Thursday, July 19, 2018
Updated Country Profile - Seychelles
Click here to access our updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Seychelles. Located in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar, Seychelles has a population of nearly 100,000 people and is Africa's least populous nation. There has never been an official LDS presence in the islands despite a predominantly Christian population and widespread religious freedom.
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8 comments:
Thank you, Matt, for another insightful profile on a country that may not have much of a Church presence yet, but is hopefully on track to see that presence increase in the years ahead. If one thing is certain, it is that the Lord is certainly fulfilling his promise that he will "hasten [His] work in its' time." It is amazing to see that occurring in both small and simple, but also in magnificent and miraculous ways all over the world.
I am enjoying these updated country profiles, and that we are highlighting these smaller countries with minimal or zero LDS presence. I have often wondered why we still don't have a presence in the Seychelles yet. I hope that changes soon. It is helpful to raise awareness of how far we still have to go, and the opportunities and challenges to make that happen. In many regards, it is true that we have only begun to scratch the surface of Christ's mandate to go into all the world.
Chennai India District
- Chennai 1st Branch renamed Adyar Branch
- Chennai 2nd Branch renamed Annanagar Branch
- Chennai 3rd Branch renamed Mugappair Branch
- Chennai 4th Branch renamed Saidapet Branch
Bauru Brazil Stake
- Pirajuí Branch discontinued
Huánuco Perú Amarilis Stake
- Paucarbamba Ward renamed Castilla Ward
Lima Perú Campoy Stake
- Cajamarquilla Ward created
Lehi Utah Jordan Willows Stake
- Holbrook Farms Ward created
Taylorsville Utah YSA Stake
- Rio Vista YSA Ward (Spanish) created
Is that the first Spanish-speaking YSA ward created in California? I know they have had and may still have such wards in the LA area, but it may be the first Spanish-speaking YSA Ward in Utah.
With both Washington DC and New York City having recently received YSA stakes, I can't help wondering if we may see such a stake formed in LA soon. The San Francisco Bay Area is also another possible location to form a YSA stake. Las Vegas, Nevada also seems to me another high potential location.
Seychelles does seem to be a major unreached easy to reach place. On the other hand their less than 100,000 population is far less than that of many unreached cities in some countries, and very far less than the unreached populations of some Christian majority states in India.
@ JPL, yes that is the first Spanish-speaking YSA Ward in Utah. California has two wards and one branch, all in the LA area. The only other non-English speaking YSA units are Tongan (5 wards in Utah; 1 ward and 1 branch in California); French (1 branch in Quebec), and Tagalog (1 ward in Philippines).
English-speaking YSA units outside the United States include: Australia (2 wards), Botswana (1 ward), Canada (21 wards, 14 branches), New Zealand (2 wards), Tonga (1 ward, listed as English speaking), and the United Kingdom (2 wards).
There are 973 English-speaking YSA wards in the United States, and 171 branches. There are also 24 Student or Student Single units in the Church (all English speaking and in U.S., except one ward in Kiribati), that haven't been converted or folded into YSA units yet.
A few more updates:
Aba Nigeria Ogbor Hill Stake
- Umuogelle Branch upgraded to Ward
Moscow Idaho Stake
- Troy Branch upgraded to Ward
I wonder if the decision to rename the Chenai India district branches to non-ordinal names, is in preparation to upgrade the District to Stake status..or just following the last few years trend or policy, to switch from the Wards/Branches (within same geographic area) as 1st, 2nd, etc, to other local names instead?
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