LDS Humanitarian Services

Ike Ferguson started the Humanitarian department in the LDS Church and worked there for 33 years. In the early days of the program, the Church wasn’t planning on having a permanent humanitarian program, it was only a temporary operation. Ike went to a meeting with the leaders of the LDS Church where they discusses the need for justification in order to keep the humanitarian project in the church. Ike took the challenge and found the quote by Joseph Smith.

Part of the humanitarian department is the clothing center. Clothing is donated to the Church via Deseret Industries and is either sold to local DI’s or sent to the humanitarian center to be sorted and sold to people all over the world. The sorters are typically immigrants and refugees that need employment. The LDS church gives them a job and the center sorting, packaging and shipping the clothing, giving them learning experiences and skills for future jobs. The Church also provides ESL classes for each employee so they can learn English. They want these people to learn the skills necessary to go out and get jobs in America and to be self reliant.

Ike Ferguson is primarily responsible for creating and carrying out LDS humanitarian projects including clean water projects throughout the entire world, refugee camps, neonatal resuscitation projects, eye care and clinics, wheel chairs, immunizations and disaster relief projects. He writes all the programs, he goes to these countries and trains the natives and then he follows up on them afterwards and even after his retirement he still goes to Africa and India and helps new employees write the projects.

Because of the humanitarian work in Europe and Africa people began to see what the church does and began to open the door to LDS missionaries. The Church believes they need to take care of people physically before they can take care of them spiritually.