by This is a short history of the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Republic of Congo. I got most of this information from the Church History Library and other sources.
The Zaire Mission (Democratic Republic of the Congo mission) was created in 1986 and covered eight countries, Zaire, (now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC), Congo Brazzaville, Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, and Burundi. African missionaries in the Zaire Mission were sent to Brazzaville starting in 1991 after the Church received official recognition from the Congolese government.
The first senior missionary couple, the Brighams, were sent to preach in Brazzaville in 1992. They didn’t speak French, but members report that they felt the spirit in their message and they organized the first branch of the Church in Brazzaville, the capital of Congo, in the neighborhood of Makelekele that year. In 1992, Congo Brazzaville was dedicated for missionary work by Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder Russel M. Nelson. The Brighams had to leave Congo because of a civil war that began in 1992. The Church grew rapidly soon after, growing from 99 members in 1991 to 800 members in 1993. The branch mission leader of the branch of Ouenze states that he baptized 400-500 converts himself in those years. Growth happened by word of mouth: members talking about the Church with family members and friends. While Congolese were joining the Church in Congo, many were also being found and taught by missionaries internationally in places like France, Belgium, and Russia while they were studying at universities and traveling.
The Church grew from 2 branches in 1991 to 5 in 1993. A branch was opened in the coastal city of Pointe-Noire in 1995. From 1997 to 1999 there was a devastating civil war that claimed the lives of 25,000 people. Missionaries were withdrawn because of the turmoil. During the civil war, bandits pillaged everything in the Ouenze branch, and they started selling the Church manuals and books in the markets for cheap prices.
Many members lost contact with the Church during the civil war of 1997 and many members of the Church also lost their lives from conflict and disease.
After the war, the Church grew rapidly from 2000 to 2003 growing from 1,919 members to 3,262 members. The Church organized its first stake in Brazzaville in 2003. An astounding 3,090 people attended the conference in which the new stake was organized, including some government officials. Activity rates at the time appear to have been some of the highest the Church had seen considering by the end of 2003 there were 3,262 members meeting in 14 congregations.
The Church grew steadily throughout the 2000s. American missionaries assigned to the DRC Kinshasa mission began serving in Pointe-Noire around 2007. Brazzaville was still considered too unsafe for American missionaries because of its close proximity to Kinshasa and the difficulty of quickly evacuating missionaries if something occurred.
In 2013, the Makelekele stake was organized in Brazzaville and in 2014 Congo split from the DRC Kinshasa Mission and became the headquarters for the Congo Brazzaville mission covering itself as well as Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea with the first mission president being President Eli Monga from DRC.
In 2015, the city of Brazzaville was deemed safe enough for American missionaries and they began serving there. In June of 2019, the third largest city in the country, Dolisie was opened for missionary work, the first time a new city had been opened in the country since Pointe-Noire in 1994. In March 2020, all missionaries were evacuated from Congo because of the coronavirus pandemic and returned to their native countries in the US, France, Canada, DRC, and Ghana.
In July 2020 the Cameroon Yaoundé mission was created which covered Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea. The Congo Brazzaville Mission now only covers Congo.
In September 2020, the new mission president for Congo, President Magre, entered the country and Congolese missionaries from DRC returned to Congo to resume missionary work in Congo. In October 2020, the first stake in Pointe-Noire was organized by Elder Sitati of the Seventy. In November 2020, the Diata stake was organized in Brazzaville bringing the total number of stakes in the country to four. In December 2020, American missionaries returned to Congo. Sometime in 2021, the city of Ouesso bordering Cameroon became fourth city in the country to open to missionary work.
In April 2022 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple will be built in Brazzaville. Like with the Kinshasa temple across the Congo River, it may take up to eight years for the Brazzaville temple to be complete so sometime in 2030.
Authors note: It’s amazing how things have come full circle for Congo, from it being dedicated by President Nelson in 1992 to a temple being announced by him in 2022 thirty years later. It is a miracle!
Sources: LeBaron Interviews https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record?id=2b201ab5-a793-4aff-ae79-78d60b9ef98a&view=browse
Cumorah.com https://cumorah.com/index.php?target=countries&cnt_res=2&wid=52&cmdfind=Search
Cumorah.com https://cumorah.com/index.php?target=countries&cnt_res=1&wid=52&cmdfind=Search
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