First meetinghouse in east African nation
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The first meetinghouse of the Church in Ethiopia was dedicated Nov. 30 in the nation's capital of Addis Ababa, with some 275 members in attendance. What has been called a "significant milestone of Church involvement" in this eastern African nation was presided over by Elder Steven E. Snow of the Seventy and president of the Africa Southeast Area, who offered the dedicatory prayer.
"The new chapel will be of great benefit to the saints in Addis Ababa as the Church continues to grow," Elder Snow said of the occasion. "As the first chapel in this country, it will stand as a symbol that the Church is now firmly established in Ethiopia."
The new meetinghouse, which was introduced to the public during an open house on Nov. 29, will serve members in the Megenagna Branch, one of three branches in Ethiopia. The other two are the Bekulobet and Debre Zeit branches.
During the dedicatory services, Elder Snow counseled the members that there are three holy places which ought to be in the lives of all Church members — the temple, the home and the chapel. "Real happiness comes from the peace within as we live close to our Father in Heaven," he said.
He assured the congregation that heaven is as close to those in Addis Ababa as it is to those living in Johannesburg or in Salt Lake City. "It is for us to get closer to heaven by the lives we live, by the commandments we obey, by the covenants we keep."
Kenya Nairobi Mission President Raymond Botterell expressed gratitude to the Ethiopian government for permission to proselytize and credited LDS Charities for its relief work, which helped lay the foundation for favorable recognition of the Church in this land.
A building contractor by trade, President Botterell drew an analogy between individual lives and the foundation of the new chapel. "So much of what cannot be seen (is) the framework of our existence. Likewise, the chapel's foundation is not seen but is the most important aspect of the building we are dedicating today."
Megenagna Branch President Patrick Onedo, a refugee from his homeland of Uganda, spoke of the miracle that occurred in transforming the grounds from "the bush" to the beautiful new chapel that is now ready for members' use.
He said that the new chapel "is beautiful, but will be ugly if not used generously and respectfully by the members. Our gospel is not selfish; we must share it. There is no U-turn in Church membership. We must keep going straight ahead."
Over the past two decades, the Church has offered humanitarian service in this country where famine has threatened millions. In 1985, the Church sent Elder M. Russell Ballard, then of the Presidency of the Seventy and now of the Quorum of the Twelve, to Africa with relief supplies for Ethiopia. Accompanying him was Glenn L. Pace, who later served in the Presiding Bishopric and is now a member of the Seventy who recently served in the Africa West Area presidency. The Church donated some $2.8 million for famine relief and irrigation development in Ethiopia and neighboring countries, such as Sudan.
In mid-March of this year, the Church shipped 4,000 tons of food to Ethiopian children suffering from famine. An additional 2,000 tons of food was sent in June.
Some of the earliest members of the Church in Ethiopia were expatriates attached to embassies. The Church was legally registered on Sept. 16, 1993, in Addis Ababa, and the Addis Ababa Branch was created on Jan. 5, 1994. Today, there are 507 members in the three branches under the supervision of the Kenya Nairobi Mission.
Information for this article was compiled from details submitted to the Church News by Dr. John R. Clark, a neurosurgeon who does volunteer work in Africa with Deseret International Foundation; correspondence sent by Elder Ferrin Orton and Sister Peggy Orton, public affairs missionaries in the Africa Southeast Area; and from the Deseret Morning News 2004 Church Almanac.
