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Description area
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History
John Christman Wengatz (1880-1977), American missionary to Africa, was born on October 13, 1880 in Steuben, New York. At age ten years later, after hearing a powerful sermon on missionary work, he decided that it was God's will that he become a missionary.
He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1898, and soon after enrolled in Cazenovia Seminary, from which he graduated in 1906. He went on to study theology at Taylor University, where he earned his doctorate of divinity in 1909.
At Taylor University, Wengatz, fell in love with Susan Talbott. Susan, the granddaughter of a Methodist minister, was studying stenography and later theology at Taylor. The two were married June 29, 1909.
The Wengatzes wanted to do mission work. John tutored at Taylor for a year in Latin, Greek, and oratory, and received his license to preach in 1909, and was a pastor at a church for two years.
Susan graduated from McCordsville University in 1910, and the two set off on their assignment to the Quiongua mission in Malanie, Angola
They arrived in Angola on September 16, 1910, and Wengatz became a member of the West Central Africa Conference.
John and Susan Wengatz taught at the mission school. John became superintendent, did industrial work, and was the local preacher. Susan translated over fifty songs into the local language.
On December 13, 1929, Susan was bitten by a rabid dog. Her survival was dependent on a serum that was locally unavailable. Her husband appealed to his superiors in Cape Town, who had serum flown to Malenie, but they it was too late. Susan died three weeks after being bitten.
John finished his term in Malanje, and left in July 1931. He returned to Taylor, where he met Helen Barton. They were married, coincidentally, on June 29, 1933, exactly twenty-four years after his first marriage began. The two left for mission work in Liberia in 1934, and worked there ten years. They served in the Congo from 1946 to1949, and then went back to Angola until April 1951, when John Wengatz retired.
Wengatz was one of the few missionaries of his time who was a licensed pilot. He was also a dentist. He and Helen moved to Winter Park, Florida, where they lived out the rest of their lives. John died in 1977, Helen died in 1990.