Simon Kimbangu

Members of the Kimbangu Church of Portugal celebrating New Year on May 25, 2013, outside Lisbon, Portugal. Simon Kimbangu (September 12, 1887 – October 12, 1951) was a Congolese religious leader who founded the Christian new religious movement Kimbanguism. Kimbanguists consider him to be an incarnation of the Holy Spirit.

Biography Kimbangu was born at Nkamba, near Thysville, in 1887. Kimbangu's arrival is claimed to have been prophesied before his birth by Kimpa Vita in the 1600s. Her message was about the arrival of the Holy Spirit as well as the liberation of Africa, for which she was persecuted by the Catholic Church and burnt alive.

According to the Kimbanguist narrative, on September 12, 1887, there was a terrible rain storm and thunder; Papa Kuyela, a traditional religious leader, and Mama Luezi found an infant in the bush and adopted him - that child found was whom Kimpa Vuta prophesied about. He became a Baptist in 1915, and worked as a catechist for several years before beginning his own ministry after being called by The Lord Jesus Christ in 1910.

In early 1921, he was told to wake up the work of God, and that he was to preach his message and to proclaim his divinity to an unfaithful people and those who had forgotten the message of the lord. According to his disciples, Kimbangu cured the sick, raised the dead back to life, prophesied the future and the liberation of black people, and revealed many hidden things from the bible. His ministry developed a large following, causing suspicion amongst the Belgian authorities. His ministry of preaching and miraculous healing lasted from April to September 1921. Within a short time he attracted large crowds.

According to Dr. Bertram Melbourne, both the Protestant and the Catholic religious establishments became alarmed and appealed to the colonial authorities who sought his arrest. David van Reybrouck, however, indicated that the Belgian administrator, Léon Morel, became concerned and invited Catholic and Protestant missionaries to a meeting in Thysville. While the Catholics supported a vigorous intervention, the Protestants favored a soft approach as they saw it as a form of Christian devotion. but Kimbangu escaped with some of his disciples and his son, Charles, into the bush.

His ministry continued in hiding, but in September he turned himself in. While in Mbanza-Nsanda, Kimbangu made numerous prophecies concerning the liberation of Africa and its independence. He further alluded to a time when soon all nations will come to the temple Nkamba to worship him, and there will be one church, one language (Kikongo), and one God. Recently the Congolese government has introduced a law establishing 6 April of each year as a holiday dedicated to the “fight of Simon Kimbangu and the African consciousness”. Now, 6 April is the date that marked the beginning of the healing and prophetic activities of Simon Kimbangu.

The Kimbanguist Church After Simon Kimbangu's trial, the administration tried to suppress the movement. Followers were banished to different parts of the country and their faith was outlawed. and was succeeded by his elder brother Salomon Dialungana Kiangani, who Kimbanguists also claim is The Lord Jesus Christ reincarnated back to mankind.

Salomon's son, Simon Kimbangu Kiangani, the grandson of Simon Kimbangu and who the Kimbanguist Church today claims is Simon Kimbangu resurrected, is now the spiritual leader based at the Church's headquarters in Nkamba.