The Perpetual Education Fund

President Hinckley in his April 2001 General Conference Address introduced the Perpetual Education Fund, and many hearts were touched that day. When pres. Hinckley explained that the 'new' PEF was inspired by, and modeled after, the' old ' PEF, that is the historic Perpetual Emigration Fund, many of us felt that a part of the Mormonism that we love so much was restored unto us, a church committed to the gospel principles of eqality and social justice.

The Perpetual Education Fund is a revolving fund of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, created under the direction of President Gordon B. Hinckley to benefit young men and women in underprivileged countries. The fund is intended primarily to assist returned missionaries who often face a life of poverty after faithful Church service. Patterned after the Perpetual Emigration Fund that was instrumental in helping more than 30,000 early Church members journey to the Salt Lake Valley, the Perpetual Education Fund will assist today's Church members in their quest for literacy and self-reliance.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said in 2001: "Where there is widespread poverty among our people, we must do all we can to help them lift themselves, to establish their lives upon a foundation of self-reliance that can come of training. Education is the key to opportunity." (Ensign, May 2001).

The remark of pres. Hinckley that 'there is widespread poverty among our people', is of course a well known and sobering fact, however it is good to hear this reality from the mouth of a prophet, a statement that not only informs us of that harsh reality, but also puts us on notice, and places a heavy responsibility on our shoulders as members of a world-wide church. We have chosen to go out into the world to do missionary work, but now need to show that we're serious about sharing. What is needed are not only greater Book of Mormon supplies, but also a willingness as a people "to mourn with those than mourn; yea, and to comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:9).

Brigham Young: Prayer is good, but when baked potatoes and milk are needed, prayer will not supply their place.

Marion G. Romney: A Latter-day Saint should abhor poverty and do all in his power to alleviate it. He should remember the Lord's statement, "it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another" (D&C 49:20), and that in the Lord's plan "every man" is to be "equal according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs" (D&C 51:3).

Thomas S. Monson: Today, in lands far away and right here in Salt Lake City, there are those who suffer hunger, who know want and are acquainted with poverty. Ours is the opportunity and the sacred privilege to relieve this hunger, to meet this want, to eliminate this poverty.

These prophetic observations can help us to become more aware that there is rampant poverty among our brothers and sisters around the world, that prayer will not make it go away, that there is enormous inequality in the church, and that we have a 'sacred privilege' to do something about it. The PEF initiative thus points us in the right direction, a Liahona if you will... Are we like Lehi and his family willing to leave our riches and travel to a promised land, to Zion, where there is no poor among us?

In an interview with the Deseret News, elder John K. Carmack, who administers PEF for the church said that the program "basically brings more justice and unity into the church and among the members, where those who have help those who have not."
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Based on his unique experiences with the fund, elder Carmack wrote a book:
A Bright Ray of Hope: The Perpetual Education Fund
Meridian Magazine published a book report by Catherine Keddington Arveseth of elder Carmack's book., and she concludes her review with the following:

Isaiah wrote, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (Isaiah 9:2) PEF has caused a bright light to shine upon young adults and families that have dwelt in darkness and economic despair. Their lives have been absent of hope, but PEF is a ray of light upon them. In the first three years, more than 10,000 loans were granted, and Elder Carmack expects in six to seven years 65,000 loans will be approved.



2006 - by Robert Poort