Amid the boiling national debate about how best to care for displaced populations, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints posted a YouTube video this week featuring its most famous refugee: Dieter Uchtdorf.
In it, the popular apostle describes the challenges he twice faced as a refugee — first, leaving what was then Czechoslovakia, where he was born, and again when fleeing then-East Germany to West Germany.
“As a child, I remember playing in the bombed craters of a city ravaged by war,” the 84-year-old Uchtdorf says, “and wearing worn and ill-fitting clothes that others perhaps considered as not especially fashionable.”
His peers “sometimes ridiculed me,” he says, “because of my accent and made fun of me because I didn’t fit in.”
The church leader — whose family converted to Mormonism when they lived in Germany — became mesmerized by planes and air travel and dreamed one day he would be an aviator, a fantasy that seemed out of reach. To accomplish it, he would have to learn English (“a language my tongue,” he said, “somehow was not designed to speak”) and work hard at his studies.
With grit and determination, the ebullient Uchtdorf eventually stepped into the cockpit and later worked as an airline executive.
“I can understand the hardship many of you are enduring,” he says in the video, flanked by images of sleek airplanes. “But I knew if I pressed on, if I gave it my all, the Lord would help me. I learned of the reality of the scriptural promises: ‘If God be for us, what can be against us?’ and ‘For with God nothing is impossible.’”
Uchtdorf has detailed his refugee experiences before, but this recent video — titled “Is There Any Hope Left in the World?” and carrying the headline “I Was a Refugee” — came at a particularly poignant moment.
‘I Was a Stranger’
For years, Latter-day Saints have been ardent advocates and activists on behalf of the world’s refugees.
In 2015, the church’s governing First Presidency sent a letter encouraging members to provide assistance. A year later, the faith enlisted women of all ages to join its “I Was a Stranger” campaign to help with refugee relief.
At the time, as millions of Syrians and other asylum seekers were flooding into Europe, future apostle Patrick Kearon was assigned to oversee the Utah-based faith’s refugee effort, joining forces with 75 organizations in 17 countries.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Then-member of the Seventy Patrick Kearon, left, with apostle Dieter Uchtdorf in Germany in 2017.
The effort was grueling, the charismatic British leader told a spellbound General Conference audience in 2016 — but rewarding.
“Seasoned members who have given years of service and leadership attest to the fact that ministering to these people so immediately in need,” Kearon said, “has provided the richest, most fulfilling experience in their service so far.”
It is, he said, what Christ would do.
In response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the church again jumped in to help, providing nearly $17 million in aid, including tons of food to help those fleeing the conflict.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Apostle Dieter F. Uchtdorf met in 2022 with Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw, Poland.
Two months after the war began, Uchtdorf met with Ukrainian refugees in Poland, urging them to keep their hope centered on the Savior.
“He will make things right in the end, as he always does,” the apostle said. “Maybe not in our own time schedule. But certainly in his time schedule.”
The church leader also saluted the refugees as examples to the world “for goodness, for determination to follow the path of liberty and freedom, and to stand up for what is right.”
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A hero’s welcome
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks at the National Governors Association’s meeting in Salt Lake City in July 2024.
Last July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to Salt Lake City for a meeting of the National Governors Association. He addressed a packed ballroom at the Grand America Hotel, including Gov. Spencer Cox and many key Utah politicos, philanthropists and professionals. Upon stepping up to speak, the wartime leader received a sustained standing ovation.
Zelenskyy later had a private exchange with a Latter-day Saint delegation led by apostle Quentin L. Cook. “They discussed the church’s presence in Ukraine [which includes a temple],” said a church spokesperson, “and humanitarian assistance throughout the region.”
For his part, the Ukrainian leader welcomed his audience with church representatives and the chance to share his country’s plight.
(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office) Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska, middle right, meet with leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City in July 2024. At middle left is apostle Quentin L. Cook.
“I spoke about the spiritual toll that Russian terror has had on Ukraine and Ukrainians, specifically the 170 ruined and hundreds of damaged religious organizations,” Zelenskyy wrote later on X, formerly called Twitter. “I was pleased to learn from [Cook] that [the church] has been conducting its humanitarian activities in Ukraine since 1994.”
He expressed gratitude to the church and its members for their “active volunteer efforts, humanitarian assistance, and prayers.”
According to Jonathan Freedman, Utah’s honorary consul to Ukraine, some 4,000 refugees from that country now live in the Beehive State.
As views of the beleaguered country have shifted away from full-throated support of Ukraine under President Donald Trump, the only member of Utah’s congressional delegation to speak publicly on their behalf has been the Sen. John Curtis.
“Ukraine is an ally in pursuit of free markets, free speech, and free people — Western values that align with our own,” Curtis wrote on X. “A win for [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin, on the other hand, does not. I am hopeful that our countries can get back to the table and advance the prospects of a just and lasting peace.”
Now there is some hint, Reuters reports, that Trump might revoke the temporary legal status of 240,000 Ukrainian refugees in the U.S.
Latter-day Saints, with their history of being persecuted, should be able to relate to the plight of Ukrainians, Freedman says. “They have always been the underdog in a war that they didn’t ask for or provoke. Just like us, they want to feel safe and live in peace.”
He urges world leaders “to unite in a peaceful resolution that ensures Ukraine’s security, sovereignty, and the opportunity for its people to rebuild their lives with dignity.”
After all, he says, “They are us, we are them, and they need our help.”
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