Saints Waited 23 Years For Their First Stake in Zambia

The Church was first registered in Zambia in 1992. Now, 23 years later, it finally has a full stake--which means there will be a Stake Patriarch and other blessings available to the 2100 Saints there.

 
The Lusaka Zambia Stake was created on 15 March 2015 during a special conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held at the meetinghouse on Nangwenya Road in Lusaka.  The Lusaka Stake, the first in Zambia, is an executive unit comprised of approximately 2100 members in seven congregations within Lusaka.

During this historical event, Harrison Lumbama was sustained as the Lusaka Stake President with Counsellors Blessing Mashala and Chis Chansa.  President Lumbama and his wife, Maureen Kabulansando, have three children.  Introduced to the Church by Dr. Patrick and Edah Chikusu, he and Maureen joined in 1997.  He later served as the Munali Branch President (2000-2005) and most recently as the Lusaka District President (2009 - 2015).

Church membership in Africa is approaching 425,000 with more than 1300 congregations.  Worldwide, there are 15 million members in over 29,000 congregations.  Johannesburg, South Africa is the closest LDS temple to Lusaka.  Of the 25 countries in the Africa Southeast Area, as of 1 January 2015, there were 39 Stakes. 14 are located in South Africa, 12 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2 in Zimbabwe, and various others.  Now there is one Stake of Zion in Zambia!