117. Faith in Action — Fiona Givens and Britta Ellwanger

Faith Matters

Faith Matters Foundation

Christianity, Ethics, Latter-day Saint, The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, Mormon, Mormonism, Morality, Lds, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2022

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Joseph Smith taught that faith is a “principle of action.” Although the world is full of crises and challenges, as Latter-day Saints, we are called to care for those in need with love and courage.

In this week’s episode, Fiona Givens and Britta Ellwanger share stories from their recent efforts to put their faith into action. When Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, Fiona felt an inspired pull on her heart to help this situation however she could. That led her to catalyzing prayer and relief efforts in her ward and beyond, and then, in the last two weeks, journeying to Ukraine to join Britta and deliver humanitarian aid directly to those who need it.

Fiona Givens is the author of several books, including All Things New which was published by Faith Matters last year and The God Who Weeps, both co-authored with her husband Terryl.

Britta Ellwanger has been living, working, and investing in Ukraine for ten years. Britta’s organization, forPEACE, focuses on the frontline needs of this war because it is the first piece in the domino effect that leads to the refugee crisis.

Britta’s written an article on Faith Matters’ website that gives a really up-to-date synopsis about the situation on the ground, and gives actionable ways to help the effort on the front lines. You can find that article, and our other published material on the war in Ukraine, at faithmatters.org/ukraine.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, this is Patrick Mason.
0:03.6	Last year's Restore Gathering was one of the highlights of my year, and this year's
0:07.4	gathering is going to be even bigger and better.
0:10.2	In addition to the fantastic lineup of speakers, there will be amazing art, and we promise
0:14.8	the music will be better than your word choir.
0:17.6	So come join us at Restore on October 13th and 14th at the Mountain America Expo Center
0:22.0	in Sandy, Utah.
0:23.6	For tickets, go to faithmatters.org slash restore, and see you there.
0:28.8	Hey everybody, this is Aubrey Chavez from Faith Matters.
0:31.4	For today's conversation, we spoke with Fiona Gibbons and Brita Elvonger about a remarkable
0:35.1	journey to Ukraine that they just returned from.
0:37.5	When Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, Fiona felt an inspired pull on her heart to
0:41.1	help the situation however she could.
0:43.4	That led to an inspired series of events that took her to Brita, and in the last two weeks
0:46.7	to Poland, and then into Ukraine itself, traveling with Brita and helping to get humanitarian
0:51.2	aid to the end of the road as the crisis deepens in Ukraine.
0:54.1	We'll let Fiona and Brita tell more of the story, but they were also kind enough to explore
0:57.7	with us the implications that our faith and our covenants might have when it comes to our
1:01.1	engagement in humanitarian crises or other large-scale issues.
1:04.9	We also talk about how we can help when it seems like so many things are going wrong all
1:08.4	at once.
1:09.4	Many of you know Fiona and her work well, but for those who are hearing her for the first
	...

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