A Church of Immigrants

 

One reason that immigrants are unique and important to the Church 
is that so many faithful members first joined when they were immigrants. 

Jade came to France to study law in Lyon, and sought out the Church
after a returned missionary friend invited her to learn more. 
She was baptized in Lyon, and was of special interest to us
because the Church is not yet established in her home country of Burundi,
so Jade is considered a special Covenant Path pioneer.

As we read more of French church history, we learn of more valiant immigrants.
While preparing a summary of Geneva Switzerland,
I read a remarkable story about the Banza family.

Mucioko Banza grew up in Zaire (which is now DRCongo) in a religious family. His father was a Presbyterian Minister and at his mother’s urging he became an excellent singer, helping to organize church choirs. An influential protestant church leader was impressed with Mucioko’s music and recommended him for a scholarship to study in Switzerland, so he went there with his wife and two sons in 1976.

While in Geneva he heard about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When he spoke with the missionaries he was mostly interested in the concept of God as a real person, which made more sense than the protestant concept of God as being like the wind. He accepted all of the gospel teachings, but being baptized created major problems, because of his Presbyterian scholarship. He had completed 4 years with a degree, and was accepted to continue with a PhD. However having joined the Church, not only was the scholarship canceled, but the protestant leaders asked the immigration police to have them deported. 

This was a great challenge to Mucioko because it meant the family lost their jobs and all their possessions. They hired a shipper to send their car and furniture to Congo but nothing arrived because the shippers stole everything. They even lost their friends back home because of being members of a different church. They knew God would provide, and He did care for them, through members of the Geneva Branch where they had been baptized. They were very grateful to Geneva Branch members who sent them clothes and money when they were able.

At first there were no other Latter-day Saints in Zaire. They wrote to the International Mission in SLC who told them of a Dr Larsen at the US Embassy in 1982 who was a church member. They started to hold sacrament meetings with the Larsen family, in a group of eight. In 1985 another man who had been baptized in Belgium joined them, which gave them the required number of three Congolese members so they qualified to register the Church. 

The International Mission had already called a mission president for the Congo, and had sent lawyers to help get the church registered. In 1986 the new mission leaders Pres and Sister Hutchings arrived and immediately started preparing Mucioko’s sons for baptism. Pres Hutchings would set up a table outside and teach them the lessons, and many people would gather to listen in. 

Pres & Sis Hutchings, first DRC mission leaders

The Bowcutts were another American couple who came to work in the US Embassy and Bro Bowcutt was called as the first branch president, with Mucioko as his counselor. Bowcutts had a swimming pool, and soon there were baptisms held every week.

After that first branch, every few months another branch was organized and the church grew very quickly.  A few more senior couples arrived so there were missionaries but they didn’t speak French. Mucioko’s son Junior told of his experience at age 17 when the Masina Branch was organized and a small house was remodeled to be a chapel. Junior and several friends his same age were called as district missionaries. They would go with the senior couples and translate for them. But they couldn’t keep up with the demand because so many people wanted the missionaries to come. So they invited them to their little church, and just started teaching whoever showed up, with the first discussion at 9:00 am, the second at 10:00 and the third at 11:00. 

Many times there were so many people Junior would teach the first discussion in the RS room, and his friend Joe would teach the second one at the same time in the YM room. They had weekly baptisms, at least 10 at a time, then changed to every two weeks when they had 30 at a time.

Kinshasa Branch in 1987. 
Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is fourth from left, and Elder Alexander B. Morrison of the Seventy, second from right. The others are the branch and EQ presidencies.

Many years have now passed since the first church meeting with the Banza family in 1982. In the early 1990s the mission closed briefly due to political upheaval but growth continued. The Kinshasa stake was created in 1996 and the Lubumbashi stake in 1997. Now in 2025 there are 27 stakes in the DR Congo. The Kinshasa temple was dedicated in 2019. The Lubumbashi temple is under construction and two other temples have been announced. 

The Kinshasa DRC Temple was dedicated 33 years after the first baptism.
In contrast, after the first baptism in France it was 167 years before a temple was built. 

But France is still involved with immigrants,
providing a place to learn about the gospel
if the church is not yet established in their home country,
as the Geneva Branch did for the Banza family, 
and as saints in Lyon did for our friend Jade.

P.S. After I read an interview with the Banza family and researched more about the DRCongo, I discovered that Elder Renlund had also told a part of their story in October 2019 General Conference, which is where I found the photos.


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