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| Notorious Arab Slaver TippuTip |
It was 1917 when the freed slaves from Angola arrived at
Mwanza CEM Mission in Katanga Province of the Belgian Congo. They had walked with their whole family across much of
Katanga Province. They were looking for a Mission to which they could attach
themselves.
Ya Shalumbo and his friends had left Kipushya much earlier heading out in
a search for a source of gunpowder. They had their homemade blunderbuss guns
and the local blacksmiths who were able to make them. But they needed gunpowder
to fight off the Battetela Slave Raidesr working for TippuTip the Arab leader
in Eastern Congo.
While on the slave route Ya Shalumbo and his friends were
caught by a Portuguese Slave Master and transported to Angola. The Portuguese
soon found that Ya Shalumbo was an intelligent man and so he decided to train
this slave in how to buy slaves from the Paramount Chief Msiri[1]
of the Basanga at Bunkeya.
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| Southern Central Africa in
1890 showing the central position of Msiri’s Yeke Kingdom and the principal
trade routes, with the approximate territories of Msiri’s main allies (names in
yellow) and the approximate areas occupied by European powers (names in orange
— does not spheres of influence or borders). The east coast trade was
controlled by the Sultan of
Zanzibar. Areas of influence of
other tribes and of France and Germany are not shown. |
While in Benguela province of Angola Ya Shalumbo married and
his wife made contact with the Brethren Missionaries where she became a
committed Christian. Shalumbo did not want anything to do with the religion of
these Evangelical missionaries and continued with his slave trading with trips
to Bunkeya from Angola.[2]
Through the faithful witness of his wife and after many arguments he eventually
surrendered to the Lord.
All slaves were freed but some remained in Angola for some
time. Ya Shalumbo had by this time twelve children the eldest of whom were
already married. They set out from Angola crossing Katanga Province looking for
Missionaries.
When they arrived at
Mwanza in Central Katanga the two young Missionaries Burton and Salter heard
the Hymn: “I shall know Him, I shall know Him, when redeemed by His side I
shall stand. I shall Know Him, I shall know Him, By the prints of the nails in
His hands.” The young missionaries said, “We have never sung that song here who
are these people?” The group of Basonge returned slaves included some Lubans.
They stayed with the Missionaries at Mwanza for two years helping them establish
the Work in the outstations like Ngoimani and Kisanga.
Brother Burton said they were difficult to work with as they
had been taught well in the ways of the Missionaries in Angola. They were very
legalistic and did not see eye to eye with the Pentecostal doctrines of the
young Brothers at Mwanza. Slowly they listened to the teaching from the
Scriptures and began to change.
After two years they wanted Burton and Salter to accompany
them to the Bekelebwe (Basonge). Brother Burton told them to go back and when
they had established some churches in that district to come and he would go
with them. Eventually in 1919 they returned to Mwanza after having opened
thirteen small churches in the villages surrounding Kipushya. They took with
them eight young men who went to Mwanza to attend the Evangelist’s Training
School. One of their number was Pita Mbele who faithfully served the Lord for
more than forty years in the Kipushya area.
In 1919 WFP Burton and his new wife travelled the 257 miles
along the bush paths on foot or in a Sudan chair (a cane chair carried on two
poles by two men). They crossed the Lomami River and travelled the 17
kilometres from the river to the central village of the Bena Tshofwe at
Kipushya.
The Chief, Ya Ndjibu, still had human skulls on poles around
his enclosure. These people were still cannibals and they told me in the 1960s
that the tastiest parts were the muscle of the upper arm or the thumb.
The Arrival of the
Johnstones at Kipushya in 1919. (from ‘God Working with Them’ by W.F.P. Burton.
Pp 157-163
Remember that some of the Bena Tshofwe from Kipushya had
accompanied Mr. And Mrs. Burton on their return from the Lomami River.
A special delegation had come from the Chief Ya Ndjibu of
the Bene Tshofwe, begging for a missionary. The Johnstones were touched by this
plea that this was the deciding factor of their move so far to the North West.
The Ovation they
received when they arrived at Kipushya was tremendous. Crowds met them all
along the road and accompanied them to the site of their future home with
shouts and songs. The people were wild with delight. They had waited for two
whole years and now they were going to have their own missionary.
Mr. And Mrs Johnstone and Miss Gallup
Some thought that perhaps the start of Kipushya was too hasty. They said they preferred that a
station be established as a midway point as Mwanza to Kipushya is such a long
way.
The similarity of Kiluba language of the South and the
Kisonge of kipushya made it very easy to mix up the languages. Words that
sounded the same had a completely different meaning. The first days were
mingled with joy, pain and sorrow. Only those who have pioneered in another
culture know how much grace and grit it takes to open up such a work for God.
The Johnstones were only there for two days when Mr
Johnstone fell sick with Malarial fever and soon his wife was beside him. Help
was 373 kilometres away at Mwanza. Praise the Lord He is Jehovah Ropheka, the unchanging
Healer. He soon raised them both up to continue their church planting.
They planted trees, gardens and built their first home on a
ridge overlooking a valley to the NW. By the end of three months they had quite
a little band of new believers. Soon Shalumbo returned with his whole family
and the work began to grow. Now there are more one thousand Pentecostal Assemblies of the (CPC No30) from that work.
[2] See Wikipedia The Yeke Kingdom; and Msiri.
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| Mr.and Mrs. Johnstone and Miss Gallup travel to Kipushya 373 kilometres |
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| Early Kipushya Photos 1919 |
