PROVO — For a number of international students at Brigham Young University, Provo isn't necessarily the place to be.
After graduation, that is.
"Zion for Brazil is in Brazil," said Anderson Goncalves, a native of the South American country that is home to more than one million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "You have a responsibility with your own people."
Goncalves was one of the international students from the Marriott School of Management who participated in a panel discussion April 6 at the Hinckley Alumni Center on the BYU campus. The students addressed the 20th annual International Society conference under the title "Latter-day Obstacles and Opportunities."
Each panel member analyzed both the challenges and advantages specific to their home countries in regard to church growth. One of the common themes was ecclesiastical leadership.
Goncalves, who served an LDS mission in Billings, Mont., said he sometimes views his missionary service in the United States as preparation for when he served as a bishop in Brazil. The objective for LDS international students and missionaries should be to "gain a knowledge here and apply it there," said Goncalves, who is working on a master's of business administration.
"I'm back here to learn how to serve better my people again."
Goncalves expounded on the Marriott School's Cardon International Sponsorship program, which requires a commitment "to build the church" internationally. Three current general authorities from Brazil were beneficiaries of the program, Goncalves said.
"We understand that the church outside of the United States is relatively new," said Christian Hsieh, a second-year MBA student from Taiwan who has worked in China and whose next stop is Singapore. "They need strong leadership, and that's what we're here for. We're here to learn how the church is growing here, and then we replicate a model back to our country."
Flint Mensah, of Ghana, served a mission in Nigeria and worked as a financial report analyst for the church in its Africa West Area office. He's now working on a master's of public administration, but Mensah is concentrating on more than just academics.
"With church growth comes the need for leadership," he said. "We are here not only to learn, but to observe. We have observed each and every one of you."
While leadership was a universal concern among the presenters, some of the obstacles and opportunities they addressed were unique to their cultures.
In Taiwan there exists a cultural emphasis on seniority, said Hsieh, who was raised in Taipei and served a mission in California. He remembers a bishop apologizing to him once for calling him as a counselor in the Young Men presidency. "If you spend a long time in the church, people think you should have a better calling," he said.
However, the church has thrived in other areas, specifically family history. Children "are expected to keep records," and Latter-day Saints have the opportunity to teach others about genealogy, Hsieh said.
"It's been a great success in Taiwan because of the heritage," he said.
Among the challenges to the church in Australia are economic prosperity and a fascination with sports and recreation, said David Liddicoat, a first-year MBA student from Western Australia who served a mission in Georgia.
Two of the major growth phases of the church in Australia coincided with economic downturns, Liddicoat pointed out. Prior to the recent economic crisis, Australia had experienced 17 years of uninterrupted growth, he said. "It seems that with that … the perceived need of people for religion in Australia has declined," he said.
Recreational and professional sports are "a large part of Australian life," and many of those activities take place on Sundays, presenting another obstacle to growth. The church is also widely considered an American religion.
Having more prominent LDS professionals in Australia will help counter that notion, Liddicoat said. Such individuals can serve as mentors and examples.
"It's more and more important for us to have successful members of the church … so the people of Australia can see it as a worldwide church," he said.
Local leadership is imperative in dealing with culture-specific challenges, Goncalves suggested.
"Because we are locals, we know the needs," he said. "We can adapt things according to what they need."