Walking in the Sand

When the priesthood was extended to blacks in 1978, faithful followers rejoiced and a new day dawned in Africa. Senior missionary couples soon arrived in Ghana, and within a year 400 people were baptized, many coming from congregations that were patterned after the Church and that had operated unofficially for more than a decade. With Church growth came persecution. Rumors spread that both the organization and the missionaries were American spies. In June 1989, the Ghanaian government...
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When the priesthood was extended to blacks in 1978, faithful followers rejoiced and a new day dawned in Africa. Senior missionary couples soon arrived in Ghana, and within a year 400 people were baptized, many coming from congregations that were patterned after the Church and that had operated unofficially for more than a decade. With Church growth came persecution. Rumors spread that both the organization and the missionaries were American spies. In June 1989, the Ghanaian government instituted an eighteen-month "Freeze," forcing all Church activities to cease. The Freeze was lifted in 1991. The number of stakes has now multiplied, with a temple dedicated in 2004. "Walking in the sand," a Ghanaian expression meaning "alive and well," aptly describes the Latter-day Saints in Ghana.