“If I Survive Here, … I’m Going to Serve”

Over the past half century, an influx of migrant workers and political refugees has changed the demographics of Europe. The Church has grown considerably among these migrant and refugee populations in many countries. By 2007, 60 percent of all convert baptisms in the Europe Area were immigrants. In 2012, 20 percent of all Church members in Italy were immigrants.

Bolaji Oyebanji Adepoju was baptized in his native Nigeria. After his baptism, religious persecution forced him and other family members to flee to Europe. During the difficult journey across the Mediterranean from Tripoli, Adepoju’s brothers were killed. Grieving and filled with fear, Adepoju uttered a desperate prayer to his Heavenly Father: “God, … if I survive here,” he promised, “I’m going to serve you.” His prayer was answered. After arriving in Italy safely, he resettled near Naples, where he became a member of the Castellammare Branch. In 2015, he was called as a full-time missionary in the Italy Rome Mission.