Archives of the Svenska Missionsförbundet

• Published in: History in Africa
• Main Author: Widman, Ragnar
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1980
• Subjects: History; Lappland; Noire; Kolo; Pointe Noire
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3171679; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0361541300007233

Founded in 1878 the Svenska Missionsförbundet (Mission Covenant Church of Sweden; until 1911 known as the Swedish Missionary Society) established its first mission in the Belgian Congo three years later. The first station was at Mukimbungu and was followed by posts at Kibunzi (1887), Londe Matadi (1892), Kinkenge (1897), Kingoyi (1900), Sundi Lutete (1924), and Matadi (1928). All these stations are in the Kikongo-speaking area of lower Congo. Except for Mukimbungu, transferred to the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society in 1939, these posts were operated until independence. Meanwhile, in the neighboring French Congo, stations were established at Madzia in 1909, Musana in 1910, Brazzaville in 1911, Kolo in 1916, Indo in 1918, Loubetsi in 1922, Mansimou in 1925, Madouma in 1929, Ngouedi in 1930, Pointe Noire in 1933, Zanaga in 1937, Dolisie (Loubomo) in 1938, and Okoyo in 1977. With independence, the churches in the two ex-colonies indigenized; the congregation in Zaire was renamed the Communauté Evangélique du Zaire, while that in Congo-Brazzaville became known as the Eglise Evangélique du Congo. The Svenska Missionsförbundet also engaged in mission activities in Lappland, East Turkestan, India, Japan, and several other areas. The archives of the Svenska Missionsförbundet are in Stockholm. The mailing address is Box 6302, 113 81 Stockholm. Materials organized by the archives include diaries, minutes, reports, accounts and cash books, and a good deal of ethnographic and linguistic materials. In addition there is collection of more than 20,000 photographs, as well as copies of the various periodicals published by the church.