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Meridian Magazine’s
Editorial Team will be in Ghana for the temple dedication, taking
you to a front row seat at this remarkable, history-making spiritual
milestone. With scores of photographic images by Scot F. Proctor
and personal interviews with African missionaries and Saints, you
will be able to feel the energy and excitement as the light dawns
in what used to be called the dark continent. See these articles
next week on Meridian—reporting from Ghana.
 When
the temple is dedicated in Ghana, Sunday, January 11, by President
Gordon B. Hinckley it will be, according to Glenn L. Pace, “like
an atomic bomb has been dropped right in the middle of Satan’s stronghold
in West Africa. It will be the most significant
thing that as affected West
Africa since
the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It will be the
beginning of the end of Satan’s hold on these countries.”
That hold has
been illiteracy, civil war, famine, disease, witchcraft, unrest,
immorality, corruption, poor transportation, and poverty, enough
that those who visit are left shaking their heads and wondering,
“Why all this suffering?” Top this off with the tragic, abhorrent
history of slavery, and much of West Africa is the picture of misery, etched in
tones of muted pain.
Elder Glenn L.
Pace acknowledges in his book Safe Journey that he sometimes
asked himself, “Could the gospel of Jesus Christ really survive
in that kind of environment?”
It has more than
survived. It was grown spontaneously and taken root by the sacrifice
of many home-grown missionaries. In its origins, missionaries didn’t
go to West Africa seeking converts. Instead, it was
the Africans who clamored for the gospel. For two decades before
the revelation on the priesthood was received, letters poured into
Church headquarters from Africans asking for “holy books.” During
the 1960s more letters were received from Nigeria and Ghana than the rest of the world combined.
Missionary pamphlets, tracts, a few copies of the Book of Mormon
had found their way to Africa and had been passed from friend to
friend, read and reread, cherished as a precious conduit of the
Spirit.
Slowly, without
the authority of the Church and without knowledge of each other,
congregations spontaneously arose as people were touched by the
message. They built small meetinghouses; they patterned their doctrine
and teachings after the Church, some even named themselves The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Without priesthood authority
and direction, these churches had omissions and errors. In some
there were hallelujahs, drum beats and the passing of collection
plates. Yet what was clear as Elder Pace reiterates in his book
the message of the gospel is universal. In Africa, it found an exuberant, innately spiritual
people, hungry for the message.
In 1965, LaMar
Williams, who had been secretary to the Church Missionary Committee
and had been called to Nigeria on a fact-finding mission, gave the
committee the names of 15,000 people who requested baptism. When
the first missionaries arrived in 1978, they baptized 149 converts
in a 24-hour period. Not since Heber C. Kimball’s and Wilford Woodruff’s
days in England had the Church seen such a deluge.
Elder Pace’s First
Visit
Elder Pace’s first
African initiation came in 1985 during a devastating famine in Ethiopia when he was the head of the welfare
department for the Church. He called it “ one of the most intense
spiritual and emotional experiences of my life.”
He visited a feeding
camp in Makalle where 120,000 people were living in tents. “I will
never forget walking out into a sea of dingy, dirty, starving, diseased,
and desperate men, women, and children. The children sat as if
in a trance. They stared at us with sunken eyes and bloated, malnourished
stomachs. Flies were crawling all over their faces and they didn’t
have enough energy to swat them away. There were thousands of children
and no laughter. None of the children were playing. Our ears were
met with a haunting, eery, deafening silence.”
In these desperate
circumstances, whether they be Christian or Muslim, the people
seemed very religious. “We paused at one tent and eavesdropped
on a prayer. My guide translated the prayer which went something
like this, “We thank you for our life. Some of our children have
died. We are thankful some have lived. We pray for other family
members who are missing. Our crops have failed for three years
in a row. We are thankful for seed. We will plant again. We will
pray for rain.”
On this and subsequent
trips, the African people worked their way into Elder Pace’s heart
and his respect for their hard work, intelligence and great faith
intensified. He came to see the Church in West Africa as
it was in Joseph Smith’s time. It was young; it was vibrant. People
who joined the Church brought with them their own opinions, beliefs
and customs and there was much to learn about administering the
Church. The faith was always moving.
In 1986 he told
a congregation gathered in Nigeria:
Do you know that as a member of the Presiding Bishopric I am
privileged to meet with President Benson and the First Presidency
every Friday morning?” Their eyes got as big as saucers. I went
on to explain that about two weeks earlier in our Friday meeting
I had reported to President Benson that I was going to Ghana and
Nigeria. President Benson’s response was, “Can I go?” I looked
at President Hinckley and President Monson, and they were both
shaking their heads, “No.” He looked at them and replied, “Well,
I guess not. But Bishop Pace, will you do me a favor? Will you
tell them hello for me?” I promised I would, and to the congregation
I said, “and so from the prophet I say to you “hello.”
I was not prepared for the response I received. Smiles came
on their faces and tears streamed down their cheeks. They had received
more than a verbal message. Through the power of the Holy Ghost
they had received a little visit from the prophet. They felt his
love and concern for them.
I was so touched it took me a few minutes to gain control of
my emotions. Because of their reaction I went on and said, “I
see that means a lot to you. I”ll tell you what I’m going to
do. And the close of this meeting I’ll go back to those doors
and as you leave you can shake my hand and I will take your greeting
and love back to President Benson with me.”
I might as well have ended the meeting right then. Many of
them went to the back of the room and started to line up. I bore
a testimony and went to the back of the room where I remained
shaking hands for almost an hour. They didn’t just shake my hand,
they all had a message. “Tell the prophet I read the Book of
Mormon again.” “Tell the prophet I don’t smoke anymore.” “Tell
the prophet I have a temple recommend.” One of them said, “Tell
the prophet I don’t hit my wife anymore.” I said, “He will be
most happy to hear that.” They all had sweet childlike messages
to give.
Incidentally, when I returned home I made a point of telling
President Benson this experience, and he was very touched. He
asked how many were there and when I said about fifty, he walked
over to me and began shaking my hand, counting the handshakes
one, two, three…
The Freeze
Despite the burgeoning
growth of the Church, in 1988, the government levied a freeze upon
its activities in Ghana and the members still young in their faith
were left to stand on their own. Rumors spread and newspapers circulated
the word that the Church was evil.
Seventeen-year-old
Michael wrote Elder Pace:
I am very glad to write you this humble letter. My name is
Michael. I have black hair, black eyes, and fair in complexion…
I think you know what has happened in Ghana, but all the same
I can assure you that it has been a blessing. It is good to give
you my version of the story. It all happened on the 14th
of June 1989. It was on Wednesday. I had just returned from
school for holidays and was preparing myself for choir practice,
which I enjoy very much.
So, it came to pass [he obviously had done some reading in
the Book of Mormon] that I was resting in my father’s car when
he called, “Michael! Have you heard what has happened?” I said,
“No,” he then went on to tell me that the government has frozen
the activities of the Church. From this, I just got up and said,
“They are joking, for no power on this earth can stop this church.”
Seventeen years
old and such a testimony! He wrote Elder Pace again:
I was very grateful and humble when I received your letter
dated 21 January 1990. A young boy coming from a poor home was
not expecting this sort of respect. My parents were filled with
tears of joy when they heard that you have written. As I am not
writing, in the dormitory of my school, I am in deep humility
with tears all over my eyes.
Elder Pace wrote,
“The humble tears shed had little to do with Bishop Pace, but more
of the overwhelming desire to be in complete contact with the Brethren
and to be able to have the kingdom continue to grow in his land.”
For I feel for the Church and its activities, I feel for the
voice of the prophet and all general authorities. But all is
not lost yet. For I know that one day we shall meet again…
This is my message for the returned missionaries. We in Ghana
know perfectly well that one day we will resume activities in
unity and love to build Zion for as one prophet said, the Church
is moving according to the timetable of heaven. But tell them
that they should be of good cheer and work hard for he who endures
to the end shall be saved.
Elder Pace said
that these kinds of experiences with the members continued to build
his testimony of the potential of Africa for the Church. The single
most inspirational experience at that time came for him when he
joined in some interviews with missionaries at Cape Coast. When
the government decreed that the Church could no longer function
in Ghana, more then 70 Ghanian elders and sisters were full-time
missionaries. Without any notice their missions were over.
Elder Pace wrote:
Eighteen months later, again without notice, the Church was
back. These missionaries were all contacted to see if they wanted
to finish their missions.
I was privileged to sit in on several interviews of those missionaries
to determine whether they were worthy and desirous of finishing
their missions. As we pulled up to the chapel at Cape Coast,
excitement was in the air. Those young men and women were involved
in a cross between a missionary reunion and a spiritual revival.
To give you a flavor of it, I am going to share a few interviews
with you.
The first elder had eighteen months left of his mission at
the time of the freeze, and he said, “I want to continue to serve.”
After the freeze he had gone to live with his family in Liberia
and was there when civil unrest broke out and massive killings
began. The family escaped without being hurt and had returned
to Ghana. They were active in the Church in Liberia. When we
asked if he was living a chaste life, and then asked to explain
what chastity means, he said, ‘You don’t do certain things with
women that are reserved for marriage.’ I thought that was an
innocent and very appropriate answer to the question. He was
worthy and anxious to resume his mission, even though his life
had just settled down.
The next elder also had eighteen months left of his mission.
His brother, who is not a member of the Church, had offered to
send him money so he could travel to London, where he could find
a job and go to school. He was the only member of the Church
in his family and lived with his sister. He was asked to express
his testimony and he said, “When I used to read the Bible, I read
it more like a story book. When I heard about the Church, I felt
like I had come home. I felt joy that I had never really felt
before. I don’t want to do anything wrong to spoil the joy I
feel. I always knew that the Church would come back because I
felt it in my heart. I have written to my brother and asked if
he will consider keeping the offer open for eighteen months.”
The next young man was twelve years old when he joined the
Church and was therefore one of the early members of the Church
in Ghana. During the freeze, he often wore his missionary badge
so that people would ask him questions and he could defend the
Church for what it really is. He was also one of the elders who
had been thrown in jail at the beginning of the freeze.
Another elder had acquired a taxi. The members of his family
and some of the members of the branch were counseling him not
to go back on his mission because he would lose the car. He said
simply,” Heavenly Father helped me get this taxi. If I finish
my commitment to him, he is very capable of getting me another
car when I go back, if that is what he wants me to do…
Of the seventy-seven missionaries serving at the time of the
freeze, the mission president had interviewed forty by the time
I left, and only three decided not to return. Two of those three
had nearly completed their missions and had opportunities for
education that likely wouldn’t come along again. The third one
was the only one who was unworthy to finish his mission. I wondered,
If we were interviewing missionaries from the United States, what
percentage of them would be worthy and desirous of finishing their
missions under similar circumstances? After being home for eighteen
months would they have a desire or be worthy to resumem their
missions? It was a very humbling and faith-promoting experience
to see the faith and faithfulness of the young missionaries of
Ghana.
Consider the joy
of these people as the prophet comes to the country to dedicate
a temple. This truly is a landmark event in the Church.
Tomorrow in Meridian:
the next installment from Safe Journey: An African Adventure.
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© 2004 Meridian
Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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