“There Was Joy”

In 1943 Frederick and Georgina Spear moved from South Africa to Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). They established a Sunday School in their home with other Latter-day Saints and began sharing the gospel. When missionaries arrived in 1951, the Spears had prepared several converts for baptism. A branch was soon organized in Luanshya with Frederick Spear as branch president. As the Church grew, a second branch was organized in Kitwe in 1961. In 1969, however, missionary visas were refused by the government of the newly formed independent Republic of Zambia. The Church’s growth was halted, and by 1971 the branches in Zambia had been dissolved and most Church members had left.

Although Zambians requested information and support from Church headquarters, there was little Church activity in Zambia for two decades. In the early 1980s, 27 unofficial congregations in five provinces were organized by Joseph Bisesa Lilema. But when Lilema was instructed to wait to register with the government until Church leaders directed him to do so, Lilema discontinued correspondence.

During the same time, Zambians living abroad began joining the Church. Johnson and Noria Makombé were baptized in 1986 in England and learned as much as they could about the Church before returning to Zambia in 1987. For four years they lived in isolation from the Church, waiting for the day when the Church would be established in Zambia. In September 1991 Noria met with Vern and Mary Marble, who were presiding over the Zimbabwe Harare Mission, and asked how she could pay their tithing. Learning that the Church needed to be registered first, Noria and Johnson spent the next several months submitting applications to register the Church, saving their tithing, hosting weekly meetings, and working with prospective convert Veronica Milimo to prepare for missionaries to come to Zambia.

Shortly after the missionaries’ arrival in April 1992, Johnson Makombé ran into Crispin Mwakamui, an old friend, and invited him and his family to church. The service in the Makombés’ home that Sunday left an impression on Crispin and his wife, Mildred, and in June they were baptized with three of their children. One week later the Lusaka Branch was organized with Johnson Makombé as president and Veronica Milimo as Relief Society president. The Makombés helped the Mwakamuis and other new converts grow into their new responsibilities. Shortly after her baptism, Mildred was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting. “Me? Standing in the front to give a talk?” she thought. “How will I do it?” Noria reassured her. “The Lord will help you,” she said. “If there are any other questions, we are ready to assist you.” With Noria’s encouragement and much prayer and preparation, Mildred overcame her hesitancy.

In August 1992 then Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came to Lusaka to dedicate Zambia for the preaching of the gospel. “There was joy,” Mildred recalled. “There were smiles all over.” The Church continued to progress in Lusaka and also took root in the Copperbelt region. In June 1993 a second branch was organized in Lusaka, with Crispin Mwakamui as branch president.