Click
here to access our updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Oman. The Church has maintained a branch in Oman for at least a couple decades that is comprised of foreigners. Omani legislation and government practice permit greater opportunities for Omani citizens to join the Church as conversion from Islam to another religion is not illegal. Furthermore, there are also opportunities for member-missionary work, particularly among foreign Christians, albeit public proselytism is prohibited.
Though not directly relevant to LDS Church growth in Oman, I think it is interesting that LDS authors and scholars have visited Oman in an attempt to identify the site of "Bountiful" from the Book of Mormon, and have identified a couple of very promising candidates. I have the impression that the Omani government was somehow supportive of that effort. One website that I know has more information on this is jefflindsay.com. One of his pages, https://www.jefflindsay.com/BMEvidences.shtml#geography, has pictures showing the candidate sites, and lots of information for any who are interested. (The page also discusses the site of Nahom in Yemen.)
ReplyDeleteI know in the UAE at least in some Church units the majority of members are Filipinos. I am not sure this applies to Oman.
ReplyDeleteThere used to be a branch in Salalah. I know this because of this https://www.lds.org/church/news/elder-joaquin-e-costa-the-lord-knows-the-details-of-your-life?lang=eng article on Joaquin E. Costa, a current General Authority Seventy. He is the one who told the story of how he began meeting with the missionaries to prove them wrong after his girlfriend rejected his proposal saying she would only marry a Latter-day Saint.
Elder Costa is a native of Argentina, has a graduate degree from BYU, and besides the US and Argentina worked in the Czech Republic before going to Oman. While in Oman for a time the Salalah Branch met in the Costa home.