This article evaluates the impact of charismatic phenomena in the evangelisation of the Luba by the Congo Evangelistic Mission (CEM) between 1915 and 2015 (the centenary year of the CEM). The CEM is a Pentecostal faith-mission, founded in Mwanza, Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1915 by the British missionaries W.F.P. Burton and J. Salter. Several authors such as Burton, Hodgson, Whittaker and Womersley believe that the manifestation of charismatic phenomena was instrumental to the extraordinary growth experienced by the CEM throughout its history. They posit that the occurrence of charismatic phenomena such as healing, miracles and deliverances, to mention a few, has made the CEM’s proselytising more effective than any other missionary organisation in the region. In fact, as observed by Garrard, miraculous healings and divine judgements played a significant role in the acceptance of the CEM missionaries by the indigenous people of the Luba tribe in Katanga.
This article evaluates the impact of charismatic phenomena in the evangelisation of the Luba by the Congo Evangelistic Mission (CEM) between 1915 and 2015. Several authors such as Burton (
Interestingly, despite the acknowledgement of these so-called charismatic phenomena in the CEM, their influence on the growth of the mission has received little or no attention. The dearth of information regarding the impact of the charismatic phenomena on the development of the CEM, leaves a gap in knowledge that this study attempts to fill. To achieve this objective, this article presents a brief historical overview of the origin and development of the CEM. Thereafter, it defines the charismatic phenomena from the perspective of the Acts of the Apostles. Next, it discusses several occurrences of charismatic phenomena during the formative years of the mission, which were a replication of those in the Acts of the Apostles. Finally, it evaluates the impact of the charismatic phenomena on the growth of the CEM. It is important to note that, due to the limitations of this study, it does not engage exhaustively with the list of charismatic manifestation supposedly inspired by the Holy Spirit in the history of the CEM. Rather, the few examples discussed herein serve as a microcosm for the rest. However, for the charismatic phenomena selected in the CEM to be considered valid, an assessment of the relevant data was done.
The CEM is a Pentecostal mission established in Mwanza, Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1915 by the British missionaries W.F.P Burton and J. Salter.
Mwanza is a Luba chiefdom in the Malemba Nkulu territory in the present province of Haut Lomami, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Mwanza chiefdom is located on the western bank of the Congo River with its headquarters in Seya. It is considered the centre of the Luba people (Burton
Before delving into the examination of the charismatic phenomena, as is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, it is important to present a brief biographical sketch of the founders of the CEM, W.F.P. Burton and J. Salter. James Salter was born in Preston in 1889, but was orphaned at an early age. He was well-known in England, the United States and New Zealand where he travelled with his father-in-law, Smith Wigglesworth, who was one of the greatest pioneers of European Pentecostalism (Liardon
W.P.P. Burton was born on 24 March 1886 in Liverpool, England. He trained as an electrical engineer at the Redhill Technical College and Liverpool University, respectively. He was also a carpenter, an artist and an amateur designer, and even learned the French language (Maxwell
When Burton and Salter first arrived in Mwanza, they were under the auspices of a branch of the Pentecostal Mission in the Belgian Congo. The Pentecostal Mission was supposed to support them, and facilitate their acquisition of legal authorisation, but it reneged on this commitment. Consequently, W.P.P. Burton and James Salter terminated their relationship and autonomously founded the CEM, which has grown to become the most predominant Pentecostal mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Womersley & Garrard
Historically this missionary originated from the Pentecostal movement that originate in Azusa Street on the 9th of April 1906 in Los Angeles, California. The CEM is a Pentecostal Christian association that was founded (under the name Pentecostal Mission) in 1915 in Katanga at Mwanza
One outstanding characteristic of this missionary association is its strong espousal of the biblical practices of charismatic gifts (charismata) as is contained in 1 Corinthians (12–14). This pivotal quality certifies the churches as having a missiological objective (Whittaker
The ‘charismatic phenomenon’ derives from the
In the CEM, these charismatic phenomena signify the manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and a duplication of the experiences that distinguishes the primitive community of the church in the Acts of the Apostles from contemporary communities. From a Pentecostal perspective, Moorhead (
In a similar vein, the Acts also discusses the judgements of God that serves as a protection of his work and his workers. The Bible speaks of the retributive justice meted to Herod who was responsible for the death of James and the imprisonment of Peter (Ac 12:2–7). Acts narrates also how Elymas, who was antagonistic to Paul, was struck with blindness. Such depictions of charismatic phenomena as will be demonstrated in this study, constitute the major catalysts for the growth of the CEM. Since there are multi valent variations and manifestations of the charismata in various forms and places, this study focuses on the charismatic aspects of divine healing, judgement and retribution.
Apart from random occurrences of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit reported in the CEM, Burton (
Virtually everyone is interested in the gifts of healing, especially because it is widely sought-after. In fact, the gift of healing remains the most beneficial gifts to humankind. In 1 Corinthians 12 (vv. 9, 28, 30), the gifts of healing are mentioned thrice, and in all cases, Paul uses a double plural form (
It is noteworthy then that, from its inception, the ministry of the CEM (even as a budding church) was remarkable for extraordinary manifestations of
It is crucial to note that before the occurrence of these charismatic phenomenon through the CEM evangelists, there had never been any instance of divine healing, or an indisputable performance of miracles in the tribe (Garrard
Despite constant evangelisation prior to 1919 in this area, the entire population of Ngoymani lived under the direct supervision of the
Likewise, Mwanabute Kalume’s healing sparked the population’s enthusiasm towards the missionaries, and the people sought to listen more to the messages about Jesus (Burton
However, the missionaries asked them to divert their focus from them and their power, and to desist from venerating them. They urged them to look up to Jesus through whose power they performed the miracles, and informed them that they, too, would receive the power to perform miracles and cure incurable diseases if they believed. Thereafter, as Burton (
Kisanga is a chiefdom located about 60 km northwest of Mwanza. Although the gospel was introduced to the community in 1917, it yielded no fruits until 1921. The community was opposed to accepting the gospel and were hostile towards the missionaries (Garrard
Later, when Hodgson was sent to evangelise there, he held prayer meetings with the Christians and several miraculous healings occurred (Burton
Due to their involvement in the domain of traditional cannibalism, the indigenous people of this region were particularly averse to the message of salvation (Burton
However, the arrival of M. Taylor in the village, coupled with the divine healing of a certain abandoned woman, marked the turning point for the missionaries (Burton
In 1938, Petelo Musamfidi gained enormous popularity in the Kinkondja chiefdom in Kipamba for his gift of healing. Noteworthy is the fact that of all the Congolese indigenous members of the CEM, Petelo Musamfidi remains the first (although others existed after him) to whom such extraordinary gifts have been attributed. Originally from the Mwanza chiefdom, he went to work in Kikondjain, the village of Sanga, and was baptised in the Holy Spirit in 1932 in Kabanza. He was sought-after, because of several healings and miracles that occurred through him (Garrard
Due to the miraculous healings, they confessed their sins, and because of the astonishing rate of conversions across the villages in the region, the secret societies lost considerable followership in the chiefdom (Whittaker
In Lusaka (Kabongo), Kisonga Bweni Abel was instrumental to the growth of evangelising. He was a man of impeccable character, blessed with a wealth of spiritual gifts through whom diseases such as leprosy, epilepsy, goitres and other incurable diseases were instantly healed (Garrard
It is imperative to point out that intense and regular prayers as well as the teachings of the Word of God at the gatherings of believers, often preceded these manifestations of charismatic phenomena that led to the conversion of numerous people to Christianity. Garrard (
The concept of ‘judgement’ in the Holy Scriptures, is closely linked to the notion of God’s justice. The Hebrew word (חֵרֶם,
In the history of the CEM, several cases of divine confrontations with satanic powers and retributive justice against disruptors of the gospel are recorded. In all such instances, the church often triumphed, and the power of God proved supreme. When the indigenous people saw the supernatural occurrences happening to the witchdoctors who opposed the gospel, they were converted. A considerable number of sorcerers and members of secret societies were converted to the Christian faith in this manner. Consequently, they constituted the nuclei of the church in the villages (Hodgson
Kiombei is a village under the Mpyana Mbayo chiefdom. When Mudishi (the evangelist) first arrived there, he felt quite desperate, because there was initially no positive response to the message. The indigenous people of this region seemed unperturbed by their spiritual wickedness that was maintained by a widely feared woman called Nyemba (Burton
One day while a crowd was waiting for Nyemba to perform, they were stunned to see her being mysteriously knocked off the ground (Burton
While the evangelists were struggling to spread the gospel in other villages, a man from Kabizumba named Mateo, decided to destroy the room that had been set up for the church’s meetings (Burton
The community of Kabengele was notorious for secret societies activities. This community’s area of specialisation was in witchcraft and sorcery. Men, women and children were duly mobilised for ceremonies and diligently honoured witchdoctors as demigods (Hodgson
In 1950 in Kisamba, another community under the same chiefdom, the opposition to the message of the gospel was maintained on the one hand by Kasumba, one of the leading witchdoctors, and by Lumema, a member of the Roman Catholic Church on the other hand. Several people from the region, including Hodgson (
Similarly, Lumema, another native of the Kabengele chiefdom, claimed to be a staunch Catholic convert and therefore he fiercely opposed the Pentecostal message. Hodgson (
In another related episode, an eminent witchdoctor of the village of Kibila named Numbi Umpose, died and the spirits (
The positive and passionate reaction of the indigenous people to the gospel is reminiscent of the enthusiasm of Simon, the magician, in Samaria. It is likewise attributable to the manifestation of charismatic phenomena. Simon was astonished when he experienced the miracles and great wonders performed by the apostles. He was even more intrigued when he observed the impartation of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, and he sought to obtain this power by offering them money (Ac 8:13–19). In a similar vein, it is assumed that the indigenous people sometimes believed not necessarily because they understood the purpose of being in Christ. Rather, they did so out of curiosity of knowing the source of the power demonstrated by the missionaries. Notwithstanding this hypothesis, the missionaries quickly sought to eradicate practices that were incompatible with the faith preached. They organised lessons for new believers to extricate them from their fetish beliefs and practices (Burton
In the end, the indigenous people understood that the fetishes were powerless and incompatible with their newly embraced Christian faith. Hodgson (
2015 marks the centenary celebration of the CEM. As is evident throughout this article, this missionary association attained a 100 years of its existence in the DRC in this year. Therefore, it was essential to evaluate the impact of charismatic phenomena in the church since its foundation in 1915. Before the establishment of the CEM in the Luba region, some missionary establishments already existed in that part of the country. One example is the
However, before the arrival of the missionaries, the indigenous Luba people had a peculiar way of living. They were African traditional believers who practised fetishism, witchcraft, sorcery and diabolism for healing, defence and protection to gain sympathy and for vengeance. The Luba people particularly attached great importance to their traditional beliefs and fetish practises (Burton
To circumvent these barriers put up by the traditionalists, the CEM missionaries strategically focused on proclaiming the message of salvation in conjunction with manifestations of charismatic phenomena. As a result, they were able to convince the indigenous people that the missionaries had more powerful fetish (
Number of members.
Number of local churches from 1915 to 2015.
Summary table of the evolution of the Congo Evangelistic Mission from 1915 to 2015.
Period | Number of local churches | Number of members |
---|---|---|
1915–1960 | 1 600 | 300 000 |
1961–1965 | 1 800 | 700 000 |
1966–1973 | 2 100 | 1 450 000 |
1974–1984 | 3 000 | ≈2 000 000 |
1985–2015 | ± 8 000 | ± 4 000 000 |
As the discussions in this article have shown, the charismatic phenomena played an indispensable role in the fostering and evolving of the CEM’s growth and development into the phenomenal church that it is today. This is especially evident concerning the confrontation and demolishment of satanic powers and proselyting of the gospel in the Luba region. It is evident that the effusion of the power of the Holy Spirit is a paramount part of the mission bestowed on the disciples. In other words, the testimony of salvation is contingent on receiving the power of the Holy Spirit through whom missionary work is effective (Ac 1:4, 8). Because the Holy Spirit is the agent of renewal and revitalisation of the mission of the church, it is through his power that the disciples can faithfully proclaim the message of Jesus and propagate his work. The Holy Spirit ensures the continuity of God’s salvation through the mission of the church. For this reason, the contemporary church requires a paradigm shift in its mission. Hence, it is pertinent that the Pentecostal church continues to give cognisance to the role of the Holy Spirit by prioritising the charismatic phenomena as a fundamental catalyst for the continuous growth and perpetuation of the
I would like to express profound gratitude to Professor J. (Hans) Kommers and Professor Dick Mwamba Kanonge for their valuable guidance.
The authors have declared that no competing interest exist.
All authors contributed equally to this work.
This article followed all ethical standards for carrying out research.
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any affiliated agency of the authors.
Mwanza is a Luba chiefdom in the territory of Malemba Nkulu in the province of Haut Lomami, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The chiefdom is located west of the Congo River (left side), and its headquarters is in Seya. It extends to the north towards Ngoimani; to the south it shares the boundaries with the Nkinkonja chiefdom, to the southeast with the Nkulu chiefdom, and to the northeast with the Mulongo chiefdom.