A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

umed in the interior. In Kafumba the small printing press was flooded with requests for Christian literature. At Kajiji hospital services were expanded. Ecole Belle Vue ("School of the Beautiful View") was transformed into a theological institute for the Congolese in cooperation with the CIM. In Pat Congila, a 220-bed government hospital, plagued by a shortage of medical personnel, asked the Mennonite Brethren to staff and operate it. Thus another center was added in 1962 to the M.B. mission in the Congo — a center which proved to be fruitful for evangelism and church extension. Shortly before a new storm was unleashed over the Kwango Province, the following statistics were reported: 9 stations, 62 outposts, 11 pastors, 57 church leaders, and 8000 members. 26 1964: The Jeunesse Rebellion Two years before the so-called "cultural revolution" swept across China, a similar revolution occurred in the Congo. The Jeunesse (youth) revolution was led by youthful gangs who were dissatisfied with the failure of independence and with the continued influence of foreigners in the Congo. The movement originated in the Matende area with Pierre Mulele, trained behind the Bamboo Curtain, as its leader. Although the primary targets of the Jeunesse were not the mission stations, but government centers, the former also came under attack as part of the "establishment. ' ' By the end of January, 1964, Mennonite Brethren mission stations were threatened. On short notice, taking with them only the most necessary personal belongings, missionaries evacuated the field by plane and truck. 2 ' A little later, after Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) had run some air checks on mission stations in the area, Bob Kroeker reported: "Most of the village chapels and out-schools in rebel territory have been burned to the ground. Four of our mission stations were destroyed." 28 MENNONITE BRETHREN AROUND THE WORLD 415 49. A pastors' seminar in Zaire. Among the latter was Kafumba, the pride and joy of the mis- sionary staff. Several decades of sacrificial labor was completely destroyed. Would a new church emerge from the ashes of the old? Many missionaries, deeply convinced of God's overruling providence, believed that even this tragedy could be a blessing in disguise.™ The Church Marches On Slowly the rebels were pushed back by government forces. The national church went through a period of reorientation and repentance since some members had participated in this movement of militant nationalism. The missionaries returned to give counsel and guidance in the restoration — not of the ruined stations, but of the disorganized M.B. churches. The crisis has hastened the process of indigenization in the Congo. The destruction of the mission stations, notably Kafumba, has caused mission personnel to locate in such strategic centers as Kikwit and Kinshasa. The Bible institute has been moved from Kafumba to Kikwit. Purged in t