More than a year later, missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been given formal permission to return to the country of Burundi in the church’s central African region.
Missionary activities in the country were temporarily suspended while the church received approval from the Ministry of Interior, Security, and Regional Development. The church’s general handbook explains that the church and its members respect all laws and requirements regarding missionary work.
The government recently provided official documents to the church, and the missionaries returned to Burundi on April 16.
A report from the Church’s Africa Newsroom spoke of “great joy and gratitude” as four young full-time missionaries, an elderly missionary couple, and Rwanda Kigali Mission President John A. Koranten and his wife, Sister Cynthia K. Koranten, arrived at the airport.
The young educational missionaries assigned to Burundi are part of the Rwanda Kigali Mission. Rwanda borders Burundi to the north. To the east and southeast is Tanzania and to the west is the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The latest statistics from ChurchofJesusChrist.org list just over 2,000 Church members in Burundi in 12 branches organized in the Bujumbura district of Burundi.
Jean M. Ndikumana, Burundi-Bujumbura District President, welcomed the missionaries as they arrived, along with the branch president, local church leaders, and members.
In his address, President Ndikumana expressed his deep gratitude and joy on behalf of all members of the Church in Burundi. He said the arrival of the missionaries represented a “great blessing” and spoke of how members would work “hand in hand with the missionaries to advance the Lord’s work throughout Burundi.”
President Koranteng thanked Burundi’s Latter-day Saints for their faith and constant prayers, as well as for their efforts in tracking the process of obtaining approval documents from the government.
Africa Newsroom reported that the mission president reminded everyone that it was not just the arrival of missionaries that was being celebrated, but the arrival of the restored gospel, and called on each to support the mission to win more souls to Christ.
The church in Burundi dates back to the 1980s and was granted legal status in 1992.
The Church has undertaken several humanitarian projects in Burundi over the past few years, including donating medical equipment to the First Lady’s Foundation to support Umgilaneza Hospital. Church leaders in the Africa Central region met with the prime minister in January 2023 and October 2023 to talk about not only teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also 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 making a positive contribution to the community over the long term,” said Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, a General Authority Seventy and then president of the Africa Central Area.
