Nigeria
A new stake was organized in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The Ikot Akpatek Nigeria Stake was organized from a division of the Eket Nigeria and the Ikot Akpaden Nigeria Stakes. The new stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the Ikot Akpatek, Ikot Anang, Ikot Ebidang, Ikwe, Okom, and Udo Wards, and the Okat Branch. There are now nine stakes and three districts in Akwa Ibom State.
There are now 39 stakes and 17 districts in Nigeria. The number of stakes in Nigeria has tripled every 10 years. If this trend continues for the next decade, there may be more than 100 stakes in Nigeria by 2026.
Cote d'Ivoire
A new district was organized in Cote d'Ivoire. The Agboville Cote d'Ivoire District was organized from five mission branches located between the cities of Anyama and Agboville. The new district includes the following six branches: the Agboville, Agboville Cote d'Ivoire District, Azaguié 1st, Azaguié 2nd, Blankro 1st, and Blankro 2nd Branches. The organization of the district branch suggests that there are likely member groups that operate within the boundaries of the new district. All five former mission branches in the new district were organized within the past 18 months.
There are now 10 stakes and nine districts in Cote d'Ivoire. The number of
stakes in Cote d'Ivoire has also tripled every 10 years. If this trend continues
for the next decade, there may be 30 stakes in Cote d'Ivoire by
2026.
It seems that Cote D'Ivoire might grow at a faster rate than Nigeria, which is exciting.The potential of the French Saints is tremendous, perhaps they can help evangelize places in the west like Martinique and Guadeloupe, which have a lot of potential demographically but have not done that well. Each island has enough people for multiple stakes.
ReplyDeleteSmaller French speaking islands worldwide could use a boost.
I have encountered claims in articles on the new religious law in Russia that there are about 30 LDS missionaries serving in Russia. This seems very low considering there are I believe 7 missions in the country. Any clue if there really are only about 4 to 5 missionaries per mission or is someone just blathering about what the don't know. The Huffington Post article has this number and links to an RNS article that does in fact say 30. It may be that the RNS article is saying there are 30 missionaries per mission, which is extremely low, but more belivable than between 4 and 5.
ReplyDeleteI would not be surprised if Ivory Coast will have more than 50 stakes by 2026. There are still sections of the country that do not have branches. Membership in Ivory Coast has been consistently growing at over 20% annually for several years. The last few years have seen unit growth at an even faster rate.
ReplyDeleteI hope with a 3rd mossion the Democratic Republic of the Congo sees a repeat of the Ivory Coast system of creating lots of branches in lots of places. Uganda and Kenya need more agressive creation of new units. South Africa could use such in some areas and Zimbabwe even more so.
ReplyDeleteI hope with a 3rd mossion the Democratic Republic of the Congo sees a repeat of the Ivory Coast system of creating lots of branches in lots of places. Uganda and Kenya need more agressive creation of new units. South Africa could use such in some areas and Zimbabwe even more so.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCould the 30 missionaries in Russia be only the ones that are US citizens?
ReplyDeleteFrom the Salt Lake Tribune article: "The seven missions in the country are "minimally staffed," (Martinich) added, with as few as 30 missionaries per mission, compared with the 100 to 200 for missions in other countries."
ReplyDeleteI have 2 cousins that have mission calls to Russia, both form the states. Did they mean 300 or another number?
ReplyDeleteDue to Scout camp (my sons first weeklong camp) this has 2 weeks of data.
ReplyDeleteUnit Update
19 Jun
Boston 4th Branch (Portuguese), Boston Massachusetts Stake (B:4, W:9)
26 Jun (+13)
Agboville Cote d'Ivoire District (B:6)
Agboville Branch
Agboville Cote d'Ivoire District Branch
Azaguié 1st Branch
Azaguié 2nd Branch
Blankro 1st Branch
Blankro 2nd Branch
El Carmen Honduras Stake (B:1, W:5)
San Juan Branch
Calpules Ward
El Carmen Ward
La Aldea Ward
Las Lomas Ward
Ocotillo Ward
Agboville Cote d'Ivoire District Branch, Agboville Cote d'Ivoire District
(B:6)
Banco Branch, Abobo Cote d'Ivoire West Stake (B:4, W:8)
Bocabo Branch, Abobo Cote d'Ivoire West Stake (B:4, W:8)
Calvillo Branch, Aguascalientes México Stake (B:4, W:5)
Celeste Branch, Abobo Cote d'Ivoire West Stake (B:4, W:8)
Danané Branch, Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission (B:6, D:6, S:5)
Gboko Branch, Nigeria Enugu Mission (B:5, D:3, S:4)
Itá Paso Branch, Encarnacion Paraguay District (B:8)
Koforidua 2nd Branch, Koforidua Ghana District (B:12)
La Palma Branch, Sonsonate El Salvador Stake (B:1, W:6)
Morton Ranch Ward, Houston Texas Bear Creek Stake (W:9)
1 July (+2)
Democratic Republic of the Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission (B:1, D:1, S:3)
Nigeria Owerri Mission (B:1, D:2, S:5)
3 July (+7)
Autoroute Ward, Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Niangon North Stake (W:10)
Mile 50 Branch, Koforidua Ghana District (B:12)
Omoba Branch, Okpuala Ngwa Nigeria Stake (B:3, W:6)
Prairie Ridge Branch (Care Center), Raymond Alberta Stake (B:1, W:10)
Raymond 10th Ward, Raymond Alberta Stake (B:1, W:10)
Riverview Ward, Columbia Missouri Stake (B:4, W:9)
Talus Ridge Ward, Saratoga Springs Utah Mount Saratoga Stake (W:9)
10 July (+9)
Alto Alegre Ward, Cascavel Brazil Stake (B:2, W:10)
Bawjiasi Branch, Accra Ghana Kasoa Stake (B:2, W:7)
Cedarcrest Ward, Cartersville Georgia Stake (B:1, W:8)
Daleville Ward, Dothan Alabama Stake (B:4, W:7)
Nortem Branch, Okrika Nigeria District (B:7)
Pleasant Grove Branch, Rogers Arkansas Stake (B:5, W:5)
Quilinco Branch, Huehuetenango Guatemala Calvario Stake (B:1, W:6)
Saipipi 2nd Ward, Savaii Samoa Pu'apu'a Stake (B:1, W:7)
Smithfield 26th Ward, Smithfield Utah North Stake (B:1, W:9)
YTD 409(14.61/week*28) = +38 Total 34,454(+29) (Net 245 60%)
=====YTD == % of YTD Chng Total
Africa =130====31.8% (+18) 1897 (+16)
Asia ===7 ==== 1.7% (0)== 944 (+5)
Am C =32 ==== 7.8% (+5)= 3940 (+1)
Am N =129 ==== 31.5% (+9)= 9397 (+5)
Am S =27 ==== 6.6% (+2)= 6329 (-2)
Europe 9 ===== 2.2% (0)== 1712 (0)
Pacific 25 ==== 6.1% (+2)= 2751 (+2)
U&I 50(38) 12.2(9.3)% (+2)= 6941(5725)(+2)
Totals no-sensitive (Net +32)
====Areas -Temples ===Miss Stakes Dist =Wards Branch Totals
Global-- 25 ==== 150 ===421 =3,229 =541 22,765 =7,347 34,478
Us/Can 10 ===== 82 ===131 =1,620 ==10 12,659 =2,047 16,559
US ----- n/a ===== 74 ===124 =1,572 ===7 12,318 =1,903 15,992
Utah---- n/a ===== 16 ====10 ==580 ===1 =4,722 ===328 =5,657
Canada n/a ====== 8 =====7 ===48 ===3 ===341 ===150 ==557
Out------- 15 ===== 68 ===290 =1,609 =531 10,106 =5,300 17,919
Just posting to let anyone who might be interested know that it was brought to my attention that I had omitted the Philippines from my list of countries that might get a temple soon, so I added that. Just a reminder to go to the address below to see the list, and you can post any comments there:
ReplyDeletehttp://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2016/07/4th-edition-of-cities-that-are-most.html
I have also been advised that when I post an updated temple progress report, it is tough for people to tell what has been changed. I have therefore, with my most recent update, highlighted in red those things that have changed since I last posted the list. I would appreciate any feedback on this change, which you can leave at the address below:
http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2016/07/updated-temple-progress-report_74.html.
Thanks.
I am glad to see such substantial Church growth in the DR Congo. In my list of temples that may be announced soon, I have included a second (and potentially a third) temple for the DR Congo. The most likely location for that in my mind is in the Kasai region. Such a temple was publicly proposed by Elder Andersen earlier this year. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes of that.
ReplyDeleteI have also posted on my blog regarding the new Russian law and the Church's reaction to it. Please visit the link below for that post:
ReplyDeletehttp://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2016/07/more-on-how-new-russian-law-will-affect.html
Thanks.
Question:
ReplyDeleteI ran across an article from November saying there are 400,000 seminary students (presumably spread across ages 14-18) and 70% of them were quite active in seminary.
Have we tried to gather what this means for upcoming missionary numbers? For example, if 2/3 of all elders and 1/2 of all sisters serve, we'd hit the 100,000 missionary baseline that Elder Holland talked about.
Even S&I leaders in Salt Lake agree that there will be an increase, but at the same time they do not expect that every last student will end up on a full-time mission.
ReplyDeleteAbout 100k new students enter Seminary each year.
With the new emphasis on knowing the doctrine and how to articulate things in various situations, missionary effectiveness should increase somewhat. Even if only 1/3 of the 100k that graduate/get completion certificates each year went, we could still hit 60-70k over a two-year period, but if half went, that's where we'll see the 100k.
"As few as 30 missionaries per mission" suggests to me that the low is probably 30, and some missions have more missionaries than that. That suggests that 210 missionaries (30 missionaries times 7 missions) is probably lower than the current number. However it may not be 300 missionaries for the entire country. I think what happened is that "30 missionaries in 7 locations" was meant to be "7 locations with about 30 missionaries in each", but was reversed by a staffer somewhere.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to learn what the current number of missionaries per mission in every mission in the world is. Of course these numbers are not always totally comparable. Idaho Falls, Los Angeles, Mesa, one of the Mexico City, a mission in New Zealand, London South, Cleaveland Ohio, Rochester New York, Indepedence Missouri, Manchester New Hampshire, Washington DC North and a few others have visitors centers that are staffed by missionaries in the mission, so their numbers may not be fully comparable. Still it would be interesting to learn the range of missionaries per mission.
I had totally forgotten that Nigeria was getting a new mission this year.
ReplyDeleteThe Church seems to still be growing strong in Ivory Coast. Same with Ghana Koforidua may well move from being a district to a stake this year.
The Nigeria Owerri Mission appears to only have 2 districts and 1 branch not in a district, which is the administrative branch, which may mean it has lots of groups, some may soon be urgraded. Except, there is a stake in Owerri, so I think the ldstemples.com listing for the Nigeria Owerri Mission is incomplete. Looking at LDS maps it looks like there are 6 stakes as well as the branches and districts in the Owerri Nigeria Stake.
There are several cities in the Owerri Mission boundaries that are not in any branch other than the administrative branch of the mission. The third largest cities in Imo and Abia states are both among these. Okigwe which had a population of 435000 back in 2005 and Arochukwu which had a population of 193,000 in 2011. Considering that this is the area where the Church was first organized in Nigeria in 1978, building on the unofficial work of people such as Anthony Obinna dating back to the 1950s, and that Aba Nigeria in the mission boundaries has the oldest stake in the Africa West Area, dating to 1988, this indicates there is probably more outreach potential everywhere in Africa.
ReplyDeleteHopefully with the new mission there will be more branches organized in some of the many cities. Also the Owerri Nigeria Stake has 7 wards and 8 branches. 5 of these branches are essentially separated from the remaining 7 wards and 3 branches, In a stretch from the Orlu branch going south-east to the Amaino Branch. Orlu is said to be the 2nd largest city in Imo State, yet its 420,000 listed population is less than Okigwe that is said to be the 3rd largest city.
One factor is health issues prevent some who want to serve missions from serving, or cause them to serve Church service missions, which involve fulfilling vital functions, but do not get counted. However half serving, considering that sisters do not have a mandate to serve, is probably not too hard to imagine.
ReplyDeleteMy ward just had 2 young men who graduated high school this spring get mission calls, one to South Korea Taejon the other to Peru Iquitos. The South Korea Taejon Mission president was evidently born in the boundaries of that mission.
Starting this month and going through Febuary of next year my ward will have 10 boys and 4 girls turn 16, or whom 8 boys and 3 girls are very active. The 8 boys I have high hopes will all serve missions, although with 3 of them being 3 of 4 quadruplets it will be hard for that family. The 3 girls, I would not be surprised if 2 of them serve missions. After Febuary we will not have another child turn 16 until the next December, but then we will have 3 girls and 4 boys turn 16 in a year, all of whom are active, and I could easily see all 4 boys and definately 1 of those girls serving a mission. 2 of those boys were baptized last November.
I hope there will be another new stake soon in Paraná state of Brazil. Joseph's last unit update included a new ward in Cascavel stake as of Jul 10. He said there are 10 wards and 2 branches there now. I find that exciting. I was a missionary in Cascavel in 1996, when there were two districts in Cascavel and Foz do Iguacu, which are over an hour of travel apart. Seeing this stake split will be very nice for the members in Foz do Iguacu.
ReplyDeleteIn Nigeria if the growth of wards and branches continue at its pace it could reach 500 by the end of 2016 (late Nov early December)
ReplyDelete