Elder of Seventy: Phenomenal church growth in West Africa
By Angela Davis
NewsNet Staff Writer
3/7/2002
Thursday March 7, Elder Glenn L. Pace of the First Quorum of the Seventies spoke to BYU students about the growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Africa.
He was the last speaker at the Colloquium of Revealed Religion in Africa: Christianity and Islam. He joined four other guest speakers from universities throughout the United States and a diplomat from Senegal.
"I could take a dart, throw it at a map of Nigeria and go to that spot," Elder Pace said. "Literally, I could have a ward within a month."
He said the growth of the Church in West Africa, where he presided, is phenomenal. The church is registered in only 12 countries in western and central Africa, and it still grows more quickly than they can expand to the other areas. Missionary work started in Africa in 1978. Today, there are over 115,000 members. "To put it into perspective," Elder Pace said, "it took 48 years before the total Church membership grew to 115,000."
Susan Anneveldt, who grew up in South Africa, attended the colloquium to get a feel of the spiritual growth in Africa. She said she agreed with what Elder Pace said. "There is an inherent religious belief among African people," said Anneveldt, 41, senior from Sutton Bridge, England, majoring in linguistics. "They have a humility."
Elder Pace said the church also faces many challenges in Africa. War, crime, poverty, the multiple languages, cultures and tribes name a few. As part of the welfare activities in Africa, the church teaches the African members how to become more self-reliant. Elder Pace said self-reliance is a pre-requisite for service and developing Christ-like love. "The more self-reliant the people are, the more they can give. The more they can give, the more sanctified they become," Elder Pace said. He said the real long-term gift of God to Africans will be the changes in people as they live the gospel.
Susan Rasmussen, professor of anthropology from the University of Houston, said theology is not the central issue of the anthropology of religion. While Anneveldt lived in Europe, she saw the difference of religious acceptance between African people and Europeans. "There is quite a contrast when people are teachable how the gospel can grow," Anneveldt said.
She said that while she was living in Belgium, she remembered masses of Africans joining the church. She said when some would return to Africa, some became church leaders.
Even though the church cannot allow the branches in Africa to outgrow the roots of the tree, Elder Pace said Africans have faith. He quoted a letter he received from a 16-year-old priest during a time of persecution in Ghana.
The letter said, "I know the church is true, and nothing can take me and my family away from it."
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