First Stake Created in Malawi

The Church organized its first stake in the African nation of Malawi on June 2nd. The Lilongwe Malawi Stake was organized from the Lilongwe Malawi District. All seven branches in the original district were reorganized into wards. Moreover, a new branch was also created when the new stake was organized. The new stake is comprised of the following congregations: the Kalambo 1st, the Kalambo 2nd, the Kawale, the Kasungu 1st, the Kasungu 2nd, and the Presidential Way Wards, and the Chinsapo Branch. 

The Church has had struggles for many years in Malawi with member retention and leadership development. The Church first organized a branch in Lilongwe sometime between 1991 and 2000, but the branch was discontinued in 2002. A branch in Lilongwe was later reinstated in 2007. A branch used to operate in Sitima - a small village approximately 50 miles northeast of Blantyre - from 1999 until 2008. The branch closed due to remote location and challenges with leadership development and sustainability. A branch once operated in northern Lilongwe that was closed in early 2020 (Kauma). The Church has worked for many years to create a stake in Blantyre, but the district has continued to not reach the minimum activity and priesthood standards to create a stake despite there being enough congregations and membership for the district to become a stake. In fact, the first meetinghouse in Blantyre was originally built to become a stake center (even though the building was constructed back in 2005 when there were only 540 members in the whole country).

Despite these challenges, much progress has occurred in the past decade with the Church's growth and stability. Sacrament meeting attendance in Lilongwe was only 30 people in late 2009, whereas today there is now a stake in Lilongwe with five wards and one branch in the city. Additional branches were created in Lilongwe in 2010 (Kauma which was discontinued in 2020), 2013 (Kalambo 1st and Presidential Way), 2016 (Kawale), and 2023 (Kalambo 2nd). Moreover, the Church has organized its first branches in northern Malawi since 2020. Kasungu is a city approximately 65 miles north of Lilongwe were a member group was organized in 2020 that quickly became a branch later that year. A second branch was created in Kasungu in 2022, and both branches have grown sufficiently to become wards in the new stake. The Lilongwe Malawi District was able to meet the more stringent qualifications to become a stake that were implemented for the worldwide Church as of January 2024. Earlier this year, a new branch was created in Mzuzu. Church membership increased by 23.3% in 2023 - the highest annual membership growth rate since 2011 when there were only 1,156 members as of the end of that year. As of year-end 2023, there were 4,776 members. The Book of Mormon translation in Chichewa is nearing completion, as only the books of Mormon, Ether, and Moroni have yet to be translated. 

The creation of the first stake in Malawi, combined with other recent developments in the Church's growth and expansion, signal that there is likely to be significant growth in the country in the near future. Unlike many other neighboring African nations, Malawi's population primarily speaks Chichewa which greatly simplifies translation work and missionary activity. Approximately two-thirds of the population is literate. The population of Malawi is approximately 21 million. Most Malawians are Christian. Malawi appears to be a strong candidate to have its own mission organized, as the country is administered by the Zambia Lusaka Mission and there has been significant recent growth in Malawi. The creation of a separate mission headquartered in Lilongwe may further sustain rapid growth that has recently begun. There are approximately one dozen cities in Malawi with at least 20,000 people without an official Latter-day Saint congregation. Prospects appear favorable to organize multiple congregations in Mzuzu where the first branch was recently organized, as Mzuzu is the third most populous city in Malawi with nearly a quarter of a million people. However, future mission outreach expansion will need to occur in rural communities, as only 18.3% of the country's population lives in urban areas. A temple announcement for Lilongwe is now a more likely possibility given a stake has been organized, although this appears unlikely until there are additional stakes organized.