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Michael L. Larsen

Prologue: What Brought Us to Africa? (The Church in the DR Congo: A Personal Perspective, Part 1)

October 23, 2018 by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw

Baptismal Day near Ikot Eyo, Cross River State, Nigeria, by Janath R. Cannon. Elder Edwin Q. Cannon, Jr. baptizing. Photo taken 4 March 1979. Following the June 1978 revelation on the priesthood, the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ was taken to West Africa. On 4 March 1979, at a small stream near the village of Ikot Eyo, Cross River State, Nigeria, sixty-seven persons were baptized [by Elder Edwin Q. Cannon, Jr.]. One hundred seventeen had been baptized the day before. Supervising the baptism (at left and right of the baptismal line) are the Cross River State District president [Ime Eduok] and his first counselor [E. D. Ukuot]. They were the first two black brethren in [West] Africa to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.
In a presentation at the 2018 FairMormon Conference,[i]I shared stories of some of the faithful Saints in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa). In this series of presentations, I would like to speak from a more personal perspective, reflecting on the meaning of that experience for Kathleen and me, and pondering some of the dynamics of numerical and spiritual growth of the Church in that country.

The series is organized into eight parts:

  1. Prologue: What brought us to Africa?
  2. Snapshot of the Church in the DR Congo
  3. The missionaries
  4. What attracts people to the Church?
  5. Building from centers of strength — Kisangani
  6. Building from centers of strength — Wagenya and elsewhere
  7. The temple: A light to the world
  8. “The labourers are few”

Part one is a prologue that begins by outlining some important milestones in the history of the Church in West Africa. This will be presented through the eyes of my mother and father who served in Nigeria twice, beginning in 1980. I will then give a few of the circumstances of our call as a couple as senior missionaries to the DR Congo.

This video presentation is available on the Interpreter YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAvgzAWDswI

 

Endnotes

[i]The video version of the entire FairMormon presentation “Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo” is available on the FairMormon YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJl9FvLKmjw. The seven segments of that presentation, in an edited and somewhat expanded form, are available for reading at Meridian Magazine(www.ldsmag.com) and the website of The Interpreter Foundation(https://interpreterfoundation.org).

Filed Under: LDS History, Power of Testimony, Racial Issues, Temples Tagged With: Aba, An Redd Bradshaw, Barbara Crockett, Brent Johnson, Brian August Espenshied, Church in Africa, conversion, David W. Eka, Doug Weaver, DR Congo, Edwin Q. "Ted" Cannon, Eka-Etta, Elma S. Bradshaw, Ephraim S. Etete, Eugene Nwagbara, Ginette Baehrel, Hervé Baehrel, Janath Russell Cannon, Jeff Salt, Jonathan D. Bradshaw, Kevin Curtis, Lamar S. Williams, LaNore Marion Dorton Espenshied, Lazarus and Sylvia Onitchi, Leslie Johnson, Malika Aomar, Marcus B. Nash, Marjorie Sackley, Mark J. Bradshaw, Michael L. Larsen, Neal A. Maxwell, Nigeria, Nnenna Iroweje Nwagbara, Nyal B. Williams, Omar Aomar, Patricia Etete, Patricia Larsen, Paul Crockett, Port Harcourt, Rachel Ivins Wilson Mabey, Rendell Noel Mabey, Robert E. Sackley, Robert W. Bradshaw, Samuel H. Bradshaw, Sandy Bradshaw, Scott B. Bradshaw, Thomas M. Bradshaw, Uduka Ituma, Warren L. Bradshaw

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