View source for Kusangila, Kitondo James Jean-Pierre (1947-2021)

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== Birth and conversion ==

Kusangila Kitondo James Jean-Pierre was born on 5 October 1947 in Kiniangi in the Kwango province of Belgian Congo (known as [[Congo, Democratic Republic of|Democratic Republic of Congo]], 1964-1971, and since 1997). His father, Mwemba Kavuya, and his mother, Lubondo, were both originally from Kiniangi and belonged to the Yaka tribe. They were Christians and members of the Kiniangi congregation of the [[Communauté des Églises de Frères Mennonites au Congo|Communauté des Églises des Frères mennonites au Congo]] (CEFMC). Kusangila Kitondo was the third of five children, all boys.

Kusangila received Jesus Christ in 1956 when he was in the fifth grade, after Rev. Lusoki Simon's preaching on Romans 3:23 and 6:23 brought peace to his heart. Rev. Lusoki baptized him in Kiniangi in 1960.

== Studies, marriage, and family life ==

Kusangila completed his primary education at the American Mennonite Brethren Mission (AMBM) station in Panzi in 1957. From 1957 to 1959, he did preparatory studies at the AMBM station of Kipungu, in the Payi-Kongila territory, under the direction of missionary [[Klassen, Benjamin H. "Ben" (1924-2004)|Ben H. Klassen]]. He then began secondary school in Nyanga, a [[Congo Inland Mission]] (CIM) station in Kasai province. His studies were interrupted by the Pierre Mulele war that began in September 1963 in the territories of Idiofa and Gungu. Because the school in Nyanga was temporarily closed, Kusangila and some of his classmates returned to [[Kikwit (Democratic Republic of the Congo)|Kikwit]] by plane in December 1963. He continued his studies at the Kikwit Atheneum (an official state school) and then at the Kenge Atheneum in Kenge territory. After the war ended, he returned to Nyanga and completed his secondary education.

Kusangila married Luboko Mwemba on September 7, 1967 at the CEFMC parish in Panzi. He was a good husband to his wife. The two of them collaborated in worship and other church activities, and he encouraged her to become a preacher of the gospel.

The couple had eight children – three boys and five girls. Their names are Kusangila Kitondo Fortunat, Kusangila Makiese Emilienne, Kusangila Batutiaku Martin, Kusangila Makumbu Yvette, Kusangila Lubondo Philomène, Kusangila Matondo Rosette, Kusangila Ngisa Patience and Kusangila Lelo Benjamin. As a father, Kusangila Kitondo was a smiling, non-aggressive man with a good attitude towards his children. He offered them guidance, biblical teaching, and dialogue, and displayed temperance. He wanted all his children to grow in the word of Jesus to be leaders in the future, and so he made them study and work, while advising them to put God before all things and to recognize Christ as their Savior. He directed all his children into secular studies, and they are all Christians.

With his friends, Kusangila had a caring spirit. Some of his friends, such as the families of Tshiakeni, Mukanza, and Fumana Pierre, became like family members. 

== Pastor, teacher, principal, and professor ==

Since Kusangila did not have the financial means to continue university studies, he decided to start working. The CEFMC authorities assigned him to the Kafumba elementary school in Kwilu and then to the Manzemba school in Panzi in Kwango to direct and organize these schools from 1968 to 1972.
However, while he was principal of the primary school in Manzemba, Kusangila received a calling to become a pastor. Other pastors and missionary John Ratzlaff commended and encouraged him in this vocation. From 1972 to 1976 he studied theology at the Institut supérieur théologique de Kinshasa (ISTK; now the Université Chrétienne de Kinshasa or UCKIN). After completing his studies, Kusangila was assigned to the CEFMC Mbandu parish in Kikwit from 1976 to 1983. At the same time, he served as a professor and director of the Kikwit Bible Institute from 1976 to 1979. He was ordained in Panzi on March 20, 1983. 

Kusangila used his administrative and pedagogical expertise for the benefit of CEFMC educational institutions. He served as director and headmaster in the schools of Kikandji, Kafumba, Panzi, Manzemba and Tambu-Tseke from about 1966 to 1970. Thanks to his work, all these schools were recognized by the Congolese government and received the necessary subsidies to cover the cost of personnel and operations. He was also the legal representative of the CEFMC when missionary [[Esau, John (1926-1998)|John Esau]] established the Nzashi-Mwadi Bible Institute in Kasongo-Lunda territory in 1985. 

== Senior CEFMC leader ==

Kusangila rose through all the ranks of the CEFMC's administrative hierarchy. He was elected as administrative secretary and deputy legal representative in 1979, a position he held until 1984. He was then elected general secretary and legal representative of the CEFMC from 1984 to 1991. During this time he received a scholarship to study at [[Mennonite Brethren Bible College (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)|Mennonite Brethren Bible College]] (MBBC; later known as [[Canadian Mennonite University (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)|Canadian Mennonite University]]) in [[Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada)|Winnipeg]], Canada, where he earned his seminary certificate in 1990. Under his leadership, the church grew. By the end of his tenure, the CEFMC had a membership of 58,000 in three church regions, 48 districts and 55 parishes.

Throughout his tenure as a CEFMC leader, Kusangila was involved in various initiatives involving animal husbandry, construction, development, inter-community collaboration, and the founding of parishes and institutions of the CEFMC.

Kusangila was a breeder of small and large livestock, and he did petty trading and other work. He and [[Dyck, Ernest H. (1922-2009)|Ernest Dyck]]  led the CEFMC’s participation in the Protestant Agricultural Program (PAP) initiated by [[Mennonite Brethren Missions/Services International (Mennonite Brethren Church)|Mennonite Brethren Missions/Services International]] (MBMSI). Other churches, the CMCO ([[Communauté Mennonite au Congo|Communauté mennonite au Congo]]) and the CBCO (Communauté baptiste au Congo), were also members and collaborated in the breeding of large livestock. Kusangila was especially involved in the development of the PAP in Kibolo, south of Kikwit. Kusangila was also involved in the cooperatives initiated in Congo by Ernest Dyck in collaboration with MEDA ([[Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA)|Mennonite Economic Development Associates]]). He worked primarily in the cooperatives of Kafumba, Panzi and Kingwangala.

Kusangila initiated several other construction and development projects. For example, he was a founding member of the Habitat for Humanity project for the population of Kanzombi in Kikwit in 1982 as a negotiator for loans with Canadian partners. He was also a founding member of the Lukolela Savings and Credit Union, based at the CUEBC (Communauté Union des Églises Baptistes au Congo) parish in Kikwit. He was a founding member of the Protestant guest house construction project in Kikwit. Under his leadership, roofs were built for some twenty CEFMC parishes, especially in Kwilu, Kwango, and Kinshasa.

Kusangila took administrative steps to recover the land belonging to all the Protestant churches in Kikwit that was in the hands of people of ill will. Under his leadership, the National Inter-Mennonite Committee of Congo (CONIM – Comité national inter-mennonite du Congo) was created in 1988 to bring together the three Mennonite communities in Congo. Kusangila also founded the CEFMC parishes of Mbandu and Ville-Basse in Kikwit.

Kusangila was a wise man. He encountered two significant difficulties to which he was able to give concrete solutions. First, during his tenure the collaboration between CEFMC and the MBMSI missionaries was sometimes difficult because the mission still held much economic and financial power. Under his leadership, the CEFMC’s Central Executive Committee and its General Assembly resolved that if the legal representative of the church was Congolese, the General Secretary should be an expatriate missionary to represent MBMSI. This contributed to a better collaboration for some time. <ref>Malebe Mubwayele Abdon, “L’administration des Églises des Frères mennonites au Congo de 1971-2012: une étude comparative des représentants légaux congolais,” Bachelor of Theology thesis, Faculty of Evangelical Theology of the Université chrétienne de Kinshasa, 2014, p. 48. However, a few years later, for various reasons, the roles of the legal representative and the general secretary were combined, and the expatriate missionaries withdrew from the leadership roles of the CEFMC). See Jean-Claude Kikweta A Mawa Wabala and Maurice Matsitsa-N’singa, “The Mennonite Brethren Church in the Congo,” ''Journal of African Christian Biography'' 7 (2) (April-July 2022), p. 51-52.</ref> Second, after the creation of the three ecclesiastical regions of the CEFMC, there were conflicts and divisions among the different regions. In response, Kusangila organized commissions of wise people, who helped to resolve the problems in each church region.<ref>Malebe, “L’administration des Églises des Frères mennonites au Congo,” p. 48.</ref>

Kusangila served as pastor of the CEFMC parish in Bumbu from 2007 until his death in 2020 following a short illness.


'''This biography is reprinted, with permission, from the ''Dictionary of African Christian Biography'' (https://www.DACB.org/). The original article can be found at https://dacb.org/stories/demrepcongo/kusangila/<nowiki/>.'''

= Bibliography =
Kikweta A Mawa Wabala, Jean-Claude and Maurice Matsitsa-N’singa. “The Mennonite Brethren Church in the Congo.” ''Journal of African Christian Biography'' 7 (2) (Apr-Jul 2022): 40–58.

Kikweta Mawa Wabala, Jean Claude. ''Biographie des Bâtisseurs de la CEFMC, Tome 1 (de 1919 à 1959''). Kinshasa, Centre Aaron Janzen, 2013.

Kusangila, Kitondo Fortunat, eldest son of pastor Kusangila. Interview by the author on July 5, 2022 in Kinshasa, DR Congo.

Kusangila, Kitondo James Jean-Pierre. Interviews by Anicka Fast on September 28 and October 18, 2018, in Kinshasa, DR Congo.

Malebe, Mubwayele Abdon. “L’administration des Églises des Frères mennonites au Congo de 1971-2012 : une étude comparative des représentants légaux congolais.” Bachelor of Theology thesis, Faculty of Evangelical Theology of the Université chrétienne de Kinshasa, 2014.


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