The Church in Liberia

Thanks to the dedication of Liberians who had accepted the teachings of the Book of Mormon, Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in Liberia in the late 1980s and found many ready to be baptized. The faithful Saints ministered to each other during Liberia’s civil wars, which were fought between 1989 and 2003. In 2000 the first stake in Liberia was created.

History of the Church in Liberia

In 1985 Joe C. Jarwleh read the Book of Mormon and shared it with fellow members of the Temple of Christ Church, a group interested in early Christianity. When senior missionaries came to Liberia two years later, many members of this group were baptized. By 1989 a district was organized in Monrovia, but that December the First Liberian Civil War began.

During the civil war, many members were scattered or killed. Some fled to other nations and built up the Church there. Others stayed and found ways to minister to one another through the conflict. Even when severely tried, the Saints were determined to follow the example of Nephi and “go and do” the things the Lord commanded (see 1 Nephi 3:7).

The Saints endured faithfully through the conflict, and in 2000 the first stake in Liberia was created. Members there have consistently joined other West African Saints in annual days of service, conferences, and historical commemorations. In 2015 Latter-day Saints helped provide food, cooking oil, and sanitation supplies to people in need during the Ebola outbreak. By 2017 there were four stakes in Liberia and numerous Liberian Latter-day Saints around the world.

Read more in Global Histories.