Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Nigeria recently marked the 40th anniversary of the church and its incredible growth in Nigeria and West Africa.

The three-day celebration featured the creation of the church’s 100th stake (diocese) in West Africa, a cultural day as well testimonies of pioneer members and an awards ceremony. The event was held in Lagos.

Head of the church for West Africa and the president of Africa West Area, Elder Terence Vinson, said the church had experienced rapid growth in the last 40 years. Membership of the church, he said, had doubled in the five years that he had lived in Nigeria. Comparing the growth of the church to that of the mustard seed, he said the Latter Day Saints started with five persons in Isolo, Lagos, but now has congregations spread across Nigeria and West Africa. In Nigeria, the church has about 150,000 worshippers across 50 stakes, he said.

Vinson, who will be ending his tenure as area president in West Africa this July, further noted that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint is a church for all people.

“Our church is very centred on family. So, we are a strong proponent of a husband respecting his wife and husband and wife living in harmony and teaching their children in love rather than out of fear. These are things people learn as they grow in the church. When the people join the church does not matter. What God considers important is if they have embraced the gospel and are living the commandment of Jesus, growing individually and in family,” he said.

According to Elder Adeyinka Ojediran, Area Seventy, Africa West Area, the church, globally, is older than 40years, as it was established on April 16, 1830.

He said: “In West Africa, the church started in 1978. The first stake was created about 30 years ago. Presently, the church has increased from one to 100 stakes.

“Our 40 years celebration is in appreciation to God for bringing the gospel to this part of the world and for the blessings we have received since the church’s existence in Nigeria and West Africa. When the church started 40 years ago, it started with one branch and it grew to a stake. Here, we call a diocese a stake, and a parish is called a branch.

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“The creation of 100 stakes within 30 years in West Africa means a miraculous growth. It is a milestone and a measure of the speed at which Africans are accepting the doctrines of the church. Part of the exercise for the 40th anniversary celebration is the testimony of our pioneers of how the gospel has blessed them spiritually and otherwise.”

Edet Umoh was one of the foundation members of the church. He told the reporter how the church started with him and four other persons at Ireakari Estate, Isolo. He explained that they were in the house when a British missionary, Royal Curtis, visited. They did not quite understand all he said and did not ask much questions either, since they had never heard anything about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

He said: “In every generation, the Lord prepares the mind of certain people that will be able to build his kingdom. When Jesus was choosing his disciples, he chose uncommon people and they followed him sheepishly without asking questions.

“The same thing happened to us here in Nigeria. We did not know anything about the church neither did we see any pamphlet. We just accepted the gospel and started the church with one mind and with the love of building the church of God here in Nigeria. We started, not thinking what we were going to achieve but I must confess we have really been blessed individually for our efforts for the work of God.”

He testified that he had seen the blessings of God in the life of his wife and children. According to him, out of his five children, three are returning missionaries of the church.

Seventy-eight-year-old Claudius Ikeya, who joined the church in 1989, said God had rewarded his faithful service to the church by keeping him healthy. He asserted that he had never been ill. Jospeh Igwe, another pioneer member, said the church members were always guided by the church leadership, adding that the role of members was to obey.

Awards were later given to the first branch and district president, Kalu Oku, first missionary from Lagos, David Akindileni and Charles Ajeigbe, first stake patriarch, Joseph Igwe, and the first stake president, Adeshina Olukanni.