Wholicare Community Missionary Church
Wholicare Community Missionary Church is a group of Mennonites, predominantly Congolese, who meet in the Los Angeles area. The church was founded in the 1990s by Nlongi Mfwilwakanda, father of current pastor Helen Mfwilwakanda. The congregation’s worship services include English, French, and the Congolese language Lingala.
When I attended on Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018, Edgar White preached and lead communion as a guest pastor. Helen said they have often had help from other pastors since pastor Jules Massamba passed away in 1996 and, like other small congregations, Wholicare employs her on a part-time basis. As part of the communion ritual, the guest pastor poured water over participants’ hands into a basin, and he sang “Power in the Blood,” a nineteenth-century hymn by U.S. writer and composer Lewis Jones.
The Wholicare church has a music group that practices weekly and leads congregational singing at Sunday afternoon worship services. The group members sing a variety of traditional and contemporary music, and many songs have parallel harmonies and call and response structures comparable to pan-African singing practices. Some include rhythm instruments, and all are accompanied by Thierry Nkwansambu on electric keyboard.
When the congregation sang “Alas! and did my Savior bleed” (a text by 18th-century British writer Isaac Watts and tune by 19th-century U.S. composer R. E. Hudson; listen to the traditional a capella version here), they sang in English and used a keyboard, percussion, and some vocal interjections.
The group sang in several languages; this audio clip captures “This is the day,” a Fijian folk tune that was given English Christian lyrics by Les Garrett in the 20th century. The Wholicare music group follows “This is the day” with a song in Lingala. The call and response structure is more prominent in the latter, and in this song, which uses both English and Lingala text.
Members of the music group also write some of their own songs, such as “Kombo na Yesu” by Stockwell Massamba. Below, Stockwell leads this song, with Herve Nkwansambu and Tom Massamba joining her in harmonies:
Scroll for lyrics Lingala and French
Kombo na Yesu kombo na nguya, nkombo n'elonga kombo na yesu etonda na bikamua Kombo na Yesu kombo na nguya kombo n'elonga kombo na yesu etonda na nguya. Kombo na Yesu kombo na nguya kombo n'elonga kombo na Yesu etonda na kokamua Kombo oyo Kombo na Yesu kombo na nguya kombo n'elonga kombo nayesu etonda na nguya Tokumisa ye tosanjola Yesu Ye nkolo na bikamua aha kombo na Yesu Etonda na nguya Kombo na Yesu epesameli biso ohhh awa na se Pe na likolo ohh Na kombo na Yesu babeli bakobika kaka Bakufi ba kosekua kaka Po Yesu azali Nzambe ehhh Que toutes les langues confessant que Jésus Est rois que tout genoux fleshisse devant son authorité Kombo oyo kombo na nguya Kombo oyo kombua bikamua Kombo epesameli biso Kombo ebikisi babeli Kombo oyo ba beli ba tatola Kombo oyo esekwisa ba kufi Kombo ebotisa bikomba Kombo ekangola ba kangami Kombo oyo bansatu ba tatola
English
The name of Jesus, powerful name, name of victory The name of Jesus is full of miracles The name is full of power This name The name of Jesus, name of power, name of victory, the name of Jesus is full of wonders This name The name of Jesus, name of power, name of victory, the name of Jesus is full of power Let’s praise him, let’s worship Jesus He is the Lord of miracles, the name of Jesus Full of power The name of Jesus has been given to us here on earth and in heaven In the name of Jesus, the sick shall be healed The dead shall be raised For Jesus is God Let all tongues confess that Jesus is King Let every knee bow under His authority This name, powerful name This name, name of miracles The name given to us The name that heals the sick The name the sick calls upon The name which raises the dead The name the barren woman calls upon The name that frees the captive, the name the saints testify