Click here to access our updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Libya. It is unclear whether there have been any Libyan Latter-day Saint converts although it is possible that a few Libyans may have joined the Church in Italy. There has been no known LDS presence in Libya since the early 1970s when the remainder of United States military personnel were withdrawn following the rise of Qadhafi to power.
See below for the Future Prospects section of the country profile entry in regards to the outlook for an LDS establishment one day:
Improving political relations with Western Europe and the United States, prospects for more foreign investment by Westerners, and greater tolerance for Christians to worship than during the Qadhafi era create an optimistic outlook for a permanent future LDS presence among nonnatives once the civil war ends. However, ongoing political instability, significant degradation of the economy and the country’s infrastructure, and religious violence pose significant barriers for a Church presence at present. Furthermore, uncertainty with the outcome of the civil war indicates that religious freedom conditions may deteriorate once political stability is achieved. Libyans living abroad present the greatest opportunities for the Church to gain native converts although it is unlikely many of these individuals would ever return to Libya one day given societal restrictions on religious freedom and emphasis on conservative Islam.
A Lybian man joined the church in Bordeaux, France during my mission. He was an architect and was very active before and after his baptism.
ReplyDeleteThe country itself is divided in half (at least), and there is much turmoil and violence. I pray that they can find a modicum of peace.
ReplyDeleteOverheard today: we are getting a new YSA stake in Logan, Utah. Also overheard: they want to limit the YSA stakes here to eight wards, but the creation of this one was delayed until they could find somewhere for it to meet.
ReplyDeleteIs the 8 wards per YSA stake for the Logan area or in general. Here in Provo there's about 10 to 12 wards per YSA stake here. I think it's the same with a couple of Orem YSA stakes the last time I checked. I also think that New York Washington DC and Buena Vista, Virginia YSA Stakes may take some time before they split as well.
DeleteThe Toubou tribes in the middle-South and south-east are a hard group to infiltrate, especially with such a thing as Christianity. Likewise, the Tuareg peoples of the southwest crossing over to Niger are another hard group to have any outreach or footprint on. Perhaps there is some nexus to Christian ties or inroads to some of these traditionally nomadic and caravan peoples?
ReplyDeleteBryan, while I don't know the answer to your question, I know that, here in Utah at least, if a stake has more than 10 wards, that is when the Church generally starts to look at splitting such stakes. Some splits take a longer period of time than others. I know that my previous "home stake", the American Fork East Stake, had 10 or 11 wards when I was last a part of it. One of those wards was a YSA ward that became part of the Lehi Utah YSA Stake when that stake was organized in 2011 or so. I know that that stake had 10 or so wards at the time it was originally organized. I also know that my former YSA ward (now known as the American Fork YSA 1st Ward) has had its' headquarters relocated from a meetinghouse in the AF East Stake to the new multi-ward building in Lehi (which, if memory serves, is the first such edifice for YSA wards in northern Utah County.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I recognize that many YSA and family stakes have more than 10-12 wards, and that some of them either do not have boundary changes until the membership increases sufficiently or wind up being consolidated into other nearby wards to strengthen the numbers.
I also know that, as I have observed in other threads on this blog, my current stake has seen the creation of 3 new wards within the last 8-12 months or so, and I believe we are up to 11 wards here in the Orem Utah Geneva Heights Stake. Since I have not lived in Orem long enough to get a feel for how big the other stakes in the city are, it is anyone's guess how soon (if at all) the stake might be split in the near future. I understand there are at least two other wards in this stake that have a similar issue to my current ward, where trailer parks, condominiums, and apartments create a high rate of turnover.
That said, I assume that there is a lot more that goes into the decision to split any stake in the Church than any of us might realizeThe final, and I know that in some cases, for the strength of stakes to be maintained, even if they have a high number of wards and branches, in some cases, it makes sense not to split a stake. But it is an interesting process to observe, either way. I hope these thoughts, for what they are worth, were helpful to you.
The final thing I wanted to share here is for anyone who may be interested in some information that I shared in another thread just a few minutes ago. I recognize that not everyone has signed up to participate in the Church growth reddit that has been recently set up. For that reason, I wanted to thank you all for the comments here, and Matt for this post and for giving me permission to keep sharing information about my blog here.
Recently, I shared posts about yet another revision I have done with my list of potential future temples that are most likely to be announced in October. Additionally, some intriguing information was provided recently by and about two members of the First Presidency. President Nelson will be the first Church president in a decade or two to visit the storm-weary Saints of Puerto Rico. And in speaking to young married couples in California recently, President Oaks mentioned that something was in the works (which would be detailed more fully in coming months) that would ensure that the demands on the time of newlyweds relating to the Church callings they are asked to fill is regulated more effectively.
So it appears that the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve continues to very much have their fingers on the pulses of all the important issues the Church is facing. In coming days, as more Church news comes to light, I will continue to carry reports of ongoing developments. The address of my blog follows below, and any comments on any content continues to be both welcome and appreciated.
http://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com
I want to be generous, but how did a comment section on a blog about Libya move to YSA wards and stakes in the Intermountain West. Come on we can all be a little more disciplined.
ReplyDeleteMy stake Anoka Minnesota had 17 units--12 wards, 3 English speaking branches, 1 Hmong speaking branch and a Mandarin speaking branch in 2008 when I moved to China for six years to work. When I returned it had been split in 2010. There is no growth in the intervening years in terms of unit growth. The two stakes have lost the other than English speaking units, but have added a new one that is Spanish speaking and another branch that is English speaking. So we have the Anoka Stake with 8 wards & 1 branch and the St. Cloud MN Stake with 5 wards and 3 branches, all English speaking, though one of the branches have many Ojibwa speakers through an emphasis of teaching Ojibwa over the last 25 years on a few reservations.
ReplyDeleteI had an encounter with a Libyan in Shenzhen over 12 years ago. He was an engineer who had worked for a telecom company in the UK. I shared the gospel with him in China with the Book of Mormon in English and Arabic (the later was difficult to get hold of in China)and coming to church with me in the English speaking branch in Shenzhen. He was baptized when he returned home to the UK two years later.
ReplyDeleteThe inroads into Libya along with many other predominately Muslim countries will be the emigrants who come to countries where there is legal and cultural freedom of religion and a robust Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints presence. My friend Abdul who was baptized in the UK is now a bishop in the US.
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