- Simon Kimbangu
Simon Kimbangu (
September 12 , ca. 1887, Nkamba, near Thysville, Congo Free State[ nowMbanza-Ngungu ,Congo (Kinshasa) ] -October 12 ,1951 , Élisabethville, Belgian Congo[ nowLubumbashi , Congo] ) was a Congolese religious leader noted as the founder ofKimbanguism . His followers consider him to be the special envoy of Jesus Christ as quoted in the fourteenth chapter of the biblicalGospel of John .The son of a traditional religious leader, he became a
Baptist in 1915, and worked as acatechist for several years before beginning his own ministry in early 1921. It was claimed that he had cured the sick and his ministry developed a large following, causing suspicion amongst the Belgian authorities.On 12th of September 1921 he was arrested and charged with
sedition . Convicted, he was sentenced to death. However, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment with 120 lashes. He died in prison in 1951.During his thirty years of imprisonment, he continued to be regarded as a spiritual leader, despite being denied contact with his followers, and also became a symbol of Congolese nationalism.
External links
* [http://www.bethel.edu/~letnie/AfricanChristianity/SSAKimbangu.html Bethel University site]
* [http://wwwa.britannica.com/eb/article-9045460 Encyclopedia Britannica]
* [http://www.dacb.org/stories/demrepcongo/kimbangu1_simon.html An African Biographical Dictionary: Simon Kimbangu]
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