A History of the Church in
Angola
Overview
Latter-day Saints who joined the Church in overseas countries were the first to establish Zion in Angola. In March 1992, Carlos Ferreira from Mozambique led the first organized group meeting for Latter-day Saint worship. Later that year, Maria da Silva, who had joined the Church in Portugal, succeeded in registering the Church with the Angolan government despite ongoing civil conflict. On June 9, 1996, the Luanda Branch was organized, with Vuamina Tshaka Mbenza as president.
Over the next decade, as the political situation stabilized, members of the Church in Angola continued to serve in the Church and share the gospel. They served their communities by hosting training sessions for the Church-sponsored HIV/AIDS prevention program. They helped facilitate the distribution of wheelchairs to those who had been maimed in the civil conflict. When the first full-time proselytizing missionaries arrive in 2008, they found a strong local leadership and a pool of investigators who were eager to learn more after being first introduced to the restored gospel by Latter-day Saint friends.
On April 17, 2011, the Luanda Angola District was organized, with Artur J. Miranda as president. Local Latter-day Saints worked to serve and engage with their neighbors in their communities. Through times of fear and times of peace, nothing has been able to separate the Angolan Saints from the love of God (Romans 8:35, 38–39).