Elder Rasband Sees Gospel Growth During Central Africa Ministry

“We are on the front edge of the gospel in the Africa Central Area,” said Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as he concluded a five-country ministry to East and Central Africa on Sunday, November 2, 2025.

“Everything that we’re doing here is putting in place a foundation for the Church to grow strong and be healthy and bring many, many more souls to the Lord Jesus Christ,” said the Apostle.

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The senior Church leader was joined by his wife, Melanie; Elder Kevin R. Duncan of the Presidency of the Seventy and his wife, Nancy; and members of the Africa Central Area Presidency.

In the Republic of the Congo, Elder Rasband spent time with young adults at the Church-sponsored BYU–Pathway Global Education Center in Brazzaville on Friday, October 31, one of four centers worldwide. Students in the BYU–Pathway Worldwide program receive a spiritually based education available online.

“As I went from room to room, they were packed with students. They’re not only there for Pathway, but they’re there for institute,” said Elder Rasband. “It was a joy for me to see how members and nonmembers are responding to the invitation to learn English.”

Other Global Education Centers are in Nigeria, the Philippines and South Africa.

MTC Dedication

The Apostle crossed the Congo River by boat for his final stop in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he met with local Church leaders. It’s one of the fastest-growing areas of the Church of Jesus Christ, with new missions announced and Sunday’s dedication of a missionary training center (MTC) in Kinshasa by Elder Rasband.

“Many young converts are of missionary age, and they want to go on missions. And so, this MTC in the Congo will cater more to the Congolese missionaries,” he explained.

“We have missionaries come from other parts of Africa as well, coming here to learn to speak French, or we have some French speakers learning English,” added President Myles Proudfoot, mission leader at the Democratic Republic of the Congo MTC.

“I’ve been learning so many things about the English language,” explained Elder Khalifa Kikuli, a missionary from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, who will serve in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission.

“I felt honored to be part of the missionaries who witnessed the dedication,” expressed Elder Deniel Siles Acquaah, who will be serving a mission in Cameroon. “And being the first Ghanaian missionary to be trained in the Kinshasa MTC. Elder Acquaah is the first missionary from Ghana to train at the new missionary training center.

Sister Julie Proudfoot of Lehi, Utah, has been serving as a mission leader at the MTC in Kinshasa with her husband.

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“What a wonderful occasion for them to hear an Apostle speak to them and to feel his message and to give them encouragement to go out and serve with all their heart, might, mind and strength,” said Sister Proudfoot.

In Nairobi, Kenya, the senior Church leader had a reunion with a group of young men from South Sudan he had met two years ago, including those who had accepted his challenge to serve as full-time missionaries.

Ten of the young men are currently serving missions, and others have assignments in their local congregations.

Government and Interfaith Meetings

During his ministry, Elder Rasband met with high-level government and faith leaders. In Ethiopia, he met with Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie and His Holiness Abune Mathias I, the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, on Thursday, October 30. The historic meetings took place in the capital city of Addis Ababa.

In the island nation of Seychelles, Elder Rasband was welcomed by the new vice president in the capital city of Victoria.

During his visit to Seychelles, the Rasbands and other Church leaders joined a small congregation of Latter-day Saints gathered to worship in a sacrament meeting.

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Pioneers Evan and Marie Healy have returned to Seychelles from Australia to serve as missionaries.

“I wanted to come and share the gospel with the people here because they need it,” shared Marie, who was born in Seychelles.

“It has been a very broad, excellent trip,” said Elder Rasband as he reflected on his ministry to Central Africa before boarding a flight home to Utah. “I think we have brought people closer to Jesus Christ, which was my ultimate goal everywhere I went.”