Bukungu Mishumbi was born at Banga Makonda of the Bashilele tribe in western Kasai Province (Democratic Republic of Congo). The Bashílele, former headhunters, were fiercely independent and submitted to Belgian administration only in the late 1940s. In 1950 Russell and Helen Schnell of the Congo Inland Mission began work among the Bashílele at Banga. Bukungu attended primary school there and was converted and baptized. Graduating with high marks, he went to Nyanga Station where he was the first Mennonite believer of his tribe to complete a three-year teachers' training course. Back at Banga he took a leadership role in the educational system and held that position until the political independence of Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1960.

During the transfer of responsibilities to national leaders after independence, Bukungu learned accounting from missionary Art Janz and was elected the General Treasurer of the Église du Christ au Zaire, Communauté Mennonite au Zaire (CMZA; Zaire Mennonite Church; later Communauté Mennonite au Congo (CMC)) in 1966. He served in this capacity with total honesty for 15 years. After 1980 he moved to the port city Ilebo and developed a successful business there while making a strong contribution to the local Mennonite congregation as a layman. He later was chosen to be a deacon, then was ordained as a pastor.

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Author(s)	Levi Keidel
Date Published	2005

MLA style

Keidel, Levi. "Bukungu Mishumbi." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 2005. Web. 20 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bukungu_Mishumbi&oldid=175062.

APA style

Keidel, Levi. (2005). Bukungu Mishumbi. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 20 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Bukungu_Mishumbi&oldid=175062.

Bukungu Mishumbi

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