At a luncheon meeting in Apia on Friday, members of Samoa’s National Council of Churches (NCC) welcomed as a special guest Elder O. Vincent Haleck, Pacific Area President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Chairman of the NCC, Catholic Reverend Kasiano Le’aupepe, introduced Elder Haleck, thanked him for coming, and expressed great appreciation to him and Elder Meliula Fata, a local leader of the Church and a member of the NCC, for the many humanitarian projects in Samoa contributed to by LDS Charities, a philanthropic arm of the Church.
Deacon Le’aupepe talked about the water tanks, hundreds of wheelchairs, and education and health materials and services that have been donated by LDS Charities. He also thanked the Church for the work they did to refurbish the meeting room making it a lovely place for the council to meet.
He said, “We appreciate that you have been happy to do all these things to help Samoa and to help Samoans become self-sufficient. As your church gives, we expect other churches to also reach out to help all people, regardless of their religion.”
Elder Haleck thanked the chairman and expressed his support to the council and their work. He discussed a status report of projects finished and other projects in process. He talked about the desire of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to continue to help Samoans become self-sufficient with all the resources they have at hand.
Reverend Ma’auga Motu and other council members also acknowledged and thanked Elder Haleck and Elder Fata.