WORKS OF GOD

Global

One important way the Church is helping remove barriers to education in Mozambique

By Mary Richards 20 May 2022, 8:15 PM CAT

View 2 more

Children in front of the newly built classrooms at Magude Primary School in Maputo, Mozambique. The Church and No Poor Among Us helped the school upgrade to brick-and-mortar buildings in 2022.

  |  

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

---

Imagine trying to learn in a makeshift mud classroom that floods every time it rains — or having no classroom at all, only a spot under a tree. 

Many students in Mozambique face overcrowding and lack of infrastructure. More than half of girls drop out of school by grade five. Among students who finish primary school, nearly two-thirds leave the system without basic reading, writing and math skills.

Recently The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the nonprofit organization No Poor Among Us replaced makeshift classrooms in underprivileged schools with brick-and-mortar buildings, helping 2,340 students have space to study and overcome barriers to their education, reported the Church’s Africa Newsroom.

No Poor managing director Josh Phillips — who served a mission for the Church in Mozambique — said one of the schools they assisted was Magude Primary School. “The kids at the primary school were learning in a mud school,” said Phillips. “Every time it rained the school would fall and the school would have to rebuild. As a result, the students lost more than half of their school days, every year.”

Children learning in a dilapidated makeshift classroom at Magude Primary School in Maputo, Mozambique. The Church and No Poor Among Us built new classrooms for the school in 2022.

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church was able to replace the makeshift buildings with brick-and-mortar classrooms, and build bathrooms as well, reported Newsroom.

At Picoco Primary School, 1,300 children were being taught with just three classrooms. The school’s director, Gilberto Albano Chiburee, said the school had been able to accommodate 200 students among those three classrooms, but the number of students kept increasing.

Students then were divided into three sessions, morning, afternoon and evening. When the number of students passed 500, Chiburee and the faculty started planting trees. 

“We used these trees as makeshift classrooms because we did not have any other option. We had sought the help of various companies, nonprofit organizations and the government but to no avail,” Chiburee said.

Children learning under a tree at Picoco Primary School in Maputo, Mozambique. The Church and No Poor Among Us are working together to build new classrooms for the school in 2022.

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The first and second graders were given the classrooms, while third through seventh graders learned under trees.

“It broke my heart to have children arrive as early as 6 a.m. only to sit on the hard and uncomfortable ground until noon. Some of the children started experiencing back problems,” said Chiburee.

When the Church and No Poor heard about the school, they arranged to construct five classrooms. Newsroom reported the news was received with great excitement, gratitude and tears from teachers, students and families. Chiburee expressed how thankful he was that no student would be sent home as a result of rain or wind.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of June this year. An additional 900 students will be accommodated. 

The Church’s Africa South Area welfare manager, Phillip Moatlhodi, said another project they tackled was Matole Gare Primary School. “The conditions prior to the start of the project were not ideal,” said Moatlhodi. “The parents had started to construct two classrooms to improve the conditions of their children, however, because of the impact of COVID-19 they were not able to complete the classrooms.”

The Church funded the construction of two classrooms and private donors funded the construction of three more. Then they gave five new classrooms to a small, struggling school in the rural area of Mahubo. About 900 additional students can now be accommodated thanks to this effort, reported Newsroom.

LINK:  https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/5/20/23218213/classrooms-church-humanitarian-education-in-mozambique

THE CHURCH NEWS

GOD LEADERSHIP

Leaders & Ministry

Elder Rasband visits southern Africa, meets with Mozambique president

By Mary Richards 22 May 2022, 5:00 PM CAT

View 9 more

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gives a copy of the Book of Mormon in Portuguese to Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi, in Mozambique on Thursday, May 19, 2022.

  |  

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

---

A meeting in Maputo, Mozambique, this week marked the first time an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met with a head of state in that country.

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi met Thursday, May 19.

Their meeting began with prayer at the invitation of Nyusi. Elder Rasband prayed for the country, for the Lord’s guidance to come to all leaders of the nation, and for the peace of Jesus Christ to be brought to existing conflicts in the land, reported the Church’s Africa Newsroom.

Elder Rasband thanked the president for allowing religious freedom in the country. “It’s no small thing to us that you and your government have created such a wonderful spirit of freedom of religion,” he said.

The Church of Jesus Christ has grown from 50 members in Mozambique in 1991 to more than 15,000 members today, with a temple to be built in Beira.

The temple, which is in planning and approval stages, is a beacon of hope to people in the country, who have dealt with challenges from COVID-19, political unrest, tropical storms and unemployment, Africa Newsroom reported.

Nyusi said they await the temple. “It will add physical beauty, but above all, it will be a place of peace and humility and coexistence between cultures, between people and between generations,” he said.

Seated, Elder Ronald A. Rasband, left, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, with his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband, and Elder S. Mark Palmer of the Presidency of the Seventy, with his wife, Sister Jacqui Palmer, meet with local leaders and dignitaries in Maputo, Mozambique, on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Elder Rasband also spoke in the meeting about the Church’s commitment to help alleviate suffering in Mozambique. The Church has spent $17 million on humanitarian projects in the country over the past 10 years, including disaster relief, building classrooms and schools, and training farmers in rural areas. 

Nyusi said those efforts give skills and empower the individual, while adding to the fabric of society. In its humanitarian endeavors, the Church can contribute “values of solidarity, values of peace, tolerance, forgiveness, and values of work,” he said.

Also present at the meeting were Elder S. Mark Palmer of the Presidency of the Seventy, Elder Edward Dube, General Authority Seventy who is serving in the Africa South Area presidency, Sister Melanie Rasband, Sister Jacqui Palmer and other local Church representatives.

Samo Paulo Gonçalves, a counselor in the Mozambique Maputo Mission presidency who works as a technical adviser to Nyusi, said the meeting was a great honor for the Church and a historic moment. “There are a lot of leaders in Mozambique, and the president doesn’t meet all of them, but he decided to meet us,” he said.

His wife, Albertina Gonçalves, said: “We are going to work hard as Church members to make sure that the commitments that Elder Rasband made to the president will all take place as he promised.”

‘This is just the beginning’ for Mozambique

Elder Rasband and the other general authorities also met with other dignitaries and opinion leaders while in Mozambique, and held a meeting with nearly 3,000 Church members both in person and virtually.

Elder Palmer said Apostles are called to go out in the name of the Lord and under the direction of the First Presidency to build up the Church and preach the gospel as special witnesses of Jesus Christ.  

“To have Elder Rasband come to Mozambique in that capacity … is a great blessing to this country. Not only for our members, but for the country as a whole,” Elder Palmer said.

Elder Dube said the Spirit was powerfully felt on several occasions during the visit: “It has been confirmed to me over and over during this trip that we are led by prophets, seers and revelators,” he said.

In social media posts about the experience, Elder Rasband said he was told the gathering was the largest gathering in the history of the Church in Mozambique, and he told the members “this is just the beginning.”

“As we turn our hearts to the Prince of Peace, the sun is always on the horizon. Despite our very real challenges, we have infinite reasons to hope,” Elder Rasband posted.

He also wrote about giving Nyusi a copy of the Book of Mormon in his language of Portuguese. “I was privileged to share this sacred book with him as another sign of hope of the opportunity for good things to come in this country,” wrote Elder Rasband.

Instruction for leaders throughout Africa South

Before the meetings in Mozambique, Elder Rasband led an instruction meeting with Elder Palmer and the Africa South Area presidency — Elder Christoffel Golden and his counselors, Elder Dube and Elder Ciro Schmeil — for leaders throughout the Church’s Africa South Area.

District presidents, stake presidents, mission presidents and temple presidents from Angola to Zimbabwe were at the Sandton chapel in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Elder Rasband has traveled to Africa six times in the past few years, and was thrilled to meet in person with members as COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease, reported Africa Newsroom.

“Technology is wonderful, but nothing can replace looking into someone’s eyes,” Elder Rasband said following the meeting on Saturday, May 14. “It just feels wonderful.”

Elder Duane D. Bell, Area Seventy from South Africa, left, speaks with Elder Edward Dube, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Africa South Area presidency, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 14, 2022.

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

COVID-19 was a theme in many of the challenges that were raised in the session.

“Leaders come to a meeting like this and they’re looking for hope. Just meeting is hopeful, and being able to be with each other and ask these questions — it’s hopeful,” said Elder Rasband.

“[W]hat is wonderful is that we all serve the Prince of Peace, which is Jesus Christ. He is the great Healer, and He’s going to help families and He’s going to help people. And His underservants — the leaders of the Church — are going to do that too.”

Video: Mask project in Mozambique helps traders in dense Beira markets

President Gabriel Chinomwe of the Blantyre Malawi District told Africa Newsroom that many questions that leaders often struggled with were addressed.

“At the same time, I noted that the challenges that were shared by brethren from other units are common in our units,” he said. “It helped me to see that this work is one. We all have common challenges.”

Elder Dunstan G.B.T. Chadambuka, an Area Seventy from Zimbabwe, said the experience was “exceptional,” and inspired of the Lord. “We felt a new brotherhood, a new love for one another, and a desire to go and do better and do more. This has really lifted the brethren up.”

Elder Amândio A. Feijó, an Area Seventy from Angola, said it was an enlightening session. “We’ve been taught things that we already know, but it was so spiritual in a very simple way.”

President Lebohang F. Mosia of the Phuthaditjhaba South Africa District said, “There were moments when I felt like the Lord was literally speaking.” 

When Elder Rasband expressed the love of President Russell M. Nelson for each of the leaders present, “it felt so real,” said President Mosia. “It felt like the Savior was saying he loves me.”

LINK:  https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/5/22/23218236/elder-rasband-visits-southern-africa-meets-with-mozambique-president

THE CHURCH NEWS

GOD OF MIRACLES

Global

A joyful flood: Hundreds of baptisms occurring in Mozambique after COVID-19 restrictions ease

By Mary Richards 6 July 2022, 9:52 PM SAST

View 5 more

Missionaries with baptismal candidates from the areas of Trevo and Liberdade in the Mozambique Maputo Mission, at the Liberdade Ward building in Maputo, Mozambique, on April 30, 2022.

  |  

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

---

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, the government of Mozambique implemented rules prohibiting baptisms and other religious ordinances.

The number of people waiting to be baptized grew over the past two years. On April 20, the president of Mozambique announced the restrictions would be eased and baptisms could take place again.

Some 900 people were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mozambique in the two months since restrictions were lifted, reported the Church’s Africa Newsroom.

Elder Stephen Woodbury, a senior missionary in the Mozambique Maputo Mission, said they hurried to get ready and get started after the announcement.

“Interviews were conducted, baptismal fonts scrubbed and baptismal clothes cleaned in preparations for the first baptisms in Mozambique, set for Saturday, April 23,” Elder Woodbury said. “The first baptism took place at 8 a.m. in Magoanine, where a faithful security guard for the chapel was baptized, after he had cheerfully helped clean and fill the font the day before.”

Antônio and Angelina Pondja, center, on their baptism day in front of the Magoanine Ward building in Maputo, Mozambique, April 23, 2022. Antônio Pondja is a guard for the chapel and waited a long time to be baptized.

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Baptisms continued throughout that day and into the evening in 15 areas of the mission, he said, “with a total of 63 people being baptized, limited only by the number of baptismal clothes that were available.”

Read more: Elder Rasband visits southern Africa, meets with Mozambique president

The Beira Mozambique Mission saw similar events take place. Jaime Casa Branca, 23, had been waiting for the announcement that baptisms could take place again. He met the missionaries in the street outside his home at the beginning of the year.

“I was scared at one point, wondering, ‘When is my baptism going to take place?’” he said. “But I continued to be faithful, knowing that one day the COVID restrictions would be lifted.”

Branca said the day of his baptism “was the happiest day of my life.”  

Cleidy Maria Francisco, center, with other baptismal candidates in Nelspruit, South Africa, April 9, 2022. They traveled over the border from Mozambique in order to have the opportunity to be baptized, before Mozambique lifted the restrictions.

Credit: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Cleidy Maria Francisco, 23, had also been waiting. Her baptism came six months after she first met the missionaries.

“I felt really anxious,” she said. “But I kept thinking, maybe God sees the need for me to learn more before I take this step.” She continued to attend Church and study the gospel until she was able to get baptized.

“I remember everything about that day,” Francisco said. “The ultimate joy came when my father performed the baptism.”

Entering the waters of baptism was a moment of joy and relief for Flávia Amosse, age 51.

“It was as if I had been on a long, long journey,” Amosse said. “It felt like I was dusty and sweaty, and I could now finally take a shower. When the baptism came, it was like the waters were there to cleanse me.”

Elder Woodbury told the Church News that the Mozambique Maputo Mission president, President Osvaldo Dias, had been fasting weekly for nearly a year and a half that baptisms would be allowed again. 

Missionaries in Mozambique said they felt a new and reverent spirit of gratitude during the baptismal meetings — and they knew the Lord answered their fasting and prayers to allow this work to begin again in the country. 

Elder Koby Hilbig said, “Our bishop repeatedly said that the angels of heaven were blowing their trumpets, celebrating the grand work that will follow this miracle of baptism opening.”

Elder Gabriel Njange and Elder Nelson Canamala shared how they saw the determination and joy of investigators as they entered the water to make a covenant with Heavenly Father and they were “very happy to live this moment of great joy.”

Now two months after being baptized, Amosse, Francisco and Branca say the gospel has changed their lives.

Said Amosse: “Now that I’ve joined the Church, my experience has been great. I feel like I have more family. I belong to a family of Saints. I love the fact that there are other women to talk to, and other women can talk to me.”

Francisco said: “Ever since I joined the Church I am a much happier person. I feel it was the best decision that I have ever made.”

Branca baptized his sister in June, and several other relatives were baptized in the ensuing weeks. 

“I am so happy to share this experience with people I love,” he said.

LINK:  https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/7/6/23218859/hundreds-of-baptisms-in-mozambique-africa-covid-19-pandemic-restrictions-ease

THE CHURCH NEWS

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints POWER

Global

‘God truly sees and blesses all of His children’: More than 100 people baptized in remote Nigerian city

Combined efforts of missionaries, local leaders and members result in 104 people being baptized in Mangu, Nigeria, in March and April

By Sydney Walker 15 May 2023, 3:57 PM SAST

New members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Mangu, Nigeria, pose for a photo on their baptism day, April 10, 2023.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

---

For people who live in Mangu, Nigeria, the closest meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a nearly two-hour drive away. Many members don’t have vehicles in this remote area. Attending church was nearly impossible. 

But in early 2023, things changed.

According to a news story on the Church’s Africa Newsroom, President Mathias N. Niambe of the Nigeria Lagos Mission was inspired to work with his full-time missionaries to establish Church units in some of the more remote areas of Nigeria, specifically in the Jos District, Plateau State. One of the areas he identified was Mangu.

It was an answer to the prayers of many members in Mangu, specifically Simon Panan Mwanchi, who desired to share the gospel with his family, friends and neighbors. 

President Niambe traveled to Mangu to meet with him and other members. President Niambe promised that the Lord had not forgotten them and invited them to prepare the way for missionaries by sharing the gospel. He also met with local municipal and tribal leaders and was warmly received as he shared the Church’s desire to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in their town.

The first missionaries arrived in Mangu in January and were astounded by what they found — dozens of individuals who had been prepared to be taught. Over the next four months, the missionaries met with larger and larger groups of people, several of whom were baptized.

Church leaders and missionaries welcome people of Mangu to their baptism on April 10, 2023. A total of 33 individuals were baptized that day.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Elder Joseph Success Menjor of the Nigeria Lagos Mission said: “With the help and support of our mission president and his companion, the district president and his counselors, and Brother Simon, who worked vehemently with his family and friends, we have had 104 convert baptisms in Mangu.” 

The first baptismal service was held on March 15 for 43 individuals. A group of 33 was later baptized on April 10. Most recently, 28 new members were baptized on April 30. 

“This service was more than just baptismal services,” said President Joseph Samson Garba, second counselor in the Jos District presidency, of the first baptismal service. “It was a day for rekindling faith, a day to remember covenants, and a day to rejoice as family in the Lord’s kingdom. God truly sees and blesses all of His children.”

The members in Mangu are holding sacrament meeting in their town with support from priesthood leadership in Jos as they hope for a new branch to one day be established.

LINK:  https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2023/5/15/23722006/mangu-nigeria-104-baptisms-missionary-effort-march-april?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cn-social&utm_campaign=facebookpage-en&utm_content=i%20am%20lds&fbclid=IwAR2nFlQMZKt7OPRYp_2ocQ1y-kQuRpSxnN7d-t-WUOzIPkREPc_tDmvxLG8

THE CHURCH NEWS