After more than a year, missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been given official permission to return to the country of Burundi, in the Church’s Africa Central Area.
Missionary work in the country was temporarily suspended while the Church obtained authorization from the Ministry of the Interior, Security and Community Development. The Church’s General Handbook explains that the Church and its members respect all laws and requirements with regard to missionary efforts.
The government recently gave the Church the official documentation and missionaries returned to Burundi on April 16.
The report from the Church’s Africa Newsroom spoke of “great joy and gratitude” as four young full-time missionaries, a senior missionary couple, and Rwanda Kigali Mission President John A. Koranteng and his wife, Sister Cynthia K. Koranteng, arrived at the airport.
The young teaching missionaries assigned to Burundi are in the Rwanda Kigali Mission. Rwanda borders Burundi to the north; Tanzania is to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west.
The latest statistics on ChurchofJesusChrist.org list just over 2,000 members of the Church in Burundi in 12 branches organized into the Bujumbura Burundi District.
Bujumbura Burundi District President Jean M. Ndikumana, accompanied by branch presidents and other local Church leaders and members, greeted the missionaries when they arrived.
In his remarks, President Ndikumana expressed deep gratitude and joy on behalf of all Church members in Burundi. He said the missionaries’ arrival represents “a great blessing” and spoke about how the members would work “hand in hand with the missionaries to advance the Lord’s work throughout the entire country of Burundi.”
President Koranteng thanked the Latter-day Saints in Burundi for their faith and constant prayers, and the efforts made in following up on the process that led to obtaining the acknowledgment document from the government.
Africa Newsroom reported that the mission president reminded everyone that it is not only the arrival of the missionaries that is being celebrated but also the arrival of the restored gospel, inviting each person to support them in their mission to bring more souls to Christ.
The history of the Church in Burundi dates back to the 1980s, with legal status granted in 1992.
The Church has worked on several humanitarian projects in Burundi over the past several years, including donating medical equipment to the first lady’s foundation to help the Umugiraneza Hospital. Church leaders in the Africa Central Area met with the prime minister in January 2023 and in October 2023, where they spoke about not only teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ but also teaching self-reliance programs to help people take care of themselves.
“We also wanted to demonstrate to the government that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a long-term positive contributor to the community,” said Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, General Authority Seventy who was then the Africa Central Area president.
