Historical Background of the Church of God of Prophecy in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa

My name is Ntambwe Beya; I am a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, married, father of six children, and the National Overseer of the Church of God of Prophecy in this nation.

I came up to the Church of God of Prophecy and got to like it in Lubumbashi, the chief-town of Katanga Province, during the year 1981. I was appointed as Field Secretary of the Church at the first National Convention held from 21 to 22 July 1983 in Lubumbashi by Bishop Van Deventer, the Missionary Representative in this nation at that time. Thereafter, I ministered with this Servant of God in the years 1983 – 1984; during 1984 –1985 I worked with Bishop Sherman O. Allen,  presently the General Presbyter for Africa.  At last, I served alongside Bishop Levi Clarke from 1985 to 1997. Since then I have been fulfilling my national oversight for the Church of God of Prophecy in this country. All inclusive, I had accomplished my duties as Field Secretary for fifteen years with different National Overseers, and I have been leading as a National Overseer for ten years.

The Church of God of Prophecy came to be introduced in the Democratic Republic of Congo by BishopVan Deventer in the year 1981 through Lubumbashi city, in Katanga Province.  Several Evangelists from the International Offices of the Church have conducted a great number of considerable crusades. Of all the permanent foreign servants of the Lord through the Church of God of Prophecy in the DRC, Bishop Levi Clarke is the one who served the longest: we worked together with him for 12 years. At that time, the Church was established in Katanga, Eastern and Western Kasai, and Kinshasa as National Office. Upon his departure, Bishop Levi Clarke left us with 12,000 members and 102 local churches. Presently we are reaching 410,000 members, with 408 organized churches, because our Church movement has been spreading over all 11 Provinces in the DRC.  In Kinshasa, our Temple is two kilometers from Ndjili International Airport; the other local churches are scattered throughout the city.

Until quite recently, we engaged ourselves into the process of reaching farthest areas in this nation with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have set up a monthly prayer system in each District by which all Church leadership on every level meet together with the auxiliaries to address our requests to God Eternal. As a result, National, District, and local church evangelists are on a nationwide move, and news are flowing in from all sides about denominations requesting to join the Church of God of Prophecy. Visit needs are expressed by localities and cities such as Boma in the Lower Congo, Menkao – which is a rural area on the outskirts of Kinshasa city, and Bandundu ville, the chief-town of Bandundu Province in Central Congo.

We still keep in mind our challenge to reach out 500,000 as membership by God's grace.

Ntambwe Beya
National Overseer