Baptists, like Mormons, Latter Day Saints, like to go on missions to convert primarily third-world people to Christianity, their Christianity to be exact. Yet those are the two main groups that are in favor of the way that Trump and his goons are treating those immigrants here in the United States.
Let us make them Christians, but let us make sure they stay where they belong. Maybe groups like the Baptists and Mormons should quit trying to convert people from countries they don’t want here.
Latter Day Saints:
Mormon missions in Africa, run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), have expanded significantly, especially after the 1978 lifting of restrictions on Black members, with rapid growth leading to new missions in countries like the DRC, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, focusing on both proselytizing and humanitarian aid like clean water and food security, as shown in recent announcements for new missions in 2026.
Key Aspects of LDS Missions in Africa
- Growth & Expansion: Africa is one of the fastest-growing regions for the Church, with numerous new missions established each year to serve expanding congregations.
- Missionary Focus: Young adult missionaries (elders and sisters) teach, while senior couples also serve, working in established missions across Central, West, and South Africa.
- Humanitarian Efforts: The Church provides significant humanitarian aid, including clean water projects, food security, sanitation, education, and medical support.
- Historic Context: Early missionary work began in South Africa in the 1850s, but significant growth occurred after 1978, when the priesthood ban on Black men was lifted, a pivotal moment for the Church’s expansion on the continent.
Examples of Recent Mission Growth (2025-2026)
- Africa Central: New missions in DR Congo (Kinshasa North, Mwene-Ditu), Kenya (Kisumu), Uganda (Kampala East).
- Africa South: New missions in Angola (Luanda North), Malawi (Lilongwe), Mozambique (Nampula), South Africa (East London), Zimbabwe (Harare West).
- Africa West: New missions in Côte d’Ivoire (Abidjan South, Daloa), Ghana (Accra South, Sunyani), Liberia (Monrovia West), Senegal (Dakar), Togo (Lomé).
Where to Find More Information
- Official Church newsrooms for Africa.
- Area-specific pages for Africa Central, South, and West.
- Wikipedia’s list of LDS missions.
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Baptists:
Baptist missions to Africa involve numerous global and local efforts, from historical church planting by organizations like the SBC International Mission Board (IMB), established by figures like Thomas Jefferson Bowen in Nigeria, to modern initiatives focusing on leadership training, business as mission (BAM), orphan care, and church planting in countries like Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, and Cameroon, with African Baptists themselves becoming major sending bodies through groups like the All Africa Baptist Fellowship (AABF). These missions utilize short-term trips, long-term workers, evangelism, education, and medical aid to spread the Gospel and serve communities across the continent.
Key Players & Organizations
- International Mission Board (IMB): The mission arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), active in Nigeria and beyond since the 1850s.
- Baptist International Missions, Inc. (BIMI): Strong presence in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, focusing on church planting and leadership development.
- Baptists on Mission (BOM): Involved in building projects, orphanages (like Door of Hope in South Africa), and short-term trips.
- Baptist Mid-Missions (BMM): Focuses on equipping national leaders in Cameroon, CAR, and Chad.
- African Baptist Mission Board (ABMB): An initiative by the AABF to send African missionaries to unreached areas within Africa.
Common Mission Activities
- Church Planting: Starting new congregations, often through partnerships and business ventures.
- Leadership & Training: Equipping national leaders through Bible institutes and discipleship.
- Humanitarian Aid: Building homes, providing food, education (schools), and medical care (clinics).
- Evangelism: Prayer walking, VBS, and sharing the Gospel.
- Business as Mission (BAM): Using businesses to create Gospel presence and fund ministry.
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An immigration crackdown doesn’t just change who gets detained or deported. It also changes how safe people feel walking into church, opening real fault lines inside Baptist life—especially within the Southern Baptist Convention and among Baptist ethnic fellowships and partner bodies.
These divisions surface when churches decide what to emphasize in public: border enforcement and legal order or pastoral protection and humanitarian relief. Most Baptist leaders speak to both, but tension rises over what’s most urgent and what they ask government to do next.
New York Times:
Immigration Crackdown Deepens Fault Lines Within Baptist Communities
An increasingly loud contingent supports the Trump administration’s efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
When federal agents descended on Louisiana this month to pursue their aggressive deportation campaign, a group of Roman Catholic priests privately brought the Eucharist to the homes of immigrants too worried to step outside.
But Lewis Richerson, the pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, planned to take an opposite approach.
“I would not knowingly extend communion to an illegal immigrant who is visiting our church,” he said. “That person would be in sin by being in this country illegally, and Christians should obey the law of the land.”
Instead, the main way he would minister to them would be “to help them submit themselves to the authorities,” he said. “They should absolutely deport themselves.”
Related articles:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/us/southern-baptists-immigration-trump.html
