The Church at Eala (Bongandanga district), Congo, ca. 1900-1915

Black and white lantern slide showing a large group of Congolese men, women and children with a native evangelist at Eala, in the Bongandanga district. On account of a shortage of Western missionaries and in order to make Christianity more accessible to local cultures, the Congo Balolo Mission relied on native evangelists to spread their message and provide an entry point into communities. The male evangelist in the centre of the image wears a light shirt, a wrap around his waist and a broad rimmed hat. Most men are bare chested with wraps around their waists, and some wear hats of various styles. Women wear wrap dresses and cloth head-wraps. This slide comes from a collection generated by missionaries working for the Congo Balolo Mission, a mission begun in 1889 under the supervision of the East London Training Institute for Home and Foreign Missions that developed into the interdenominational evangelical mission Regions Beyond Missionary Union after 1900.