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| Family in Lomé Togo Stake (Photo courtesy Africa West Area) |
LOMÉ— Members from 12 branches of the Church in Lomé,
Togo, gathered in their recently dedicated Church building on Sunday,
Dec. 8, to witness the creation of Togo’s first stake.
Togo is located on the Gulf of Guinea, between Ghana
on the west and Benin on the east. Its national capital and main port is
Lomé, nestled in the southwestern corner of this country of nearly 7
million residents.
Elder Terence M. Vinson of the Seventy and first
counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency, organized the Lomé Togo
Stake with the assistance of Elder Norbert K. Ounleu, an Area Seventy
from Cote d’Ivoire.
“The members of the Church in Lomé have shown
wonderful love for the Lord and have demonstrated a marvelous commitment
to living the gospel. They now have the privilege of being a stake,”
Elder Vinson said.
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| Members arrive and visit outside the Lomé Togo Stake center. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area) |
“From the small district that was formed less than
four years ago, there are now eightwards and four branches in the newly
formed Lomé Togo Stake. This historic event took place because of
significant and rapid growth. But where rapid growth sometimes comes at
the cost of maturity and depth, that is not the case in Lomé.
“The mission president, Robert F. Weed, and the
just-released district president, Komlan Amegandji, have led the Saints
of Lomé by teaching them the principles of conversion and focusing on
leading them to an increased understanding of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.”
The beginning of the Church in Togo traces back to
the late 1980s after several Togolese people who had been baptized
abroad gradually returned to their homeland to find no established
congregations in the country. Dieudonné Attiogbe, baptized in London in
1989, was unable to find other members of the Church in Togo.
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| Young married couple at Lomé Togo Stake formation. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area) |
In response to his letter to the Church’s African
headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, the office sent Brother
Attiogbe a list of several Togolese people who had been baptized abroad,
along with their addresses. Brother Attiogbe, with Koffi Afangbedji and
Agnon Didier, began meeting with a small group of members in Togo
around 1996. Elder James O. Mason, then of the Seventy and president of
the Africa Area, officially organized the Lomé Togo group in July 1997.
By this time about 25 Latter-day Saints were living there.
In February 1999, Togo came under the Ivory Coast
Abidjan Mission. That same month, the first missionary couple, Dermoine
A. and Joyce Findlay, began missionary work in Togo and the Lomé Branch
was organized, with Dieudonné Attiogbe as its first president. Legal
recognition of the Church was granted in July 2000. The first district
in Togo was created in 2009.
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| Mission President Robert F. Weed and Sister Rebecca Weed with one of their missionaries. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area) |
In 2011, to better align resources to changing needs,
the Benin Cotonou Mission — comprised of Benin and Togo — was created
from part of the former Ivory Coast Abidjan Mission. When President
Robert Weed and his wife, Sister Rebecca Weed, arrived to lead the new
mission in July of that year, there were just five branches of the
Church in Lomé, Togo.
“Now there are 12 units in Lomé and there have been
310 baptisms in the last year alone,” Elder Vinson reports. “The future
for the Church in Lomé is bright. The new stake president, Kcodgoh
Laurent Edgeweblime, has a vision of continued growth for the Church in
Togo.”
President Weed added, “The fruits of the hastening of
the work of salvation are evident in the creation of the first stake in
Togo.
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| Congregation fills meetinghouse chapel at the creation of the Lomé Togo Stake. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area) |
“In a few short years the Church has grown from five
branches to a stake of Zion. The maturity of leadership in such a new
group of Latter-day Saints is a testament to their incredible faith,
love and devotion.”
The stake center was filled to capacity as more than
800 members of the Church, missionaries, investigators, media and local
tribal leaders listened to the new presidency address the congregation.
President Edgeweblime and his counselors, Anani Kouegan and Boevi Edem
Lawson, all expressed deep appreciation for the gospel in their lives
and for the opportunity to help the work move forward.
“We may not see the importance of it now, but the
formation of the Lomé stake will be a great blessing to Togo,” the new
stake president, Kcodgoh Laurent Edgeweblime, said. “There are millions
of people in our country who need to hear the word of God. The growth of
the Church in Togo is a testament to how the gospel of Jesus Christ is
spreading throughout the world.”
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| Elder Terence M. Vinson and Elder Norbert
K. Ounleu with a young member of the Church in Lomé, Togo. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area) |
Members and missionaries alike shared their thoughts about the events of the day.
Y. Blaise, second counselor in the Attiegou Ward,
said, “We have waited for this day for some time. I wanted to be present
for the organization of the stake of Lomé, the first in the history of
the Church in Togo.”
Elder Ounleu, Area Seventy for the French-speaking
countries in West Africa, commented that when he first came to Togo to
help organize the new mission, he had the impression it would be very
successful. He expressed sincere gratitude for President and Sister
Weed, noting that “they are for me angels sent to help do all this
work.”
“My thoughts about this wonderful event are simple —
God loves His children,” said Elder Ounleu. “I have seen His hand
helping us during the conference. It is just the beginning of the growth
of the Church in Lomé, Togo.
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| Local chiefs and media attend the creation of the Lomé Togo Stake. (Photo courtesy Africa West Area) |
“We have faithful members who will move the Lord’s
business forward. I have seen during the conference mothers, husbands
and children being overjoyed. They strongly believe the stake will
change their lives and protect their country.”
In his concluding remarks, Elder Vinson thanked the
released district leaders, President Amegandji and his counselors,
Mathieu Gbedevi and Koffi N’Sougan, for their service. Members of the
congregation were reminded that, even though a new stake has been
formed, there is still much to do.
“To have the opportunity of presiding at the creation
of Togo’s first stake was a marvelous experience,” Elder Vinson said
after the conference. “To feel the Lord guiding me and Elder Ounleu in
the identification of the man the Lord Himself had already chosen to be
the president of the stake is a wonderful privilege.”
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