meeting-central-africa-temple-1.jpg
Left to right: Newlyweds Nicole Bukasa and Ezi Kalenda, and newlyweds Tresor Tshilombo and Naomie Mukadi, members of the Kabusanga 2nd Ward, Kubusanga Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake, at the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple on March 14, 2024.2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Mary Richards, Church News
On March 14, after a long journey, two newlywed couples arrived at the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple to be sealed.
Ezi Kalenda and his wife, Nicole Bukasa, and Tresor Tshilombo and his wife, Naomie Mukadi, traveled 1,470 kilometers (915 miles) to get to the temple — starting with a four-hour bus ride from their remote town of Luputa, DR Congo, to the airport in Mbuji-Mayi and then taking a flight from there to Kinshasa.
Meanwhile, two other couples were also walking to the temple doors at the same time that day. Elder Jeffrey Redd and Sister Janeen Redd — senior service missionaries in the Church’s Africa Central Area — and David Stanford, the area legal counsel and his wife, Marie-Laure Stanford, had traveled from the area offices in Nairobi, Kenya, to Kinshasa for meetings and wanted to worship in the temple.
A simple exchange of “bonjour” (good day) among this group turned into a conversation, explained the Church’s Africa Newsroom. And Sister Redd discovered that it was her team at the area office that had processed the two couples’ applications to participate in the General Temple Patron Assistance Fund. She had worked on the paperwork a few weeks before she happened to run into them at the temple half a continent away.
meeting-central-africa-temple-2.jpg
Left to right: David Stanford, Marie-Laure Stanford, Naomie Mukadi, Tresor Tshilombo, Ezi Kalenda, Nicole Bukasa, Sister Janeen Redd and Elder Jeffrey Redd, at the door of the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple after the two young couples were sealed on March 14, 2024.2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.The General Temple Patron Assistance Fund was created to give financial assistance to Church members who otherwise could not afford to attend the temple, by helping with travel, food and lodging expenses for those who live far away from the house of the Lord.
Currently, the only operating temple within the Africa Central Area is in Kinshasa, though others are under construction in Lubumbashi, DRC, and in Nairobi, Kenya. Others have been announced for Kananga, DRC; Mbuji-Mayi, DRC; and Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
Africa Newsroom reported that no one among the group of four couples believed it was a coincidence that they all walked onto the temple grounds at the same moment.
The Redds and Stanfords were invited to act as witnesses for the sealings, while Kinshasa temple President Francois M. Mukubu performed the sealing ordinance — he had been the mission president for three of the four newlyweds as they served in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa West Mission.
meeting-central-africa-temple-3.jpg
Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple President Francois M. Mukubu, center, stands with two young couples for whom he officiated at their sealings on March 14, 2024. Three of the four young people were full-time missionaries when he was mission president in the country.2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.In the October 2011 general conference, then-Church President Thomas S. Monson spoke of the thousands of faithful Latter-day Saints who were able to make covenants in the house of the Lord thanks to the General Temple Patron Assistance Fund.
“There are still areas of the world where temples are so distant from our members that they cannot afford the travel required to get to them,” he said. “They are thus unable to partake of the sacred and eternal blessings temples provide.”
Members who are interested in learning more about the fund can contact their bishop or branch president.
Copyright 2024 Deseret News Publishing Company.