This is a fantastic article about a village in Papua New Guinea that went from relying on food supplies from the Church to becoming self-reliant.
Marion G. Romney (1897–1988), a member of the First Presidency, once said, ”Many programs have been set up by well-meaning individuals to aid those in need. However, many of those programs are designed with the short-sighted objective of ‘helping people’ as opposed to ‘helping people help themselves’“ (“The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance,”Ensign, June 1984, 3).
This story is a wonderful example of the inspired humanitarian program of the Church of helping people to be self-reliant. However, it does require the individuals involved to be committed and be prepared to do the hard work if they want the rewards.
There is a common saying about effective humanitarian aid: ”If you give a man a fish he lives for a day, but if you teach him how to fish he lives forever.“
This was an awesome article on becoming self-reliant. My husband and I are serving in the Inner City Mission Project and this is what we are trying to do with the families we serve.
Just a quick note; the Inner City Mission needs more couple missionaries to serve part time. It is a challenging but very rewarding mission.