The Church recently published an article on its Newsroom site regarding the recent visit of Church leaders to Latter-day Saints in Cairo. The article indicated that there is now an Arabic-speaking branch in Cairo to service members, most of whom are recent converts, who primarily originate from Arabic-speaking areas in Africa such as South Sudan and northern Nigeria. The Arabic-speaking branch appears to have been recently organized. The two Cairo branches are small, and there appear to be only approximately 60 active members in the two branches. For more information about the Church in Egypt, click here.
Friday, October 29, 2021
New Branch Created in Cairo, Egypt
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1/3:
Somewhat related to this post, I have been thinking recently about what places around the world that do not currently have a church presence I would prioritize for opening if I were choosing (based on very limited knowledge regarding local circumstances in some cases -- I am sure there will be lots of reasons for others to choose different places). Obviously most would be in Asia and Africa, so I decided to choose one place per church area to keep things interesting. While population and distance from the nearest extant church unit certainly play a big role, other factors such as a city's ability to act as a springboard to future areas This is my list:
2/3:
Africa Central: Dodoma, Tanzania - As a large city, and the national capital, this seems like a good place to develop into an eventual center of strength.
Africa South: Lobito, Angola - Very little of Angola has been reached thus far, and this is a large, central city.
Africa West: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - Burkina Faso has one of the highest degrees of individual liberty and religious freedom of any Muslim majority country, and there is already a Christian population in Ouagadougou.
Asia: Ideally Wenzhou, China, which is one of the most significant centers of Christianity in China, but since the Chinese are unlikely to allow missionary work anytime soon, my alternate choice would be Imphal, India, which based on my experience with Manipuris as a missionary in the India New Delhi Mission a little over a decade ago would be an extremely receptive and fruitful place.
Asia North: Joetsu, Japan - Combination of size and distance from existing units seems to make it a good choice.
Brazil: Tucurui, Para - Another where combination of size and distance from existing units make it a good choice.
Caribbean: Ideally Santiago de Cuba, Cuba given its size and role as a major city in Cuba, but as far as I know the Cuban government still has lots of barriers to missionary work, so an alternate choice is Arrondissement of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guiana which would cover an otherwise unreached area of the Guianas.
Central America: Jalapa, Nicaragua - Of remote, unreached areas in Central America this seems to be one of the largest
Europe: Kotka, Finland - Given the current distribution of wards and branches in Finland, not only does Kotka merit one by size and distance, but having a branch there would benefit existing congregations by perhaps making possible a realignment of stake boundaries in a way that reduces the distances invovled.
Europe East: Ideally Novokuznetsk, Russia which used to have a church presence and probably has members that could help form the core of a reconstituted branch, but given restrictions on proselyting in Russia I would probably choose Kherson, Ukraine instead, which is sizable and could, if a branch developed there, help strengthen the Odessa district and lay the groundwork for eventually splitting it into more geographically compact districts.
Mexico: San Juan de Los Lagos, Guanajuato - A surprising number of places in Mexico remain unreached. This location is a good mix of distance and size, as well as being a central location to smaller surrounding towns, while also close enough to existing branches to be a viable home group attached to a branch in the short term.
Middle East/Africa North: Jounieh, Lebanon - Probably not realistic, but nowhere in the Middle East / North Africa appears realistic at the moment, and Jounieh has a sizable Christian population and a tradition of religious tolerance.
North America Central: Nelson, British Columbia, though given that the church just closed a branch there that may not be a fruitful location in the short term, so alternately Thief River Falls, Minnesota, which though small is the central location for a lot of small towns around it.
North America Northeast: Iqaluit, Nunavut as a springboard for outreach to the Inuit peoples -- this would probably have to begin in English, with a goal of the church developing church materials and missionary language training in Inuktitut.
North America Southeast: Spring Hill, Florida - Size and distance from the nearest ward make it a good candidate, and I suspect there are more than a few members already living there that could provide the core of a branch.
North America Southwest: La Porte, Texas - Not really all that distant from existing wards, but probably the highest priority by the combination of size and distance that I could identify given that nowhere in the Area of any real size doesn't already have a presence nearby.
North America West: Ladysmith, British Columbia - Could service several towns between Nanaimo and Duncan.
3/3:
Pacific: Gizo, Solomon Islands - One of the primary villages of the Solomon Islands, and a key location to church expansion into the northern islands of the nation.
Philippines: Marawi City, Lanao del Sur - I am very surprised there is no presence here already -- perhaps the Islamists in the area make it too dangerous, though I would think that would be true of the whole island of Mindanao, yet there are two temples being built on the island.
South America Northwest: Tumaco, Colombia - Size and distance from other church units make this a good candidate for opening the southwest corner of Colombia.
South America South: Chajari, Argentina - Combination of size and distance make it one of the better candidates in the Area.
Utah: Maybe Colorado City, Arizona given that from what I understand there have been quite a few defections from the fundamentalist sects down there in recent years.
Oops, turned out to be 4:
I've long thought it unfortunate that the church expends much of its missionary force on low baptizing places that have had a presence for many years when there are many places with no church presence at all, so if I were to relax the one per area rule in this hypothetical, I probably would not do any in Utah or the other North America areas except North America Northeast, especially since in most cases the places I picked are not all that far from an existing church unit. If I were to "reallocate" those 5 picks to other parts of the world, I would probably choose Madurai, India (a sizable city of regional importance and a history of some Christianity; Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is one the most important city in North Kivu; Ziguinchor, Senegal, another majority Muslim country with a high degree of religious freedom, and Ziguinchor is in a region with a history of tolerance for Christianity; Juba, South Sudan, the capital of a hitherto unreached country; and Mangalore, India, another city with a history of many religions coexisting, and a hub of the Malabar Coast.
Unknown, I like your idea of reaching out to Colorado City, though I don't know what kind of local opposition there would be to having a Church presence.
I have relatives in the St. George area who have had contact with FLDS/people from Colorado City. They sometimes see them while shopping, and have said that the women they see do not want to talk to other people. I also have an aunt and uncle who hosted several of the expelled young men in their home for a while, and one cousin married a former FLDS young man, I believe.
Utah has the highest baptizing missions in the United States, I think. Agreed, we should put more missionaries in places that have few or none.
India and China severely limit their presence, as do the majority of the others that have few or no full time elders or sisters.
Have full time missionaries served in the Falklands? St. Helena? The Azores? Pierre and St. Miquelon?
28 October 2021 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates News Release
"Church Leaders Visit Dubai Temple Area at Expo 2020"
https://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-leaders%C2%A0visit%C2%A0dubai-temple-area-at-expo-2020%C2%A0
Recently updated on Classic Maps, the 3 Pakistan Districts have been reinstated.
1) "Islamabad Pakistan District - 615730"
https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=34.119695,73.539841&z=7&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&q=Islamabad%20Pakistan%20District&find=stake:615730
2) "Lahore Pakistan District - 1468375"
https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=30.304218,72.358914&z=7&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&q=Lahore%20Pakistan%20District&find=stake:1468375
3) "Karachi Pakistan District - 1006258"
https://classic.churchofjesuschrist.org/maps/#ll=27.912445,66.001502&z=6&m=google.hybrid&layers=stakecenter&q=Karachi%20Pakistan%20District&find=stake:1006258
But the Islamabad 2nd Branch was consolidated.
79 Oct 29, 2021 Islamabad 2nd Branch Islamabad, Pakistan
It baffles me that a branch of 60 active members is considered "small". Sounds like it is 12 times more active than the average branch I've served in
What mission did you serve in? Russia?
A branch in Chile, Santa Juana, could be really small sometimes. Chile fused a lot of units in order to have fuller branches and wards. Santa Juana was far enough from everyone for that to not make any sense.
@Christopher Duerig:
Does that mean those Pakistan districts were discontinued previously, and have now been recreated, or that their names had disappeared on the Classic Maps for a time, but now they've reappeared?
Found this article this morning on the Church website, about groundbreaking for the Pago Pago American Samoa temple:
https://news-nz.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-and-community-leaders-break-ground-for-temple-in-american-samoa
@Jonathon Reese Whiting, I don't have the correct answer for that question. Maybe Matt can answer that for you. My personal opinion is that the Pakistan units were 3 of the sensitive units that were hidden from view on the Meetinghouse Locator and Classic Maps. But that is just my humble opinion. Maybe something changed since then in the relation the Church has with the Republic of Pakistan government. Only the Brethren could answer that. In any case, it is good news to see things are moving in the right direction. Thank you for your inquiry. It is a good question.
My thoughts are that the branches may have been considered sensitive.
Hello again, everyone! I will try not to make this into a sermon here, but I wanted to weigh in with some thoughts. First of all, an update provided on September 8 of this year included the fact that the Hymnbook and Childresn's Songbook Revision Committees were still evaluating feedback received from members and friends of the Church. Given the fact that the relevant committees are still reviewing submitted feedback from Church members, it will likely be a few years before the new hymnbooks are available. If I'm remembering correctly, the last major overhaul of the Church's hymnbook was done in 1985, so I could see a scenario that enables the new books to be issued at some point during 2025.
I also wanted to add that I'm surprised that the PDF versions of the November magazines are not yet available, but hopefully that happens soon. And in addition to the groundbreaking taking place for the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple on Saturday, the pre-dedication youth devotional for the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple was held last Sunday evening, and that was followed by the traditional cornerstone ceremony occurring last night before the 4 (or 5) general dedicatory sessions that were held at 9:00 and 11:00 AM and 1:00 and 3:00 PM (with a final session, if needed, being held at 5:00 or 6;00 PM). All times listed there are local.
One other thing I have been wondering in passing about is whether the Church might look at major realignments for each geographical area of the Church. I'm thinking that might be feasible in the Pacific islands, Latin America, and Africa, but beyond that, I'm not sure what specifically to anticipate. Hope these musings, such as they are, are helpful to all who read them. I'll step off my soapbox now.
China of course is very restrictive. One of the challenges with India is that it can change from very restrictive to very open and back within a few years period. This partly depends on the party in power, but also partly on the personalities of individual officials at Indian consulates in the US. This yo-yo effect makes planning for missionary work in India challenging. I’m sure India is not the only country with circumstances like that, which I think is part of why it is so important to try to figure out why, when missionaries are not able to enter the country for a few years, the church sometimes thrives as it did in Ghana, and sometimes more or less collapses in the absence of missionaries. Maybe if we better understood what it takes to help the church culture in a specific place develop in a way where it can thrive in the absence of missionaries those yo-yo effects wouldn’t be as concerning, and the church would be more able and willing to commit lots of missionaries during the times of open access, knowing that things wouldn’t fall apart if access is later restricted.
Jonathan, no, I am friends with a number of members in Pakistan and from what I understand the districts were in fact still open, they were just restricted visibility due to cultural and safety concerns.
When I read the article my thought was that the two branches combined had 60 members, which would be obviously about 30 each. 30 members is a fairly small branch, though of course there are some half that size!
Were there any stakes created in the month of October other than the Wellington Sierra Leone and the Saratoga Springs Utah Lake Mountain stakes? Also, are there any plans or implications of stakes to be created in November and December?
-Austin
@Christopher Duerig, L. Chris Jones, and Unknown:
Thanks, guys. I'm guessing the Pakistan Districts became visible due to the recent service mission created there.
The Church News has confirmed that the dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple took place as scheduled:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2021-10-31/winnipeg-temple-canada-elder-gong-dedication-covid-19-prairie-crocus-231656
I have provided some analysis on that confirmation, which can be found in the following comment:
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2021/10/updated-temple-construction-progress.html?showComment=1635730691950#c2976834816621037044
My thanks once again to you all.
I think that Wellington and Christchurch could use temples, but I understand why people might argue one over the other.
When will Tanzania get a temple? Before Angola?
Burkina Faso would be a surprising temple location to me.
Our temples increasingly will be in places of turmoil. I have known security workers for some temples, in a way a temple creates some mini-economies, also another destination for Church funds and tithed monies.
The closest I know of a breach (possible violence) was in the phillipines maybe 20 years ago.
Eduardo, Brett Stirling is a resident of New Zealand who has commented here, and he told me well before Auckland New Zealand was announced that that city would be the second in New Zealand. Once that temple was announced, he indicated Christchurch would likely be next. But in the interim, Wellington has emerged as a nearly-as-likely prospect prospect. While either of the two could be announced next, my gut feeling is that Christchurch will be first, with Wellington announced 1-3 General Conferences after that.
Research on my end indicates that both Luanda Angola and Lome Togo are likely to have temples announced before one is announced in Tanzania, but I can't dismiss the prospect that my research could be faulty in this case.
Either way, there are many African nations for which temples could be announced in the near term. And I look forward to seeing what will happen there. Hope this comment is helpful to you.
Yes, good to know.
Based on geographic distance I suppose Dominican Republic could eventually have more than one temple, perhaps even Haiti too.
This thinking on the Caribbean reminds me that I am saddened that the Church is not growing better in islands of population like Martinique and Guadeloupe, or even Barbados, St. Vincent, or Dominica. We can hope and pray, and then get to work for the Lord.
Christchurch could be next as one pattern recently has been more temples in isolated areas. So I think one on the South island of New Zealand could be next before another on the North Island. But how easy and affordable is to to travel between islands? Flight costs? Is there a ferry and how frequent are they? How long is the trip and associated costs?
Eduardo
hello! I am also Chilean, when the restructuring of our area came, it was sad to see branches and neighborhoods close and stakes disappear and that our CHILE area would never be there again. It was disappointing, seeing that the CONVERSION, DEDICATION to the LORD and to the WORK was not real, there were many lies
Witnessing so many closed and empty churches, many for sale, after so much unremoved work, sleepless nights and tears. Years have passed and the church is still STAGNATED, it cannot TAKE OFF, it is necessary to separate the wheat from the tares.
I hope the day comes that Chile is a lighthouse, a hug
If they are from South Sudan and Nigeria these are probably Arabic as second language speakers. Especially in the case of Nigeria.
The Church did not thrive in Ghana during the freeze when there were no missionaries. We need to avoid spreading falsehoods. Brother Kissi in "Walking in the Sand" makes it very clear recovery after the freeze was hard.
Although that was an outlawing of the Church, not just banning missionaries.
In Liberia and Sierra Leone the most recent disruptions such as from Ebola did not significantly slow growth. However the early Civil wars had quite negative effects.
Well Angola has a stake and Tanzania does not. Uganda would seem higher priority for a temple with 3 stakes.
JPL, I guess I wound up perpetuating a myth on accident if that is the case. I suppose it’s a reminder to take the Gipper’s adage “trust, but verify” to heart.
A unit with 60 attending would be a small unit. My branch runs closer to 80, sometimes more. Having grown up in a ward in the suburbs I can point out many ways we are small. One huge cause of smallness is low numbers of children and youth. The reasons for that lack are complex.
@ L Chris. Travel between the two islands can be expensive, you can travel Christchurch to Hamilton or Auckland for around is about $500 - $600 return.
The drive/ferry/drive option is around 15 hours+ with the ferry for one adult and a car costing $450+ and then adding petroleum would be at least $700+. Adding accomodation and other travelling costs you can see how both options could blowout quickly.
Brett, that's good information to know. What would be the cost for someone in Christchurch, say, if there were a temple in Wellington, eliminating most of the driving on the North Island?
Brycen, good question.
Christchurch to Wellington would be $400-$600.
Dunedin is the most southern city in New Zealand with a stake. Flights could cost $600 to $900 return to Hamilton and maybe $400 return to Wellington.
There are only 2 stakes and a district in the south island.
Wellington has 3 stakes and would probably take another 3 futher north. Add the south island and thats 8 stakea and 1 district.
http://mywebcast.churchofjesuschrist.org/Player?eid=60238&pid=33501186641426851053736960466477537364170624&src=CloudStorage
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