Monday, February 07 2011

The Tales that Bind: How an African Oral tradition Resonates with the Gospel

By Johnell DeWitt

Our first Sunday in Uganda I watched Brother Onyango Odongo, the uncle of our soon to be Patriarch, reverently sit as he was confirmed a member of our little branch, now a ward. His beautiful face read like an epic.  Each line told a story of great hope and great tragedy and I knew I had to learn his story.

Brother Onyango

Brother Onyango is “80 something” years old, as he told us. No one knows the exact date of his birth or even the exact year, and the closest he can get is he was born sometime in the 1920s. He has witnessed events we can only imagine in our worst nightmares. He lived through the corruption of Milton Obote, the madness of Idi Amin, and more recently the savagery of Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). This last tragedy seems to have affected Brother Onyango the most, understandably as Kony is a member of Brother Onyango’s tribe, the Acholi in Northern Uganda. …

http://www.ldsmag.com/church/article/7455?ac=1

The Church News covers a growing branch in south central Florida with a thriving Young Men’s program:

Missionary zeal defines Young Men group

See this article on Ghana reunion of returned missionaries in Mormon Times, October 1, 2010

http://www.mormontimes.com/article/17499/Ghana-reunion-more-than-just-a-meeting-of-returned-missionaries

WEST JORDAN, Utah — If you happen to meet someone from Ghana, ask them about the handshake. “You go like this, and then you go like this, and then you go like this, and then you slide down, and you click on my finger and I’ll click on yours,” says Sally Murray as she teaches a child at the Africa Accra Ghana mission reunion. Murray is a former senior missionary to Ghana and the organizer of the reunion held at the Welby Stake center in West Jordan, Utah. …

See this article in The Church News Sept 18, 2010

A Mighty Change

ACCRA, GHANA

More than 10,000 young men and women, ages 12 to 18, from seven countries in western Africa, representing seven stakes and 32 districts, came together to celebrate the 180th anniversary of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and to hear a special message from President Thomas S. Monson. …

By Margaret Blair Young and Darius Aidan Gray

We believe that there must and will be a significant future for those of African descent in the Church, and far greater prominence in the leadership than we see today. But it won’t come without full acknowledgment of the complexities that always attend race issues, and some bold approaches to the challenges before us. …

See http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/The-Colorful-LDS-Future-The-Future-of-those-of-African-Descent-in-the-Mormon-Church.html

After arising at 4:50 each school-day morning, 16-year-old Sonia Brown leaves home at 5:25 to make her way by Chicago Transit Authority bus and train through the streets of the third-largest city in the U.S. Her destination: seminary class. …

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58913/An-early-morning-start-for-seminary-students-in-Chicago.html

Silas 1st African-American to hold position (in Hattiesburg MS)
Hattiesburg American
August 29, 2009

Randall Silas is the new bishop of a Hattiesburg congregation of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints…

…Silas said he hopes his new position will encourage other blacks to
explore the Mormon church, but “I would hope that no one would base
their spiritual …

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20090829/LIFESTYLE/908290329

 Part 3
http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2009/05/12-questions-for-marvin-perkins-part-three/

The Pew Forum has published an extension report on the religious beliefs, practices, and affiliations of African-Americans.

While the U.S. is generally considered a highly religious nation, African-Americans are markedly more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole, including level of affiliation with a religion, attendance at religious services, frequency of prayer and religion’s importance in life.

See A Religious Portrait of African-Americans by The Pew Forum.

Baptisms Result From Understanding Scriptures on Black Issues

News Releases & Stories

1. It’s One of the Best Kept Secrets – News Story

VALENCIA, California 16 July 2008 As part of the Black in America series airing on 23-24 July, CNN has launched an online series titled I Am which seeks to break through stereotypes by highlighting individuals who have ignored racial barriers and injustices. Marvin Perkins, an African American member of the Church, participated in this series. Full Story

2. Gladys Knight Reflects on Family and Faith – News Story

OTTAWA, Canada 1 July 2008 Gladys Knight’s son Jimmy III died in his sleep nine years ago at age 36. She recently told the Ottawa Citizen newspaper: “He brought me to my church and I just grew immensely from his example. I am happy in my spirit for where I know for sure he is. That (death) is something we all have to go through, it’s not our time and place to dictate when, where or what, it’s not our business. It belongs to the Lord and that’s how I’ve dealt with it. I know I’ll see him again.” Knight joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1997. Full Story