CELESTIAL FIRE: Tales of the Congo

Amidst the background of crocodile infested rivers, the threat of malaria and tsetse flies, of being eaten alive by wild animals and unpurged cannibals, the pleasures and difficulties, successes, and failures of a group of Methodist missionaries establishing a mission in the Congo feature prominently in this work covering the period 1914-1923.

Told in ten short stories, one for each year, CELESTIAL FIRE: Tales of the Congo sends us to a time when Christianity was spreading in the dark continent. Although each story is complete in itself, when the stories are read in sequence, it reads somewhat like a novel, following the same people through a decade of intense activity.

In the process, it shows us the forests, the huts and communities, and the unique people who breathed during the same period, along with most of the signatures and ways of life and old beliefs that were unique to them.

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, D. L. Mumpower has a PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is a retired psychologist for the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA. His hobbies and special interests include writing poetry and photography.