The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has temporarily evacuated missionaries from Ethiopia “due to growing concerns about civil unrest,” according to a church spokesperson.
Sixty missionaries serving in the Ethiopia Addis Ababa Mission, including the mission leaders, were moved to neighboring Kenya, Sam Penrod said in a news release.
The Utah-based faith will make additional decisions about where the affected missionaries will be assigned “as the situation in Ethiopia is evaluated,” Penrod said.
“Decisions concerning the 10 full-time missionaries from Ethiopia were made to best meet the individual needs of the missionaries and their families,” according to the release.
On Friday, the U.S. State Department ordered that nonemergency U.S. government employees and their families leave Ethiopia “due to armed conflict, civil unrest and possible supply shortages,” according to an alert on the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia’s website. The Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency Tuesday, the alert states.
“Travel to Ethiopia is unsafe due to the ongoing armed conflict,” according to the alert. “Incidents of civil unrest and ethnic violence are occurring without warning. The situation may escalate further and may cause supply chain shortages, communications blackouts and travel disruptions.”
Salt Lake Tribune photographer Rick Egan photographed Latter-day Saint missionaries in Ethiopia last month.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Elder Ferrin from Queen Creek, Ariz., Elder Marble from Bothwell, Utah, Elder Bringhurst from Portland, Ore., and Elder Gilman from Idaho Falls, Idaho, all missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Mission, pose for photo with a young boy on the streets of Debre Zeyit, Ethiopia, on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021.
Egan also shot images inside the Megenagna Latter-say Saints chapel in Addis Ababa.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pose for photo at the Megenagna LDS Chapel in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chat between meetings at the Megenagna LDS Chapel in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021.
