2019 Light the World Effort Focuses on Serving Others as Jesus Did—One by One

Contributed By Camille West, News.ChurchofJesusChrist.org

  • 14 November 2019

“The Christ Child,” the Church’s newest video of the Nativity story, helps you experience and share the events of the Savior’s birth through the eyes of firsthand witnesses.

“Light the World presents marvelous opportunities to invite friends and neighbors to church and to your homes to learn with you about the Savior.” —Dieter F. Uchtdorf

To help light the world this Christmas season, the Church is encouraging people to every day think of someone they can help or invite and minister to them as the Savior did, one by one.

The 2019 Light the World: One by One effort officially kicks off December 1. To help you prepare to participate, several resources and opportunities will be made available throughout November, including:

  • A LighttheWorld.org website, which includes a way to sign up to receive daily service prompts.
  • A new inspirational video called “The Christ Child.”
  • A return of the popular vending-machine-like Giving Machines.
  • Missionary opportunities, including inviting friends to participate in #LighttheWorld and attend a special Christ-centered Sunday Service on December 22.

This video shows highlights of the 2019 #LighttheWorld effort, which includes ways people can change lives through sharing their faith, love, care, and service.

LighttheWorld.org

Beginning November 14, visit LighttheWorld.org, and sign up to receive daily service prompts via text messages or emails beginning December 1.

The website LighttheWorld.org, which launches November 14, is where you can:

  • Learn more about Giving Machine locations and charity partners.
  • Download shareable images and videos.
  • Download and print a 25-day service calendar.
  • Sign up to receive daily service prompts via text messages or emails beginning December 1 (for North America only).

According to Tom Pratt, who oversees Light the World, the daily prompts help you think about a person you can help that day.

“These prompts are to help you focus not on how can I help, but who can I help,” he said. Suggestions are as simple as “Eat lunch with someone new,” “Assist an elderly person,” and “Share a note of encouragement.”

“Of course, people can always seek inspiration for the best way to reach out to an individual,” he said.

“The Christ Child” Video

Watch the Church’s new Nativity video, “The Christ Child,” a “compelling, personal, and engaging” version of the Nativity story that helps you experience and share the events of the Savior’s birth through the eyes of firsthand witnesses.

The Church’s new Nativity video, “The Christ Child,” will be available to watch, download, and share with family and friends of other faiths beginning November 24 on LighttheWorld.org. The 18-minute video is a “compelling, personal, and engaging” version of the Nativity story that helps you experience and share the events of the Savior’s birth through the eyes of firsthand witnesses, Pratt said. “This was a real event that happened to real people.”

The Legacy Theater in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building at Temple Square will show “The Christ Child” from November 24 and throughout December, and it will also be available on Gospel Media, the Gospel Library app, and YouTube.

Giving Machines

Giving Machines in 10 locations this year make it easy to purchase and donate items such as clothing, eyeglasses, medicine, hygiene supplies, wheelchairs, sporting equipment, and even livestock, which are automatically donated to global charities.

This year the Church has doubled the number of locations of the red, vending-machine-like Giving Machines, from 5 to 10.

Giving Machines make it easy to purchase and donate items ranging in price from $2 to $320, such as clothing, eyeglasses, medicine, hygiene supplies, wheelchairs, sporting equipment, and even livestock. Items are automatically donated to global charities such as UNICEF, Church World Service, WaterAid, Water For People, and, in London, International Medical Corp., as well as local charities.

Elder Brent H. Nielson, a General Authority Seventy, said, “This unique way to give not only blesses the life of the giver but also lifts the receiver in locations all around the world.”

Last year, Giving Machines in five locations collected more than $2 million in donations in 38 days. (See related story.)

“These Giving Machines are an example of the big things that can happen when many people give just a little,” said Bonnie H. Cordon, Young Women General President. “That is what it means to light the world one by one—when we each give what we can offer, our little light adds to a brightness of hope.”

One hundred percent of the contribution goes to the organization, and the Church covers the credit card fees, said Pratt.

This year you can find multiple machines until New Year’s Day in the following locations:

  • Manila, Philippines—November 8 (TriNoma Mall)
  • Las Vegas, Nevada—November 14 (Downtown Summerlin)
  • Laie, Oahu, Hawaii—November 20 (Polynesian Cultural Center)
  • Gilbert, Arizona—November 20 (Water Tower Plaza)
  • Salt Lake City, Utah—November 26 (Joseph Smith Memorial Building)
  • Orem, Utah—November 26 (University Place Mall)
  • Denver, Colorado—November 26 (Writer Square)
  • San Jose, California—November 29 (Christmas in the Park)
  • New York, New York—December 3 (Manhattan New York Temple)
  • London, England—December 3 (Hyde Park Visitors’ Center)

Don’t Live Near a Giving Machine?

If you don’t live in a location with a Giving Machine, visit LighttheWorld.org beginning November 14 to see which charities are involved near you, learn how you can donate directly, or find other service suggestions through a link to JustServe.org.

Missionary Opportunities

Members are encouraged to invite friends and acquaintances not of our faith to come and worship with us at a special Sabbath-day, Christ-centered, and visitor-friendly sacrament meeting on December 22.

The Light the World initiative provides opportunities for members to invite friends to come and see Church activities such as choirs, social gathers, seasonal events, and Sabbath worship services, and come and help by participating in #LighttheWorld.

Speaking of this year’s Light the World efforts, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “Light the World presents marvelous opportunities to invite friends and neighbors to church and to your homes to learn with you about the Savior. In whatever ways seem natural and normal to you, share with people why Jesus Christ and His Church are important to you. Share with them the suggested ways in which they might serve others one by one. Invite them to come and help. God will do His saving work, and they will come and stay” (“Your Christmas Mission: Light the World One by One,” Ensign or Liahona, Dec. 2019, 58).

Special Sunday Service

Wards and branches throughout the Church have been asked to hold a special Sabbath-day, Christ-centered, and visitor-friendly sacrament meeting on December 22. Members are encouraged to invite friends and acquaintances not of our faith to come and worship with us that day.

Throughout December, the Church will share a series of social media videos and posts that invite people to “take an hour” to attend a Christmas worship service on December 22, to “come and worship” and “come and stay.” A link will be provided so interested parties may find a meetinghouse and service near them.

Invite others to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, by attending a nearby Christmas worship service of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday, December 22.

 

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