On 10 December 2023 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints created a new Stake in the Africa West Area. The newly created Sierra Leone Freetown Hill Station Stake is the 141st Stake in West Africa and the tenth Stake in Sierra Leone.
The Stake was initially scheduled to be created on 26 November, but a country wide curfew forced a delay. Elder Alfred Kyungu, General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Africa West Area was in Sierra Leone to organize the Stake in the days just before the curfew.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Presiding over the creation of the Stake was Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, General Authority Seventy and President of the Africa West Area of the Church. Elder Nielsen participated virtually with Sister Wendy O. Nielsen. Elder Kenneth Pambu, an Area Seventy of the Church in Sierra Leone, presided over the gathering in Freetown.
“Our journey has just begun, but it continues at a hastened pace,” said Elder Pambu. “Everything we are doing is in preparation of the gathering of Israel.”
The new Sierra Leone Freetown Hill Station Stake was created from church units in the Sierra Leone Freetown Stake and the Sierra Leone Freetown East Stake. Freetown is the capital of the country with a population of 1.3 million.
Christopher Eward Nuyalopo was called to serve as the president of the newly organized Stake. Emmanuel Sahr Hinckley was called as the first councilor and Lionel Sulaiman Thomas as the second councilor.
“I have always served with all my heart and mind, and the opportunities to serve continue to present themselves to me,” said President Nuyalopo in his remarks. “We will work with the members hand in glove to make the Lord’s work simple.” He also asked that the Lord bless him and his councilors with wisdom as they undertake this responsibility.
The new stake is the seventh created in the Africa West Area in 2023 and reflects the incredible growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the area. The first branch of the Church in Sierra Leone was established in 1988. Prior to the Civil War in 1991, there were over 1000 members living in the country. By the end of the war in 2002, membership had grown to nearly 5000. Currently there are over 30,000 members of the Church in Sierra Leone with nearly 100 congregations.
The Freetown Sierra Leone Temple was announced in 2019, with the groundbreaking in 2022. It is currently under construction with completion expected in early 2026.