News Item: The Church in Colombia.
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Year-end 1995:
* Est. population, 36,500,000
* Members, 113,000
* Stakes, 13
* Wards, 85
* Branches, 191
* Missions, 4
* Districts, 21
* Temples, I under construction
* Percent LDS 0.3, or one person in 323.
Located in the northwest corner of South America, Colombia is a republic with a Spanish-speaking population that is predominantly Roman Catholic. In early 1966, some 45 members, mostly North Americans, were meeting in branches in Bogota and Cali. Elders Randall Harmsen and Jerry Broome of the Andes Mission were assigned to Bogota in May of that year. Among the first converts was Antonio Vela. Ivars was the first convert in Cali.
The Colombia-Venezuela Mission was created in 1968, and by 1971, 27 branches had been established in 10 cities, and the Venezuela Mission was divided from Colombia, where the mission headquarters were in Bogota. In 1975, the Colombia Cali Mission was created. President Spencer W. Kimball visited Colombia and addressed a gathering of 4,600 at an area conference on March 5, 1977.
Seminaries and institutes were begun in 1972, and by 1976, 900 students were taking part in the educational programs, and membership reached 6,178. By 1986, membership mushroomed to 45,800.
A temple was announced for Colombia on April 7, 1984, and a site for the temple was announced in 1988. Ground was broken for the Bogota Colombia Temple on June 26, 1993, by Elder William R. Bradford of the Seventy, but construction had been delayed pending government approvals.
In September 1988, internal political difficulties led to a withdrawing of North American missionaries. Despite these problems, missionary work continued to progress. The Colombia Barranquilla Mission was formed in 1988, in a city where the first stake was created in 1985. Since then, three other stakes have been created in Barranquilla.
Membership in Colombia in 1990 was 83,000. The first General Authority from Colombia was Julio Davila, who was called to the Second Quorum of the Seventy in 1991. He was president of the first stake in Colombia.
Following countrywide fasts of Latter-day Saints, government approvals were received and the long-awaited construction of the Bogota Colombia Temple was started in late spring of 1995.
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Information obtained from: Church Almanac 1997-98
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