Bigobo Station, East Congo Union Mission
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Image not found or type unknown Bigobo Station, East Congo Union Mission NGILI MULOKO MUTOMBE Ngili Muloko Mutombe, D.Min. (Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan), is the Mampala district leader and a professor of theology at Philip Lemon University in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. He previously served as the first president of Philip Lemon University and president of West Katanga Field, North Katanga Mission, and Maniema Mission. He has authored L’Adventiste du Septième Jour: Histoire et Bataille d’Expansion de l’Evangélisation en RD Congo. Bigobo Station, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was founded by Raleigh Robinson in 1930. Overview In 1923 W. H. Branson, division president; Dr. Reith of the Cape Sanitarium; and E. C. Boger, the Congo Union superintendent; started looking for a site on which to start a mission station.1 Using the Congo map, they decided to go northeastern from Elisabethville, with Albertville as their target. However, they were attracted by Kongolo, and the work began there in 1924 with Ferguson as the pioneer station director.2 A school was started in Kilenge village (now Kikamba), 18 miles from Kongolo. In 1926, Raleigh Robinson came from Songa Station to operate the school in Kilenge. The out-schools in Kagungu, Kabanzi, and Ilunga villages sent students to Kikamba. The students who came from Hemba land traveled more than 80 kilometers to reach the school and stayed at the mission station. Among these students were Luhunga Samson, Jonathan Kiambe, Nyembo Abed Nego, Petro Mukhota, and many others. The influx of Hemba students compared to the minority of those from the area surrounding Kikamba, in addition to the climatic elements, caused the missionaries to start looking for other sites. Ilunga village was chosen, but later discarded because of lack of water.3 After Robinson’s departure from Cape Town, a visit was to be made to Kavula where the wind had washed away the roof of the school, and to Kabanzi village, where the confrontation with the Catholic Church was fierce at first. But this time, they were well received.4 Around 1929, Chief Bigobo yielded to the request of the missionaries for the opening of the Bigobo Mission Station.5 Several manuals refer to this site as Bikhobo Hill Mission. In 1929, it was decided to move from Kikamba to another place. Ilunga village was considered, but the environmental conditions were not good. So, Raleigh moved on looking for a site until he reached the boundary of the territory. Bigobo was attractive because of its sources of water. In 1930 everything was ready and Bigobo Hill Mission opened a school, a clinic, and a church. Today the station has developed into a mission project and has 40 literature evangelists, 11 ordained ministers, 11 credentialed ministers, 52 schools, 333 teachers, 6,176 students, 54 churches, and 98 companies, with a total of 13,873 church members, among 3,048,165 inhabitants of Tanganyika province. Background When the SDA missionaries reached Kongolo, the Catholic priests and some Protestant churches were already established and attracting people in Kongolo and in the surrounding villages. But Raleigh Robinson acted with tact to avoid any misunderstanding. The idea of Bigobo did not come directly.6 In looking for a place, the staff considered the possibility of Hemba because of the number of students who came from Kabanzi, Ilunga, and other villages on the right bank of the Congo River. Many people favored Ilunga, but Raleigh Robinson was not in favor.7 Instead, he went further towards the borders of Kongolo territory with Nyunzu. In Bigobo the missionaries found Catholic and Garenganze missionaries. These two groups were in conflict. As Raleigh Robinson evangelized through charities, Chief Bigobo decided to hunt down the two rivals with the help of the Bena-Nyembo community leader. He gave preference to the Adventist missionary to whom he granted a 20-hectare piece of land in exchange for a sum of money. When the Catholic priest discovered that, he contacted the Head of Post who held a higher administrative position than the community leader. The latter would whip all the village leaders who accepted Adventism. Raleigh Robinson complained to the Territory, a higher administrative level than the Head of Post. This officer summoned all the heads of the villages concerned to test them. In a simple way, he asked who opted for the Adventist missionary and how many chose the priest? More than 20 leaders went behind Raleigh Robinson. Then he taught the leaders of these villages how to make bricks for the construction of a girls boarding school, a primary school, a dispensary, and a church. Many village chiefs were attracted by the presence of natives who were working with the white missionaries by translating from English into local languages. Jonathan Kiambe, Samson Luhunga, and the others were among those who spoke the language of the country and translated for Robinson. Founding Bigobo Station was founded by Raleigh Robinson with his wife and their children, Leonard and Grace. The Bigobo church was built around 1930-1931. The first church was under mitondo trees. This building, made of pickets covered with mud, was between the station director’s house and the position of the current church. The latter was built by the South African, Mr. Fourie, between 1937 and 1938. Even small houses were highly esteemed, and only the elite spent the night there.8 Wherever Adventism penetrated, the hostility of established religious groups was apparent. Some believers were whipped or ridiculed. Zacharie Nsenga, a teacher from the primary school of Yayi village, was imprisoned under the pressure of the priest in the years before Congolese independence. But the movement, under divine guidance, spread even to the Bakalanga people in the territory of Nyunzu. History From the time the station started, many villages surrounding Bigobo received teachers for the schooling of their children. Those out-schools became centers from which to recruit those who continued their education at Bigobo Station. In 1942 many villages were in favor of Adventism. The message spread to Maniema district in the Kivu province. W. H. Anderson visited Mugimbi and the Catholic priest came and confronted him. The discussion was very stormy and the teachers were interpreting for the two white men. What interested the villagers was that the two white men spoke different languages. One spoke English, while the other spoke French. The Catholic teachers knew only the local language and French. Adventist teachers also spoke French, but communicated with their missionary in English. At the end of the discussion, the Catholic priest left with his big motorbike to Kongolo to file a complaint. However, he got a serious accident at the entrance of Magezi village. People concluded that the old man had cursed the priest and that the Adventist Church was right to stay there.9 The natives wanted to build a hospital at Bigobo. Dr. Percy Marsa came with his wife to study the place. Meanwhile, the Wilsons ran the station. On July 9, 1960, the Marsa couple were at Bigobo Mission, being accompanied by Samson Luhunga, chief monitor of Songa Primary School. A European from the Lumanisha Cotton Company came to inform Mr. Wilson that they had to leave because a war was starting. Providentially, they had fuel in reserve. When they arrived at the bridge of the Congo River, the Republican force was guarding the bridge, but let them pass when they learned that they were missionaries. After four hours, they reached Songa and at midnight they left for Kamina.10 The war spread to several parts of East Congo and lasted for more than three years. In those critical days, Simon Muhune valiantly and courageously welcomed these troops to Bigobo. He was with the retired Cossam Kaluhala. The rebels burned everything in their path while Simon was director of the Bigobo Station after Jonathan Kiambe’s death. He wondered if he should flee and abandon the heritage of the church, but he chose to remain standing in front of the troops who were screaming and singing. This gesture allowed the mission to avoid being burned.11 Kongolo was the last territory supporting Moses Tshombe’s government. It was there that people came running through two rebel factions. Some pastors perished in Katanga. The Dorcas Societies in Canada and the United States sent some help, and some international organizations used the local channel of the Adventist churches. President Tshombe gave his support for the transportation of goods to Kongolo, and he added medications to them. Elder Edward of the General Conference and Leonard Robinson arrived with 120 tons of food from the United States and Denmark.12 Although most of the Tanganyika province was evangelized around 1924, the Albertville headquarters (now Kalemie) experienced Adventism only later, thanks to the loyal work of Muteba Kitoko, father-in-law to Joseph Lomamba. A. Davy and J. T. Knopper testified that among the large number of literature evangelists of the Congo that had opened territories, were Kalipentale, Joshua Sandando, and Muteba Kitoko. The Congo Union appointed them as missionaries for their faithful service rendered.13 The organization of the East Katanga Mission is an idea that did not come from the leadership, but from the members who asked that mission status be granted to them. The Bigobo Station workers requested the status, but were denied due to a small membership. Beginning in 1958, the members took over the struggle for status, causing the station administration to break with the field office in Kamina. All financial and administrative reports were frozen in Bigobo and sent directly to the union during Paul Mwema’s presidency of the Zaire Union Mission.