Bayanganga Samuele was born in the early 1920s in Banga Ibundula among the Bashilele people in western Kasai Province of what became Zaire (later called Democratic Republic of Congo). His people were headhunters, primitive, fearless, and hostile to outsiders. Samuele was an early convert to Christianity from missionary work of the Congo Inland Mission. He was permanently disowned by his people after he renounced many of his traditional customs which were incompatible with Christianity. He married and reared his family in Muanza Mukala, the village of a neighboring tribe.

Bayanganga was the first Mennonite church leader to emerge from the Bashilele people. With a minimum of formal Bible education, he served first as as resident village evangelist and then as an overseer of a cluster of village churches. He remained faithful in his ministry until his death in the early 1970s.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 60. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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