Stevenson, Alvin (1870-1913)
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Alvin Stevenson was born in Quebec, Canada, but found his way as a young man to New York State where he enrolled in a missionary training program sponsored by the Christian and Missionary Alliance. In 1896 he and his wife set sail to the Congo Free State where they began their missionary service under sponsorship of Christian and Missionary Alliance.
In 1897 his wife and infant son died in Africa. In 1904 Alvin married Mathilde Kohm who was serving with the Christian and Missionary Alliance under the auspices of the Defenseless Mennonite Church (Evangelical Mennonite Church). After the Stevensons returned to the United States in 1910, Alvin joined his wife's church. When the new inter-Mennonite mission board (Congo Inland Mission, later Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission) was formed in 1911 by the Defenseless Mennonites and the Central Conference Mennonite Church, Alvin left his family in Illinois and went to Africa to join Lawrence and Rose Haigh to explore for a new mission field. They agreed upon two sites in Belgian Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo) at Kalamba Mukenge in south central Congo among the Lulua people and Djoko Punda to the north among a mix of Lulua, Baluba, and Bakuba people. Soon after they were established at Djoko, Stevenson became ill with lung congestion and died 16 February 1913. He was buried in Africa.
Bibliography
"Alvin James Stevenson," two-page published obituary including picture of the family in 1911, N.p., copy in Evangelical Mennonite Church historical files, Fort Wayne, IN.
Loewen, Melvin J. Three-Score. Elkhart, IN: Congo Inland Mission, 1972: 31-41: The origins of Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, including references to Mathilda Kohm and Alvin Stevenson.
| Author(s) | James E Bertsche |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1989 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Bertsche, James E. "Stevenson, Alvin (1870-1913)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1989. Web. 21 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Stevenson,_Alvin_(1870-1913)&oldid=166463.
APA style
Bertsche, James E. (1989). Stevenson, Alvin (1870-1913). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 21 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Stevenson,_Alvin_(1870-1913)&oldid=166463.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 858. All rights reserved.
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