in his own home and a miraculous rescue at sea. Read more about his amazing story below.
1 Min Read
By  LDS Living
May 17, 2017 08:12 PM MDT
In his recent Facebook post, President Uchtdorf shares that he is impressed by the kindness LDS Saints have shown to refugees fleeing war-torn countries and includes a powerful video we all should see.
1 Min Read
May 03, 2017 01:11 PM MDT
From the British Parliament's changing view of the LDS Church to her thoughts on Elder Holland after hosting his family, Baroness Nicholson had quite a bit to share about the LDS Church and her work with its members.
1 Min Read
By  LDS Living
April 25, 2017 03:51 PM MDT
Since the "I Was a Stranger" movement began, many have wondered how they can assist refugees around the world.
1 Min Read
April 17, 2017 05:18 PM MDT
Though he has undergone 60 chemotherapy treatments in the past decade, Don Ward continues to assist refugees and serve them in any way he can.
1 Min Read
April 11, 2017 12:10 PM MDT
"It's just been natural for me my whole life to bring people in, to love them, to let them know that they are cared about. Everybody needs to know they're loved and they're worth loving," Lisa Campbell says.
1 Min Read
March 27, 2017 05:00 PM MDT
"I've always thought if the women of the church all wanted the same thing, step back," said Sharon Eubank, the director of humanitarian services at LDS Charities. "I've really felt that before, and this was an opportunity for that to happen."
1 Min Read
March 21, 2017 12:02 PM MDT
Over the past year, Church members have banded together under a common cause: to aid refugees as the refugee crisis grows worldwide.
1 Min Read
February 02, 2017 07:18 PM MST
CNN recently featured the LDS Church's efforts to help refugees around the world while sharing an interesting part in the Church's history many might not know about.
1 Min Read
February 02, 2017 06:01 PM MST
It's so encouraging to see Latter-day Saints rising up to the Church's call to help refugees around the world.
1 Min Read
February 01, 2017 02:10 PM MST
"When we came to America as refugees, in 1986, the very first people who embraced us were Latter-day Saints who were open-minded and open-hearted. We were from a terrorist country then, but the church didn't care," Iranian Mehrsa Baradaran says. "I understand that America took a risk on us. I was that little Muslim kid from a terrorist country 'yearning to breathe free,' and you took me in."
1 Min Read
By  LDS Living
January 30, 2017 07:12 PM MST
The LDS trio Firefly and The Voice finalist Belle Lyon joined together to help raise awareness for refugees with their cover of Tim McGraw's "Humble and Kind."
1 Min Read
January 30, 2017 02:13 PM MST
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf was a refugee twice in his life, once as a 4-year-old boy fleeing Czechoslovakia with his family during World War II and later as an 11-year-old escaping from East Germany with his family after the turmoil following the war.
2 Min Read
In response to recent media inquiries, the Church released the following statement regarding refugees:
1 Min Read
January 27, 2017 03:43 PM MST
What an inspiring story of how one Latter-day Saint saw a need and decided to make a difference.
1 Min Read
January 19, 2017 03:53 PM MST
"What brings hope is that once the priesthood is there, once the Lord has his hand blessing the people, it won't take long for good things to happen," Jorge Mena says about the Church in Cuba.
1 Min Read
Fun
By  LDS Living
December 02, 2016 06:42 PM MST
While taking part in two viral hashtags, Boy Scout Troop 1262—which is made up of young refugees and led by former refugee Saborn Va—helped #LIGHTtheWORLD while doing the mannequin challenge on Temple Square this Christmas season. Check out their fun video below:
1 Min Read
December 01, 2016 08:26 PM MST
"We must be careful that news of the refugees’ plight does not somehow become commonplace when the initial shock wears off and yet the wars continue and the families keep coming," Elder Patrick Kearon said in his April 2016 general conference address. "Millions of refugees worldwide, whose stories no longer make the news, are still in desperate need of help."
1 Min Read
November 19, 2016 04:00 PM MST
On October 27, 1838, Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued an extermination order forcing thousands of Latter-day Saints to leave Missouri by March 8, 1839, or be killed. But where could they go?
8 Min Read
Fun
November 18, 2016 01:35 PM MST
It's the most wonderful time of the year: the time when the Primary children take over sacrament meeting and delight us with their enthusiastic singing, bright testimonies, and their adorable and unexpected mannerisms.
1 Min Read
November 04, 2016 02:33 PM MDT
Bishop Dean Davies, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, recently visited an international refugee resettlement agency in Washington, D.C., and pledged $200,000, according to Times of Israel.
1 Min Read
November 01, 2016 08:04 PM MDT
"Always remember that wherever we are, the gospel is home. It doesn't matter where we are, the gospel is home," President Uchtdorf shared with a group of refugees.
1 Min Read
October 28, 2016 04:21 PM MDT
"To me, it feels like I have been led here by the hand of God,” former refugee Saborn Va shares, talking about his remarkable journey to the Church and the United States.
1 Min Read
October 19, 2016 05:39 PM MDT
"Seeing how the LDS [humanitarian] model is designed and delivers consistently is exciting," said Staci Coomer of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services. "They do it thoughtfully and well, and it's amazing to see in action. We know the LDS will be a great partner."
1 Min Read