The Mormon Church began the 1990s with 7,700,000 million members, over 15,000 congregations and 50,000 missionaries worldwide. The 1990s have proven to be the most explosive period of growth in the history of Mormonism worldwide, as the Church expanded significantly into Africa and the former Soviet Union, where it had hitherto been relatively small. Some began calling the Mormon Church the fastest growing church in the world, though that applies only to growth in terms of internal percentage, not sheer numerical growth. Nevertheless, the claims of Mormonism to truth and priesthood authority from God are not contingent upon Mormonism growing quickly.