Conversation: The Church in Africa

Though the Church was established in South Africa in 1853, missionary work did not begin in many other parts of the continent until after 1978. “It is exciting to have the Church firmly founded and at the same time moving forward on new frontiers,” said the members of the Africa Area Presidency. To learn more about the development of the Church in Africa, the Ensign recently spoke with Elder James O. Mason of the Seventy, President of the Africa Area; Elder Dennis E. Simmons of the Seventy, First Counselor; and Elder Christoffel Golden Jr., an Area Authority Seventy and Second Counselor in the Area Presidency.

Elder Dennis E. Simmons

Elder James O. Mason

Elder Christoffel Golden Jr.

Question: In January 1997, the Africa Area reached 100,000 members. Would you tell us more about the Church’s progress and growth in Africa?

Answer: Covering territory three times larger than the United States and populated by about 600 million people, the Africa Area includes all the nations on the continent except those bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and, in addition, includes the islands of Madagascar, Mauritius, and Réunion. Of the area’s 47 countries, the Church is now officially registered in 27. The Church has 11 missions in the area, with 930 missionaries serving in 18 nations. One indication of the strength of the Church in Africa is that 436 of those missionaries were called from African countries. The Church now has 17 stakes in Africa: 8 in Nigeria, with 90 wards and branches; 6 in South Africa, with 74 wards and branches; 2 in Ghana, with 24 wards and branches; and 1 in Zaire, with 9 wards and branches. In addition, the area has 42 districts. Since 1990 the rate of convert baptisms has slowed somewhat, but the numbers are again rising, with nearly 7,000 people baptized during 1996.

Leaders continue to focus on developing the Church from centers of strength in the countries where the Church is recognized. It is amazing how rapidly the Church has progressed since President Spencer W. Kimball received the revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy males in 1978. In Africa, we find that wherever the Church is able to supervise missionaries and provide priesthood training and direction, the Church will grow. With more than 1,000 languages and many dialects spoken in the area, our proselyting efforts are concentrated in the three colonial languages of English, French, and Portuguese, which means that growth generally occurs in more urban areas. The Church is building a foundation that will greatly benefit the spread of the gospel in Africa in the future.

We are pleased and gratified by the strength of the members in Africa. The Church is reaping a great harvest of brethren and sisters who are willing to assume the responsibility of Church leadership. Families are very strong in African cultures, which helps the gospel grow rapidly and solidly. In many units the ratio of active Melchizedek Priesthood holders to total membership is as high as anywhere else in the Church, and in some stakes sacrament meeting attendance is as high as 70 percent. In training meetings we often observe that Church handbooks and manuals are marked point by point and referred to frequently. Members in Africa know the doctrines and order of the Lord’s kingdom, and their appetite for the messages and blessings of the gospel is powerful.

Q: How does the gospel help African members and leaders overcome their challenges?

A: From the time an African first responds to the light of the gospel, he or she begins to make a pioneering effort. Often new converts must leave behind cultural traditions that are inconsistent with the gospel. For many, incorporating the teachings of the gospel into their lives constitutes real pioneering. For instance, members in Africa have taken very seriously the prophetic counsel to hold a current temple recommend whether they are able to visit a temple or not. It is about as far and costly to fly from Nigeria to London as from Nigeria to Johannesburg, to give an idea of the challenges some members face in getting to a temple. Nevertheless, one mission president reported that a couple walked a round-trip distance of 18 miles for their temple recommend interview. Though they had little hope of attending the temple, they were willing to go that distance to show their loyalty to the Church and obedience to the prophet. Many examples could be told of people who undergo physical hardship as well as social and lifestyle changes on behalf of the Lord.

Two Church programs in particular are helping members embrace the gospel. Because of challenges of language and education, the gospel literacy program is of much value in Africa. Also, seminary and institute are having marvelous effects on both youth and leaders. In Zimbabwe, for example, a seminary teacher who started out the year with one student had 30 students by the end of the year. Seminary and institute are perhaps the most powerful ways to inculcate gospel values and principles into young people and help them form a gospel tradition and culture that takes the best from their own cultures and adds to it.

The story of the growth of the Church in Zaire is particularly inspiring. Some time after missionary work began in that large country, missionaries had to be withdrawn for about a year and a half due to civil unrest. However, local priesthood leaders kept the members organized, and the Church continued to do missionary work and prosper and grow. Despite those interruptions and challenges, we were able to form the Kinshasa Zaire Stake in November 1996. That stake of 2,056 members has nearly 400 active Melchizedek Priesthood holders, and more than 1,600 members attended the first stake conference, most arriving by taxi, bus, or foot. Recently full-time missionaries were again withdrawn due to civil unrest, but the progress of the Church continues in Zaire.

Q: What are your thoughts on the future of the Church in Africa?

A: The gospel of Jesus Christ as restored by the Prophet Joseph Smith is the answer to Africa’s problems of tribalism, war, and poverty. We firmly believe that as Church members continue to obey the commandments and build the kingdom, conditions on this continent will improve. The Church brings in light and truth and knowledge that affects these countries far out of proportion to the actual number of Latter-day Saints. We see the hand of the Lord outstretched to preserve the people and make it possible for the gospel to be preached among them. For instance, who would have thought the apartheid situation in South Africa would change so rapidly? We cannot measure the full impact of the Johannesburg South Africa Temple on the African continent. The influence of that temple and other temples that yet may be built will have a profound impact on changing lives and blessing nations.

During the 19th century, hundreds of converts left the Cape of Good Hope to settle in Utah. The pioneering spirit was strong then, and it is strong now. The Church is one great family. Where else in the world do so many white and black missionary companions have the opportunity to live together and work together and show others that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a true brotherhood and sisterhood? Such companionships bring together the best of two worlds. Because of what they learn from one another, neither missionary in such a companionship will ever be the same again. The same can be said for the different races and cultures within the Church throughout Africa—and throughout the world—as we come together as brothers and sisters in gospel unity.

Young women of the Tema Ward, Accra Ghana Stake, with some of their leaders. (Photo by Don L. Searle.)

Newly baptized members in Madagascar. (Photo courtesy of Richard P. Lindsay.)