Temples in Africa Articles
The Johannesburg South Africa Temple is the 36th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Jesse Haven stood on the slopes of Lion’s Head overlooking southern Africa’s Cape Town, already a historic city, on May 23, 1853, and there prophesied that many people who were honest in heart would there come to rejoice in the everlasting gospel. On that occasion, Jesse Haven, William H. Walker, and Leonard I. Smith organized the Mormon Church in South Africa and dedicated the land to missionary work.
Harsh conditions and opposition resulted in slow progress in those early days. [1] In 1865 the missionaries were pulled out, but were sent back in 1903. In 1940 missionaries were again taken out because of WWII, but sent back after the war ended. From that time forward, the membership of the Mormon Church began to grow rapidly; so much so, that the Church leaders announced the building of a Temple in Parktown, Johannesburg, South Africa.
The site was dedicated and groundbreaking... Read the rest of this article »
An announcement was made on April 2, 2000, that a Mormon temple would be built in Aba, Nigeria. This temple was the third temple to be built in Africa and the 121st operating Mormon temple worldwide. The temple site is 6.3 acres on the outskirts of the Ogbor River. A bridge had to be built over the river so that people could get to the temple. The temple is highly visible.
The people of Nigeria received the announcement of the prospective temple in their country with great joy. The members here are strong and active in the Mormon Church. Many people began joining together to worship as Mormons even before Mormon missionaries were able to enter the country. These righteous people sought out any information they could find about the Church from pamphlets that somehow came into the country and from friends who were living in the United States or other places where the Church was available. There were, of course, minor errors in ritual, doctrine, and organization in some of the churches that... Read the rest of this article »
The building of the Accra, Ghana Mormon temple was announced on February 16, 1998. Years before the temple was announced, President of the Mormon Church Gordon B. Hinckley had promised members in the area that if they fellowshipped new members they would be blessed with a temple. When the temple was announced, President Hinckley also told those in attendance that the Church had been trying to find a place to build a temple in Ghana for five years. The Accra, Ghana, temple was the second temple built in Africa and the 117th Mormon temple worldwide.
The first Mormon missionaries came to Ghana in 1978. It took only 25 years for a temple to be built there, which shows how quickly the membership of the Mormon Church has grown in the area. Many of the people present at the announcement of the temple had been some of the first converts in Ghana, and most expressed their amazement at how far the Church had come.
A site dedication and groundbreaking ceremony were held on November 16, 2001. Russell... Read the rest of this article »
