Nganga Diyoyo (Paul) (b. 1921)
Nganga Diyoyo was six months old when he was adopted by missionaries Aaron and Ernestina Janzen at Kafumba in Congo. He received Christ at a very early age. Nganga attended primary school and graduated from the Bible school in 1939. He was useful in many ways on the mission station. He helped translate educational and Christian literature into the local language and also helped operate the printing press. In 1958 he moved to Kikwit and became the secretary of the legal representative of the mission. He was sent to Brussels, Belgium, to improve his French, typing, and mathematics and to take further theological studies. In 1962, after the church had received its autonomy, he became its first Zairian legal representative. In 1970 the mission and the church fused into one organization, the Église du Christ au Zaire, Communauté des Églises de Frères Mennonites au Zaire (later Communauté des Églises de Frères Mennonites au Congo), with Nganga continuing as legal representative. In 1975 he became treasurer of the church.
In 1980 he left church administration to establish a farm of his own, where he started a church and became its pastor. He commented, "I was happy to . . . minister . . . in the field of administration. . . . I realized that I had spent much time in administration, but had had little time to preach. . . . I see people give themselves to Jesus here at the farm and receive baptism. This gives me greater joy than I had known previously. Before, I worked to make a living for myself, but now I am serving the Lord for the life that has no end."
Bibliography
Foreign Missions – Africa. Hillsboro, KS: MB Board of Missions, 1947: 31-32.
Toews, J. B. The Mennonite Brethren Church in Zaire. Fresno: MB Board of Christian Literature, 1978: 116, 118, 165, 226.
| Author(s) | Irvin L Friesen |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1987 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Friesen, Irvin L. "Nganga Diyoyo (Paul) (b. 1921)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1987. Web. 23 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Nganga_Diyoyo_(Paul)_(b._1921)&oldid=76288.
APA style
Friesen, Irvin L. (1987). Nganga Diyoyo (Paul) (b. 1921). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Nganga_Diyoyo_(Paul)_(b._1921)&oldid=76288.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 628-629. All rights reserved.
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