Yalemba

Yalemba was a mission of the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lying on the north bank of the Congo River between Basoko and Yangambi.

The mission was established a short distance downstream from Yabibi Rive. The early missionaries planted coconut palms which were still standing in 2009. The BMS was at first granted the right to run the mission only during the life of George Grenfell, the BMS leader in the Congo. The government gave this right as a personal favour to Grenfell due to his friendly attitude to the authorities and the assistance that he had given them in the past. Eventually the BMS was able to obtain a 20-year lease in October 1905. The missionaries found they had to deal with local people who spoke eight or nine different languages.