Partners   •   Agencies & Churches   •   Countries   •   Periodicals & Publications   •   AIMM Home

Communauté Evangélique Mennonite (CEM)

CEM is the second autonomous Mennonite Church of the Congo that has stemmed from the work of the AIMM in that land. Its origins date to the bitter and bloody tribal conflict which erupted between the Baluba and Lulua people in the early 1960's along the Kasai River. The ancestral land of the Lulua lies along the Kasai River whereas the Baluba's homeland is situated in the East Kasai. During the Belgian colonial era, the two groups had increasingly intermingled along the river as the Baluba migrated from the east seeking opportunities for education and employment.

Upon the abrupt departure of the Belgian authorities in 1960, friction quickly erupted between the two groups which eventually resulted in the mass flight of Baluba people back to their traditional homeland in the East Kasai. This conflict and migration cut squarely across the AIMM area and the Mennonite Church taking with it a significant number of its members and some of its ablest pastors. Upon arrival in their homeland, they were a tattered, hungry and disoriented people. While AIMM and MCC collaborated in a massive rehabilitation program among them, the refugee pastors began to rally their fellow believers organizing them into little worshiping communities.

Cut-off from their mother church in the West Kasai both by political barriers and geographical distance, they set out to organize themselves as a second Mennonite church of the Congo. Legal status was granted by the government in July 1966. Today this church is known as the Communauté Evangélique Mennonite (CEM). It has its headquarters in Mbuji Mayi of the East Kasai and counts 21,000 members.

CURRENT CEM OFFICERS:

* Rév. MISAKABU Nzala - president/legal representative
* Rév. MBUYI Kashala - vice president
* Rév. KABOYA Ntumbi - treasurer
* Mr. TSHIBANGU Mpumbua - assistant treasurer

Back to Partners