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Diogo Cão takes four Bakongo men to Portugal.
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The first mission efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa were begun among the Bakongo people of northern Angola in 1483. One year earlier, four Bakongo men were taken by the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão to Lisbon. They became Christians during their time in Portugal, and when three of them returned to Angola they brought the good news of Jesus Christ to their friends and family. The Gospel spread like wildfire among the Bakongo and neighboring peoples. Even the Bakongo king became a believer and requested that missionaries come to teach them more about being followers of Christ. When the first Portuguese missionaries arrived in 1491 they were surprised to find large crowds in Angola ready to be baptized.
History repeats itself in amazing ways, and this little historical tidbit foreshadowed another exciting opportunity for the spread of the Gospel in Angola. Once again, Angolans would lead the way and invite missionaries to come join in the harvest! Keep reading.
By 1961, there were those who felt that Angola should be rid of the Portuguese colonizers. Violent measures were used to drive the colonists from their homes, and a full-fledged war for independence broke loose. In the violence, mission stations were destroyed and many people fled their homes and villages, crossing the border to the Congo (DRC). In the Congo, Christians began to meet together. Laying aside their denominational differences they prayed for peace in Angola. This led to the development of an "association" of Christians that came together to pray. Eventually some of them were ostracized by their denominations for associating with this group. They decided that they should dissolve the association and from that point they determined among themselves that they would no longer claim a part of denominational divisions but instead would be "Christians only."
They continued to meet together when they returned to Angola in 1974. Three uneducated Bakongo preachers rose up from among them and they began to go about the countryside preaching the Gospel, a message of unity in Christ, and non-denominational Christianity. They encouraged Christians to come together in Christ and to look to the Bible, not to their denomination, for authority. Wherever they went, people were baptized and churches were started. When they were approached by the government and asked what denomination they were, they replied that they were just Christians and they were not a denomination. The government was not satisfied with that answer so they met together to decide on a name for themselves. They unanimously decided that they should call themselves "the Church of Christ." Since that point they have been known as "Igreja de Cristo em Angola" or ICA for short.
In June of 2006 we were surprised to discover the Church of Christ in Angola. There has never been any long-term missionary work done in Angola by Churches of Christ or anyone else with roots in the American Restoration Movement. Over 40 years of internal war has kept the country isolated from the rest of the world. The Church of Christ there has had very little contact with other Churches of Christ around the world. They have sent a few of their leaders to the Churches of Christ in Brazil for biblical training. The leadership of the ICA churches is pleading with the Churches in America, Brazil and the rest of Africa to help them mature in their biblical knowledge and in their efforts to spread the Gospel. The door is open and the invitation is before us. Will you join us in partnering with ICA to evangelize a lost and dying nation?
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