Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Recent Church Growth Developments in Africa

Members and missionaries continue to report encouraging LDS Church growth developments in Africa.  Some notable developments include:
  • Preparations underway to open the Central African Republic and Gabon to missionary work
  • The creation of two new stakes in Kinshasa, DR Congo in the coming months
  • Plans to create additional branches in Angola and Togo
  • Plans to create the first stake in Mozambique next year in Maputo
  • The creation of a second branch in Rwanda
  • The opening of two locations to missionary work in Sierra Leone (Waterloo and Rokel)
  • The opening of a couple dozen new proselytism areas in Ghana, including the placement of full-time missionaries in several locations for the first time such as Abesem, Bibiani, Eshiem, and Mampong
Prospects for organizing additional missions in Africa next year are highly favorable.  Here are some locations for new missions that I think are most likely:
  • Luanda, Angola
  • Burundi/Rwanda
  • Yaounde, Cameroon
  • Central DR Congo (based in Mbuji-Mayi or Kananga)
  • Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • Monrovia, Liberia
  • Benin City, Nigeria
  • Johannesburg, South Africa (second mission)
  • Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

3 comments:

BP said...

Yaoundé Cameroon could be a very good guess. It would be a great center for Cameroon, Gabon and the Central African Republic. In fact, originally the mission home for the DR Congo Kinshasa mission was going to be in Douala, Cameroon.

Ray said...

90% of increase in wards and branches outside the US has been in Africa for the first 9 months of 2012, as reported in the Church Dir. of Org. and Leaders.

Growth outside US to 10-1-12 + 71 total W&B (+134 W - 63 br) +3 miss. + 26 stakes - 11 dist. + 1 temple.

Growth in Africa to 10-1-12 + 64 total W&B (+ 40 W + 24 br) +1 miss. + 6 stakes + 3 districts.

Growth in US to 10-1-12: + 81 t. W&B (+ 112 W - 31 br) + 4 miss. + 10 st. - 1 dist. + 2 temples.

Churchwide growth to 10-1-12 + 152 T W&B (+246 W - 94 br) + 36 st - 12 dist + 7 miss + 3 temples.

Sept growth + 18 W&B (+16 W + 2 br) + 3 st + 1 temple; US + 5 W&B (+9 W - 4 br) - 1 st (+1, -2) + i temple (Brigham City Ut); outside US + 13 W&B (+ 7W + 6 br) + 4 stakes (+5 -1).

John Pack Lambert said...

Plans to send missionaries to the Central African Republic were postponed do the the civil war in that country that lead to the overthrow of the existing government in March 2013.