map of Reunion

A Brief History of the Church in

Réunion

Overview

In May of 1969 Alain and Danièle Chion-Hock returned with their family to Réunion after being baptized a month earlier in France. After living for years as the only Latter-day Saints on the island, they began meeting in the late 1970s with others who had joined the Church abroad and returned to Réunion. The first branch was organized in 1979, just after the arrival of Joseph T. and Ruth Edmunds, the first senior missionary couple on the island.

The small group of Réunionnais Latter-day Saints maintained their faith together, meeting in the Chion-Hock home and ministering to each other. The first proselytizing missionaries arrived in 1984; the next year, Nelly Lycurgue became the first member called from Réunion to serve a full-time mission. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, additional branches were established in Saint-Pierre, Le Port, and Sainte-Marie as people from the wide range of backgrounds that make up the population of Réunion joined the Church, coming together “in the unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:13).

Quick Facts

• Official Name: Overseas Department of Réunion (France)/département d’outre-mer la Réunion (la France)

• Capital: Saint-Denis

• Largest City: Saint-Denis

• Official Languages: French and Réunion Creole

• Land Area: 2,511 km² (970 mi²)

• Church Area: Africa Southeast

• Missions: 1 (Part of the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission)

• Congregations: 4