A global initiative to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and encourage people to serve others during the Christmas season is being launched by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The “Light the World” Christmas initiative will reach worldwide audiences from Friday, November 25, through January 1.
The initiative focuses on celebrating and sharing the light of Jesus Christ, the “light of the world” (John 8:12). “As we follow the example of the Savior and live as He lived and as He taught, that light will burn within us and will light the way for others,” said President Thomas S. Monson in a general conference address in October 2015.
Sharable online content is available at www.mormon.org beginning November 25, including a video that invites the public to perform acts of service following Christ’s example during the Christmas season. The service effort kicks off Thursday, December 1, with a Worldwide Day of Service.
A playable/downloadable version of the main video is also available on the Church’s Gospel Library app. In addition, 25 short videos offering daily ideas for service can be shared on social media during the initiative. These short videos will be available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. For other European languages, Christmas memes will be made available.
The shareable content is being posted on the social media pages associated with the site mormon.org. Those on social media are encouraged to share their experiences by using the hashtag #LIGHTtheWORLD, or the local translation.
The website, available in English, Spanish and Portuguese, features a downloadable advent calendar, “In 25 Ways. Over 25 Days.” A web landing page is provided for 26 other languages. The calendar provides daily ideas for planning service opportunities in December leading up to Christmas Day.
In addition, the initiative is offered via internet sites, displays in English and Spanish speaking Church visitors centres worldwide, member and missionary tools and outdoor advertising, including billboards in New York City’s Times Square; Salt Lake City; Los Angeles; Johannesburg, South Africa; Philippines; and Mexico.
The main video was produced in 33 languages - Albanian, Armenian, Cebuano, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Fijian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Tongan and Ukrainian.
The Church’s Missionary Department has been sponsoring Christmas and Easter initiatives for the past several years to reach broader audiences with the Church’s message that Jesus Christ was born, lived, died and was resurrected to save all mankind.
Last December, the “A Savior Is Born” Christmas initiative reached millions of people around the world. The video had more than 50 million views. Millions were also reached last spring with the “Follow Him” Easter initiative.