About 60 years ago, a man named Simão Toco was associated with a Baptist mission in northern Angola. When moving from M’banza Congo in Angola to Léopoldville in the Belgian Congo (now Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo), Toco stopped at the home of a friend. There he saw a copy of the magazine Luz e Verdade (now Despertai!). It contained a Portuguese translation of the booklet The Kingdom, the Hope of the World. Toco was interested in it, but his friend was not, so he told Toco to take it. In this way he too had come into possession of a piece of Bible literature published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

After arriving in Léopoldville in 1943, Toco established a choir, which grew in time to include hundreds of members. Because he was eager to educate and uplift his fellow expatriated Angolans, he translated into Kikongo The Kingdom, the Hope of the World. Gradually, he introduced into hymns that he composed the Kingdom hope and other Bible truths that he had learned. He also used that information in Bible discussions with some members of his choir. João Mancoca, another Angolan who was working in Léopoldville, began to associate with Toco’s Bible study group in 1946. Meetings were held on Saturday and Sunday nights, and Mancoca was always among the 50 or so in attendance.

In 1949 the members of the group felt the urge to tell others what they were learning, so many of them went preaching in Léopoldville. This drew the fire of the Baptist clergy and of the Belgian authorities. Soon, many from Toco’s group were arrested. João Mancoca was among them. They were held in prison for several months. Then those who refused to abandon the movement that was developing in association with Toco and who refused to stop reading literature that originated with the Watch Tower Society were deported to their homeland, Angola. Eventually, there were about 1,000 of them.

The Portuguese authorities in Angola were undecided as to what to do with them. Finally, those who had been sent back to Angola were dispersed to various parts of the country.

Toco himself and some others were sent to work on a coffee plantation in the north. But sadly, changes had already been taking place in Toco’s outlook. While Toco and his group were still in Léopoldville, followers of Simão Kimbangu, who were practicers of spiritism, had been attending their meetings. On one occasion during a meeting, they had experienced what some viewed as an outpouring of the spirit. But they did not ‘test to see whether this spirit was from God.’ (1 John 4:1) João Mancoca was not pleased as he saw study of the Bible being pushed aside in favor of relying on ‘the spirit.’

After they were returned to Angola, João Mancoca found himself in Luanda. Mancoca, along with Sala Filemon and Carlos Agostinho Cadi, urged the others in their group to adhere to the Bible and to reject practices that were not in harmony with it. Later, when Toco was being relocated to a place in the south, he passed through Luanda. It was obvious that he had become even more strongly influenced by the beliefs of the followers of Kimbangu.

During the months that he was in Angola, Brother Cooke was able to contact Toco as well as people in various locations who looked to him as their leader. Many of them proved to be simply sectarian followers of Toco and not interested in the activity of Jehovah’s Witnesses. An exception was António Bizi, a young man in Luanda who was eager to learn more about Jehovah’s purposes. Toco himself was at the time being confined to a village near Sá da Bandeira, without the privilege of either sending or receiving mail.