Methodist missions -
Mulungwishi, D.R. Congo

In 1918 Bishop John M. Springer established the Methodist mission station of Mulungwishi to be the educational center for the region.

The common languages spoken at the station are  French and Swahili.  Courses in educational institutions beyond primary school are taught in French.

Efforts of mission station workers have increased the number of Annual Conferences in Katanga Province from one in 1960 at the time of Congo's independence to six today.  During this same period, the total United Methodist membership in the province has increased from 20,000 to over 400,000.

Mulungwishi station includes:

• Katanga Methodist University (KMU)
• A Methodist Theological Seminary, Faculte Methodiste de Theologie (FMT)
• The Doris Bartlett Women's School (also affectionately called the "Mama Doris Women's School"), 
• A health center (clinic and maternity care),
• Three secondary schools,
• A primary school,
• An agricultural project with the local community, and
• The United Methodist Church's Mulungwishi District headquarters.

The English-speaking School of Lubumbashi (TESOL) operates independent from the Seminary and is in the province capital, Lubumbashi, about 100 miles southeast of Likasi.

United Methodist missionaries work through the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries and the European Council on Mission (a United Methodists organization).

Learn more about David and Lori Persons, United Methodist Missionaries to the DR Congo. Read their news at their Mulungwishi blog.

This page was last updated January 29, 2008 0:33 AM