Elder Gilbert meets makes first apostolic visit to Sierra Leone – Church News

Elder Clark G. Gilbert of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made his first visit to Sierra Leone, meeting with Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh in Freetown on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

The two leaders discussed ways the Church and the Sierra Leonean government can work together to strengthen education in the country, the Church’s Africa Newsroom reported on Aug. 27.

“We love your people, and we are here for the long term,” Elder Gilbert told the vice president. “We have friends of all faiths and are invested in your country. We expect God to bless this country, and we will do our best to help in that.”

Elder Gilbert was accompanied in the meeting by his wife, Sister Christine Gilbert; Elder Adeyinka A. Ojediran, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s Africa West Area; Elder Kenneth Pambu, an Area Seventy from Sierra Leone; Haja Ramatulai Wurie, Sierra Leone’s minister of technical and higher education; and Sia Fasuluku, the country’s deputy chief technical and higher education officer.

Jalloh thanked the Church for bringing BYU–Pathway Worldwide and Succeed in School — an after-school program for youth — to Sierra Leone.

“The Church is not new to us, and we see the added value of the Church. It fits squarely in the vision for this country,” the vice president said. “We believe that if you provide opportunities to young people, they will be the engine to transform the country.”

Jalloh said Succeed in School reminded him of a program he attended as a boy — one he credits with setting him on the path to higher education. He thanked the Church for giving today’s youth the same opportunity and offered to visit the Succeed in School program to share his story with students.

Wurie, who attended the Church’s Strengthening Families Conference last year, said the Church’s education projects have provided more than 67,000 students with better learning environments and supplies. These efforts have also aligned with the government’s national development agenda.

“The Church has been a valuable partner,” Wurie said. “The population of Sierra Leone is very young, and we want to provide education and remote jobs for them that will be fulfilling and dignified.”