The Mennonite Brethren Church in Angola began when Angolan refugees of diverse church backgrounds, who had joined the Mennonite Brethren Church in Kinshasa, Zaire, were led by Pastor Makanimpovi S. Sikonda of the Njili 13 church to return to Angola in October, 1980. Initially joining an independent, charismatic "Church of Christ," they soon applied to the Ministry of Justice for separate registration and were provisionally granted this in October 1983, with the help of the Angolan Council of Churches (CAIE). The Igreja Evangélica Irmäos Menonitas em Angola (IEIMA; Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church of Angola) is also affiliated with the Association of Evangelicals in Angola (AEA).

At the time of the first visit by North American representatives of the Mennonite Brethren Board of Missions and Services in February 1984, there were some 154 baptized believers in four congregations in the capital city of Lukanda and an undisclosed number in another seven congregations in the province of Uige. At the time of the second visit in February 1986, the CAIE reported some 1,200 members in a total of 13 congregations. Since its recognition of the Angolan Mennonite Brethren church, the board has assisted the church with church roofing material, one jeep, and a small quantity of clothes. As a result of the latter visit, the church negotiated with Brazil for permission to send students there for theological studies and with Zaire for permission to send students for training in agriculture and primary health care. In 2003 there were 58 congregations with 3,200 members.

By 1988 Angolan refugees remaining in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) had organized four Portuguese-speaking congregations, affiliated with the Eglise du Christ au Zaire (MB). Membership was 407.

Bibliography

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