Four new branches in the DR Congo
Four new branches have been created in the central Democratic Republic of Congo, three of which were organized in the Luputa DR Congo District: The Bondoyi Branch, the Luputa 2nd Branch, and the Contoniere Branch. The Luputa 2nd and Contoniere Branches were both created in the city of Luputa, which now has seven branches. The Bondoyi Branch becomes the second branch in the city of Mwene-Ditu, which received its first branch in early 2008. There are now 10 branches in the Luputa DR Congo District, which will become a stake in the near future. The fourth new branch created in the region was in the large city of Mbuji-Mayi and called the Dibindi Branch. Mbuji-Mayi now has four mission branches which will become a district in the coming months.
New branch in Cameroon
The fifth LDS branch in Cameroon was just organized a couple weeks ago. The Ekounou 2nd Branch was created from a division of the Ekounou Branch and becomes the fourth branch in the Yaounde area. The Ekounou Branch was created just 18 months ago, yet at the meeting to create the new congregation only standing room was available due to rapid membership growth in the area. This instance illustrates that new congregations most often grow the fastest in membership. Cameroon appears highly likely to receive its first district shortly. A sixth congregation meets as an appendage of the Douala Branch, called the Bonaberi Group.
Three new branches in Papua New Guinea
Three new branches were recently created in the vicinity of Kukipi, located in the Gulf Province. There are now five mission branches in the region, which appear likely to be made into a district. Self sufficiency is high as missionary work is performed by local members and South Pacific missionaries.
No increase in congregations in Mexico so far in 2010
Despite having the second highest number of Latter-day Saints, there has been no increase in the number of congregations in Mexico since the beginning of the year. This may be due to poor convert retention or increased standards for the size of active membership per congregation prior to the division of existing congregations to create new wards and branches.
3 comments:
Great news, I rejoice over the fact of how fast the Church is growing in the Congo DR, it is adding thousands of members per year whilst at the same time the number of congregations same to be rising at a steady rate, indicating a strong retention. At the end of last year there were 23,000 members in the country, I am guessing that number will be about 27,000 come december. To add onto this, future growth will be even higher due to the new missions there which have been created (which likely havent impacted yet).
Sadly, retention is still a thorn in the side in mexico. Considering missions have been created there aswell, something needs to improve or our efforts are being wasted.
Church in Talks to “Regularize”
Activities in China
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-in-talks-to-regularize-activities-in-china
Though this comment should be noted:
“It is important to understand what the term regularizing means, and what it does not mean,” Church spokesman Michael Otterson said. “It does not mean that we anticipate sending missionaries to China. That issue is not even under consideration.
We're happy to hear about the growth in Cameroon! Thanks for providing such interesting updates.
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