A History of the Church in

Cameroon

Overview

Many citizens of Cameroon joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in other countries and then returned home. Beginning in 1991, these local members gathered together to form the core of the Church in Yaoundé, meeting and initiating the process for official government recognition. In 1993, the Bastos Branch was organized, with Zang Gervais Gerard as president and Ngo Peggy as Relief Society president, and the Church received legal recognition. The following year, the first three full-time missionaries from Cameroon began service in the Ivory Coast Abidjan Mission.

The Church presence in Cameroon continued to grow, both in terms of the expanding Latter-day Saint congregations and an increasing number of humanitarian projects that served all members of local society. A temple trip in 2005 was memorable not only because of the obstacles members overcame as they journeyed to the house of the Lord but also because of the energy and enthusiasm this shared experience subsequently brought to local Church culture. Local members shouldered the responsibility of leading Cameroon’s numerous branches, responding to the words of the Lord’s timeless call: “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice” (see Psalm 50:5).