RC missionary in the Belgian Congo<\/p>\n\n
Jan de Vries (Bredevoort, March 21, 1911 \u2013 Bafwasende, December 19, 1964) was the son of Johan de Vries, station master of the tram station<\/a> in Bredevoort, and his wife Aleida Wensink. He served for many years as a Roman Catholic missionary in the Belgian Congo (present-day Zaire), where he was murdered in 1964. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the age of 12, he left for Bergen op Zoom to attend the Juvenate of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; after completing this education, he took his vows on September 8, 1930. He subsequently studied philosophy in Liesbosch and theology in Hees (Nijmegen). On July 14, 1935, Jan was ordained as a priest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On August 27, 1937, he left for the Belgian Congo, where he became a traveling missionary in the Archdiocese of Stanleyville<\/a>. There, he traveled through the jungle from village to village, a period he described in the children’s book Waar het oerwoud ruist<\/em> (Where the Jungle Rustles, 1938). Later, he became the director of several schools in Avakubi, where he conducted a choir, and served as novice master in Bafwasende<\/a>, where he trained brothers from the Belgian Congo. In his final years, he was a mission superior and parish priest of Lubutu and Batama. In 1960, De Vries returned to Bredevoort to celebrate the silver jubilee of his priesthood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These film recordings were likely made at that time:<\/p>\n\n\n\nMissionary in the Belgian Congo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n