Ghana Accra Mission Celebrates 40 Years of Faith and Growth

If the adage that life begins at 40 holds true, the future of the Ghana Accra East Mission appears exceptionally bright. This optimism was palpable on Friday, September 5, 2025, as former leaders, missionaries, and local pioneers gathered at the Accra Ghana Christiansborg Stake Center to commemorate the mission’s 40th anniversary. The event celebrated four decades of dedication and the remarkable growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in West Africa.

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The celebration featured addresses from several former mission presidents, early leaders, and stalwart members who helped establish the Church in the region. The event drew approximately 100 attendees in person, with others joining virtually from around the world. For many, it was a poignant reunion with those who had shared in the work of building the Lord’s kingdom.

Originally established as the Ghana Accra Mission, it once encompassed all of Ghana, parts of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Last year, following the creation of new missions in the Africa West Area, it was renamed the Ghana Accra East Mission. It is now one of three missions serving the Greater Accra metropolis.

The program focused on reflecting on the Church’s humble beginnings and its subsequent progress through the missionary efforts in the Ghana Accra mission. In his opening remarks, current mission president, President Benjamin Beeson, shared striking statistics illustrating the mission’s current vitality. In just the one week preceding the anniversary, missionaries in the Accra East Mission taught 2,458 people, held 1,791 member-present lessons, and welcomed 507 investigators to church for the first time, resulting in 61 baptisms and confirmations. It is significant to remember that this is the work of just one of the three missions now serving Accra, and one of six in Ghana.

As President Gordon B. Hinkley said in his October 2007 General Conference Address titled The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain, "A marvelous and wonderful thing is coming to pass. The Lord is fulfilling His promise that His gospel shall be as the stone cut out of the mountain without hands which would roll forth and fill the whole earth, as Daniel saw in vision (see Daniel 2:31–45; D&C 65:2). A great miracle is taking place right before our eyes."

This current success stands in stark contrast to the mission’s early challenges. Speakers recounted a significant trial that members of The Church endured when the Ghanaian government prohibited all Church operations during the 16 month period from June 1989 to October 1990. During this period, commonly referred to as “the freeze,” public worship was banned, missionary work halted, church buildings were locked and guarded, and foreign missionaries faced deportation threats, all due to government suspicions.

Throughout the freeze, members met faithfully in small home groups, praying and fasting. Church leaders from Salt Lake City, along with stalwart, articulate, and influential local members like Emmanuel Opare, one of Ghana's first converts, worked with his country's government officials to resolve misunderstandings. After a thorough investigation, the government found no evidence of subversion and concluded the Church was a positive influence, lifting the ban on October 16, 1990.

The celebration honored the faith of early pioneers who persevered through that adversity. Tributes were paid to members like Billy Johnson, the first branch president in Ghana, who became converted after finding a Church pamphlet before there were any full-time missionaries in Ghana, and who then helped organize the first group of members. Another foundational pioneer, Emmanuel Abu Kissi, who served as the first Ghanaian stake president, a mission president counselor, and later as a General Authority Seventy, attended and spoke at the event. Emmanuel Opare, who helped resolve the government's concerns during the freeze, spoke with his wife Leticia Amene Opare. Numerous other pioneers were remembered and spoke at the event.

A powerful story was shared by Elder Robert C. Gay, an emeritus General Authority Seventy who presided over the mission shortly after the freeze was lifted. He recounted the baptismal interview of a man named Andy, who revealed that during the prohibition, he was the government official tasked with locking church buildings and expelling missionaries.

When asked why he now desired baptism, Andy testified that after failing to follow through on two prior appointments to receive the missionaries, “an angel of the Lord appeared” to him declaring the missionaries to be messengers from God with the truth, and that he must receive them on this third appointment. He heeded the angelic message, received a witness of the truth, and sought baptism.

When recounting the challenges the Mission has faced and the miracles of overcoming them, multiple speakers referenced the proclamation of the prophet Joseph Smith: “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

The program included a recognition of each mission president who had served over the four decades, with missionaries who served under them standing in recognition as each name was read. The growth of the Church was noted as having “caught fire” and it was pointed out that that growth accelerated significantly following the dedication of the Ghana Accra Temple in 1998. Membership has swelled from approximately 8,000 members at the time of the freeze to about 120,000 today.

This growth of the Church through the efforts of the Ghana Accra Mission and the faithfulness of the Early Ghana members was referenced by various speakers as the ongoing fulfillment of the prophecy recorded in the parable of the Olive tree in the Book of Mormon, in Jacob Chaper 5, and especially in verses 21-22 which say, "And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard. And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit."

The theme of the celebration, “From Freeze to Fire,” resonated deeply with all present, perfectly capturing the mission’s journey from trial to triumphant growth. The meeting concluded with a dinner in the cultural hall, where leaders, guests, and members mingled in a joyous celebration of shared service and faith—a foreshadowing of the great joy to be felt at the great feast of the Lord, and a joy that comes to all “comrades in arms” who endure the challenges of missionary work as they help to establish the kingdom of God.