Church
membership in the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) has grown from one family in 1984
to five stakes and one district today.
On
November 28, 2010, political and civil unrest broke out in the Ivory Coast after
Laurent Gbagbo, the President since 2000, was proclaimed the winner of the
Ivorian election of 2010, the first election in ten years. The opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara
as well as numerous countries, organizations and leaders world-wide claimed
that Ouattara had won. After months of
attempted violence and sporadic violence, the crisis peaked as Ouattara’s
forces staged a military offensive in which they quickly gained control of most
of the country. Numerous humans rights
violations were reported and even the United Nations undertook its own military
action to protect civilians.
A
significant step in ending the crisis occurred on April 11, 2011 when Gbagbo
was captured and arrested in Abidjan by pro-Ouattara forces supported by the
French army.
This
period of unrest and civil disturbance was known as "the crise.” Tensions escalated to the point where in late March
2011, the stores were closed for a full month.
Thousands
of people were inconvenienced and had to search for food. One of the
Stake Presidents, Marcel Guei and currently a mission president, related that his family had set aside food
reserves that would provide for the family for at least seven months because of
counsel from President Hinckley to set aside food storage. During that
month, the Gueis fed not only their family, but also neighbors and members of
their stake, never having fewer than 20 people at their table.
Also in
late March 2011 just prior to the stores being closed, 98 Ivorian saints led by
the Cocody Stake President, Zahui Dekaye, went to the Ghana Temple for an
excursion. Not planning to be away for longer than a week, these Saints
learned that the boarder of Ivory Coast was closed upon their departure and
they were not permitted reentry. The Ivorians were provided assistance to
live in the Ancillary Housing of the Temple while they continued to attend each
day it was open until they were permitted reentry into Cote d'Ivoire on April
24, 2011.
President
Dekaye was also the Ivory Coast mission president under call, set to begin his
service on July 1, 2011 Of particular note about this group was the fact
that President Dekaye and his wife were joined by the senior leadership of the
stake for this trip. The entire stake presidency, most of the bishops,
many of the high council and their wives were in attendance. While
they were in attendance on this trip, the stake was reorganized due to the call
of President Dekaye, and the man selected to be the next stake president was
Marc Sahy, currently serving as one of the two mission presidents in the Ivory
Coast.
Among the modern day miracles of missionary work in Africa, is the
story of the Cote d'Ivoire d’Abobo Stake. Due to the concern for safety
particularly within the boundaries of this stake, missionaries were not
permitted to reside or work. They were
however permitted to work with in neighboring stakes. Undaunted by this
limitation, member missionaries in each of the wards taught and baptized
hundreds of people. One ward recorded 79 convert baptisms in one year.
As a result of this effort, the stake was split not long after the
crisis.
It was not until 2013 that missionaries were finally permitted reentry into that area and
in November 2014 the stake was divided. So
great had been the progress without full time missionaries, that the stake had
continued to grow through the faith and member missionary work of the members.
One
particularly historical noteworthy
experience in the Stakes occurred on August 27-28, 201l. Elder
Curtis was sent to preside over a Stake
Conference in the Cote d’Ivoire Toit Rouge Stake. He was the first General Authority permitted
to enter the Ivory Coast after the civil disturbance and what he discovered was
remarkable. As a side note, this was also Elder Curtis’ first stake
conference in Africa. The armed conflict
was over, but the effects of the war were still present. President Lavry, the stake president, who was
a professor of economics at the university, reported that the university had
not yet reopened nor would it for the foreseeable future. One of his counselors worked for the
Ivorian Air Force, but it was an Air Force without planes because they had all
been destroyed by the French.
The war
had divided the people along ethnic and political lines. Elder Norbert Ounleu, who accompanied Elder
Curtis to the conference said that if Elder Curtis gave him any name of any member,
he could tell Elder Curtis which side of the dispute that the person was on. This aspect of the debate placed members of
the Church on both sides of the dispute in a very personal way, especially in
Abidjan, which is melting pot attracting members from throughout the Ivory
Coast. Some members supported President
Gbagbo’s party and some President Ouattara’s party. Some would describe the cause of the dispute
as being the unwillingness of the defeated incumbent refusing to vacate his
office whereas others would say that the French had intervened too early, and
should have left it to the courts to decide who had won the election. Not only were members of wards split on this
issue, but in some cases even husbands and wives were on opposite sides from
each other.
Sensing
this sensitivity, Elder Curtis felt impressed in the priesthood leadership
session of stake conference to lead a discussion on how as members of the
Church, we could help the country heal from the civil disturbance. The brethren in attendance responded by
recommending that they reach out in love to those on the other side of the
issue, that they should live the gospel more completely and have charity for
all. One brother said “we need to live
so that we can have a temple here, because the Lord will bless us with peace if
there is a temple here.”
Elder
Curtis then reported that the following day at 9 a.m. (August 28, 2011), the stake
held a new member and investigator meeting in the chapel. New members along
with 182 investigators filled the center section. This was remarkable in that due to the
crisis, missionaries had not yet been assigned to that stake and those
investigators remained in the chapel for the General Session of stake
conference. It is interesting to note
that only two cars were in the parking lot for stake conference of those, one
belonged to the mission president who had driven Elder Curtis. (personal correspondence
from Elder Curtis, May 30, 2015)
In
recent years the Ivorian Saints’ faithfulness has been particularly manifest in
their family history and temple work. Three of the five Cote d’Ivoire stakes
are among the top 25 in the Church in the percentage of adults who submitted
family names for temple ordinances during 2012. Of all the stakes in the
Church, the Cocody Stake, the group that was stranded at the temple during the
"crise," has the highest percentage of adults who have, at one time
or another, submitted names for temple work. (July 2013 Liahona, "Elder
Cook Addresses Members and Investigators in Ivory Coast)
 |
| Stake Presidents and Mission Presidents in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire, May 2015 |
The
progress of the Church in Africa has been compared by Elder Bednar to the early
days of the Church. Perhaps the experience of the 98 Ivorian leaders stranded
at the temple for a month is not unlike the experience of Zions Camp, out of
which came many future leaders of the Church. The Ivorians are not slow
to remember the hand of the Lord in their lives. They are totally
converted to following the words of living prophets as manifest by their
commitment to having food storage. Although many of the leaders have not been
members long, the Church is Ivory Coast is led by men of great faith and
commitment. Such faith was recently recognized by the recent
revelation/announcement in April 2015 to have a temple in Abidjan, Cote
d'Ivoire.
