by In June 2019, the small city of Dolisie in between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville in Congo was opened to missionary work. The city itself has a population of about 40,000 people. Four young missionaries under the supervision of President Thompson were sent there as the first missionaries to help grow the small branch of about 60 members.
I’ve interviewed two of the first missionaries to serve in Dolisie to understand their experience of opening a new city to missionary work.
Here’s the advice that one missionary Elder Christensen gave:
According to him the biggest challenge of opening a new city is going blind into an area that no missionary has been to before and not having information about what it’s like. He says missionaries shouldn’t worry about that fear and that and that they should be excited to be the first missionaries to serve in a new city.
He says that missionaries should open their mouths at anytime of the day and talk to everybody. Missionaries should do lots of contacting. A lot of unexpected people became strong members of the branch when he contacted people.
The most effective ways to find people is through networking since that the other cities outside of Pointe Noire and Brazzaville are much smaller. If you meet one person you can meet other people. In one neighborhood in Dolisie, they met one young man who later invited all of his friends to church.
When missionaries open new cities they should be creative and try to think outside the box. The first missionaries in Dolisie did lots of youth activities; they focused a lot on the youth and young adults.
Elder Christensen said that since Dolisie is a small city it’s hard to find new people to teach. Working with branch leaders, they organized a lot of activities with branch through which members could invite people to. He recommends that missionaries plan a lot of activities and try different tactics. He also recommends that they find big population centers of the city like the central market to contact around and that they should contact around the Church building.
Working with members
Missionaries need to pay special attention to the members since they have been away from established wards and branches for a long time. Missionaries need to go over the basic lessons of the gospel with them again and focus on meeting with the members several times during the week.
Missionaries can also organize Family Home Evenings with the members where they can invite their friends as well as give the members challenges to read the scriptures and other things to build their testimonies.
Finally Elder Christensen said that opening a new city is exciting. Don’t take it lightly, work as hard as you can and it will be the best experience of your mission.
Go luck to all missionaries opening new cities in Congo Brazzaville!
