Changes

==Early Life and Education==

==Early Life and Education==

'''Alma Doering''' was born in 1878 in Chicago to German Lutheran immigrants.  Her father, William,<ref>Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, Doering, Alma http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Doering, Alma  Accessed October 20, 2015.</ref>  was a Civil War veteran and her paternal grandfather one of the early settlers of Chicago.<ref>Alma Doering | Unevangelized Tribes Mission | Zoominfo.com. http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/1519452500  Accessed October 27, 2015.</ref>  Her mother, born in Germany, lost both parents by age eleven.  Her faith was ridiculed and restricted by the foster family who took her in, and she eventually immigrated to America in search of religious freedom.  According to Doering’s writings, her mother was very influential in her  life.<ref>Doering, Alma, "Busy Mothers as God's Prayer Warriors", The Latter Rain Evangel, July, 1914.  Accessed at https://ifphc.org on October 6, 2015.</ref>  At least three children were born to the family, but two died in childhood within a single year.<ref>Doering, Alma, "Busy Mothers as God's Prayer Warriors", The Latter Rain Evangel, July, 1914. Accessed at https.://ifphc.org on October 6, 2015</ref>  Alma’s brother, Edward Doering, who lived in Cleveland, Ohio, supported her missionary work.<ref>Doering, Alma, Leopard Spots or God's Masterpiece--Which? (Cleveland, OH:"Malembe" Publisher, Evangel Publishing House, 1916), p.10</ref>

'''Alma Doering''' was born in 1878 in [[Chicago]] to [[German]] [[Lutheran]] [[immigrants]].  Her father, William,<ref>Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online, Doering, Alma http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Doering, Alma  Accessed October 20, 2015.</ref>  was a [[Civil War]] [[veteran]] and her paternal grandfather one of the early settlers of Chicago.<ref>Alma Doering | Unevangelized Tribes Mission | Zoominfo.com. http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/1519452500  Accessed October 27, 2015.</ref>  Her mother, born in Germany, lost both parents by age eleven.  Her [[faith]] was ridiculed and restricted by the foster family who took her in, and she eventually immigrated to [[America]] in search of [[religious freedom]].  According to Doering’s writings, her mother was very influential in her  life.<ref>Doering, Alma, "Busy Mothers as God's Prayer Warriors", The Latter Rain Evangel, July, 1914.  Accessed at https://ifphc.org on October 6, 2015.</ref>  At least three children were born to the family, but two died in childhood within a single year.<ref>Doering, Alma, "Busy Mothers as God's Prayer Warriors", The Latter Rain Evangel, July, 1914. Accessed at https.://ifphc.org on October 6, 2015</ref>  Alma’s brother, Edward Doering, who lived in Cleveland, Ohio, supported her [[missionary]] work.<ref>Doering, Alma, Leopard Spots or God's Masterpiece--Which? (Cleveland, OH:"Malembe" Publisher, Evangel Publishing House, 1916), p.10</ref>

Alma came to personal salvation at age nine.  She began teaching Sunday school at age thirteen, and by sixteen was teaching several classes in two Sunday schools.<ref>Alma Doering | Unevangelized Tribes Mission, http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/1519452550  Accessed October 8, 2015</ref>

Alma came to personal [[salvation]] at age nine.  She began teaching [[Sunday school]] at age thirteen, and by sixteen was teaching several classes in two Sunday schools.<ref>Alma Doering | Unevangelized Tribes Mission, http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/1519452550  Accessed October 8, 2015</ref>

Alma attended and graduated from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.  While she was there, at age 18, she felt a call to full-time service, and specifically to what she described as “the unevangelized tribes of Africa.”<ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious,(Germantown, PA:Office of the Unevangelized, 1940),  p. 16</ref>  Following this, she began speaking of her faith to everyone she met everywhere, and turned over her jewelry and other perceived luxuries to a mission society for sale.<ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious, (Germantown, PA:Office of the Unevangelized, 1940), p. 40.</ref>

Alma attended and graduated from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.  While she was there, at age 18, she felt a call to full-time service, and specifically to what she described as “the unevangelized [[tribe]]s of [[Africa]].”<ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious,(Germantown, PA:Office of the Unevangelized, 1940),  p. 16</ref>  Following this, she began speaking of her faith to everyone she met everywhere, and turned over her [[jewelry]] and other perceived luxuries to a mission society for sale.<ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious, (Germantown, PA:Office of the Unevangelized, 1940), p. 40.</ref>

On her way to her first term in what was then the Congo Free State, she took six months of Red Cross nurse’s training, especially in tropical diseases, in Europe.<ref>Alma Doering |Unevangelized Tribes Mission, http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/1519452550 Accessed October 1, 2015</ref>

On her way to her first term in what was then the Congo Free State, she took six months of [[Red Cross]] nurse’s training, especially in tropical diseases, in [[Europe]].<ref>Alma Doering |Unevangelized Tribes Mission, http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/1519452550 Accessed October 1, 2015</ref>

==Missionary career==

==Missionary career==

Doering began her missionary work in 1898 in Chicago<ref>Estes, Steven R. "Doering, Alma (1878-1959)" Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1990. Web. 9 Oct 2015 http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Doering,_Alma(1878-1959)&oldid=123729.</ref>  in the slums of the south side.<ref>Alma Doering | Unevangelized Tribes Mission | Zoominfo.com  http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/1519452550  Accessed October 15, 2015)</ref>

Doering began her missionary work in 1898 in Chicago<ref>Estes, Steven R. "Doering, Alma (1878-1959)" Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1990. Web. 9 Oct 2015 http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Doering,_Alma(1878-1959)&oldid=123729.</ref>  in the slums of the south side.<ref>Alma Doering | Unevangelized Tribes Mission | Zoominfo.com  http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/1519452550  Accessed October 15, 2015)</ref>

She soon continued on as one of the first missionaries to Native American reservations and lumber camps in northern Wisconsin & Upper Michigan, serving as a deaconess from Bethany Deaconess Home in Brooklyn, NY,<ref>Estes, Steven R. "Doering, Alma (1878-1959)," Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Onlinfe, 1990.  Web. 0 October 2015</ref> and working with Dr. & Mrs. J. O. Buswell, Sr.<ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious, (Germantown, PA:Unevangelized Tribes Mission), p.16.</ref>

She soon continued on as one of the first missionaries to [[Native American]] reservations and lumber camps in northern [[Wisconsin]] & Upper [[Michigan]], serving as a deaconess from Bethany Deaconess Home in Brooklyn, NY,<ref>Estes, Steven R. "Doering, Alma (1878-1959)," Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Onlinfe, 1990.  Web. 0 October 2015</ref> and working with Dr. & Mrs. J. O. Buswell, Sr.<ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious, (Germantown, PA:Unevangelized Tribes Mission), p.16.</ref>

===Pioneer work in the Congo Free State===

===Pioneer work in the Congo Free State===

Although she also worked briefly in Kenya, most of Doering’s missionary work was done in what was then the Congo Free State (now Democratic Republic of Congo), from 1901 to 1938.  Working first under the Swedish Mission Society,<ref>Cornelius H Wedel, Late Professor at Bethel College, Sketches from Church History for Mennonite Schools, (Newton,KS:Western District Conference of Mennonites of North America, 1920).</ref> then under Congo Inland Mission<ref>"Stepping Stones--The Journey of the Mennonite Church in Congo.  http://www.mennonitemission.het/SiteCollectionDocuments/Stories/BeyondOurselves/Cono/DL.BYO.Congo.SteppingStones.pdf</ref> and finally under Unevangelized Tribes Mission which she helped to found, Doering walked into interior areas where no roads yet existed and served many tribes, surveying areas unexplored by westerners, opened new mission stations, and endured countless hardships such as malaria, blackwater fever, and three times loss of all her goods due to fire.  Early in Doering’s missionary career, she received the bantu name “Malembe,” meaning “peace.”<ref>Doering, Alma, His Way Out (Germantown,Pa:Office of the Unevangelized, 1940), p. 57.</ref> Missionaries to the Democratic Republic of Congo recall that she is still remembered there as somewhat of a legend.<ref>Interview with Lorella Rouster, former missionary to Congo, Every Child Ministries, Sept. 5, 2015</ref>  She also had a profound influence on other missionaries, such as William Sheppard, an African-American missionary doctor.<ref>"Historical Riddle", Beyond Ourselves, Nov. 2012, "Congo--100 Years" http://www.mennonitemission.net/Stories/BeyondOurselves/Congo/Pages/HistoricalRiddle  Accessed October 8, 2015</ref> Missionary Joanne Kroeker traveled with Doering on her last missionary voyage.  She wrote that on "Novemver 4, 1938, I boarded the S.S. Elizabethville with Miss Doering, Miss Runkelberger, Dr. and Mrs. Laban Smith with their children Junior and Phyllis..."<ref>Joanne Kroeker, Shiny Shoes on Dusty Paths Vol 1, Destiny Image Publishers, October 1, 1995)</ref>  Dunkelberger had previously traveled with Doering and written about their experiences.<ref>Stella C. Dunkelberger, Crossing Africa in a Missionary Way, The Mission Offices, 1935).</ref>

Although she also worked briefly in [[Kenya]], most of Doering’s missionary work was done in what was then the Congo Free State (now Democratic Republic of Congo), from 1901 to 1938.  Working first under the Swedish Mission Society,<ref>Cornelius H Wedel, Late Professor at Bethel College, Sketches from Church History for Mennonite Schools, (Newton,KS:Western District Conference of Mennonites of North America, 1920).</ref> then under Congo Inland Mission<ref>"Stepping Stones--The Journey of the Mennonite Church in [[Congo]].  http://www.mennonitemission.het/SiteCollectionDocuments/Stories/BeyondOurselves/Cono/DL.BYO.Congo.SteppingStones.pdf</ref> and finally under Unevangelized Tribes Mission which she helped to found, Doering walked into interior areas where no roads yet existed and served many tribes, surveying areas unexplored by westerners, opened new mission stations, and endured countless hardships such as [[malaria]], [[blackwater fever]], and lost of all her goods three times due to fire.  Early in Doering’s missionary career, she received the [[bantu]] name “Malembe,” meaning “peace.”<ref>Doering, Alma, His Way Out (Germantown,Pa:Office of the Unevangelized, 1940), p. 57.</ref> Missionaries to the Democratic Republic of Congo recall that she is still remembered there as somewhat of a legend.<ref>Interview with Lorella Rouster, former missionary to Congo, Every Child Ministries, Sept. 5, 2015</ref>  She also had a profound influence on other missionaries, such as William Sheppard, an [[African-American]] missionary doctor.<ref>"Historical Riddle", Beyond Ourselves, Nov. 2012, "Congo--100 Years" http://www.mennonitemission.net/Stories/BeyondOurselves/Congo/Pages/HistoricalRiddle  Accessed October 8, 2015</ref> Missionary Joanne Kroeker traveled with Doering on her last missionary voyage.  She wrote that on "November 4, 1938, I boarded the S.S. Elizabethville with Miss Doering, Miss Runkelberger, Dr. and Mrs. Laban Smith with their children Junior and Phyllis..."<ref>Joanne Kroeker, Shiny Shoes on Dusty Paths Vol 1, Destiny Image Publishers, October 1, 1995)</ref>  Dunkelberger had previously traveled with Doering and written about their experiences.<ref>Stella C. Dunkelberger, Crossing Africa in a Missionary Way, The Mission Offices, 1935).</ref>

===Founding of Unevangelized Tribes Mission===

===Founding of Unevangelized Tribes Mission===

Doering is best remembered as founder of the Unevangelized Tribes Mission (UTM) and its field secretary for many years.  Doering was international and interdenominational in her views.  She spent time speaking in several countries of Europe as well as the United States, so much so that she was (mistakenly) called by one writer a “Swiss Pentecostal.”<ref>Eric Nelson, Newburg, The Pentecostal Mission in Palestine 1906-1948, Dissertation for Regent University, February 2008</ref>  He quotes an article she wrote while living in St. Croix, Switzerland<ref>Anderson, Allan Heaton, To The Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World Christianity, Oxford University Press, 2013</ref> for a Pentecostal magazine.<ref>Doering, Alma, “Those Frustrated Calls to Ministry—Are They Divine?”, Confidence, February 1914, p. 32</ref>   

Doering is best remembered as founder of the Unevangelized Tribes Mission (UTM) and its field secretary for many years.  Doering was international and interdenominational in her views.  She spent time speaking in several [[countries]] of Europe as well as the United States, so much so that she was (mistakenly) called by one writer a “Swiss Pentecostal.”<ref>Eric Nelson, Newburg, The Pentecostal Mission in Palestine 1906-1948, Dissertation for Regent University, February 2008</ref>  He quotes an article she wrote while living in St. Croix, [[Switzerland]]<ref>Anderson, Allan Heaton, To The Ends of the Earth: Pentecostalism and the Transformation of World Christianity, Oxford University Press, 2013</ref> for a Pentecostal magazine.<ref>Doering, Alma, “Those Frustrated Calls to Ministry—Are They Divine?”, Confidence, February 1914, p. 32</ref>   

Technically and officially she was a Lutheran,<ref>Klaus Fiedler, History of Faith Missions,PUBLISHER, 1994, p. 52</ref> but she was sent to Congo first by a Swedish missionary society and then by the Defenseless Mennonites.<ref>”Stepping Stones—The Journey of the Mennonite Church in Congo, Congo—100 Years http://www.mennonitemission.net/SiteCollectionDocuments/Stories/BeyondOurselves/Congo/BL.BYO.Congo.SteppingStones.pdf</ref> She was described by another author as “A Mennonite missionary with holiness sympathies.”<ref>Robison, James, Divine Healing:The Years of Expansion, 1906-1930 (Eugene,OR:Pickwick Publishers, 2014). P.49</ref>  She was also influenced by the Pentecostal movement, apparently following an experience she had while attending the Sunderland Convention in the UK in 1908.  Donald McGee relates that she testified in that meeting to recognizing a “unknown tongue” spoken there as a warning in the Kifioti tribal language with which she was familiar, and she said that the “interpretation” was given correctly.<ref>Revival Library Online “Wind and Fire”, http://www.revival-library.org/index.php/catalogues-menu/pentecostal/wind-and-fire  The same event is related in McGee’s book The Pentecostal Movement—A Short History, n.p., n.d</ref>  Following this experience, Doering wrote frequently for Pentecostal publications, but also spoke at major Mennonite Conferences.<ref>Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online  http://www.gameo.org/index.php?title=Doering, _Alma_(1878-1959) Accessed October 23, 2015.</ref>  Never one to be tied down by any one single Christian group, Doering tried to steer the Congo Inland Mission in the same interdenominational direction.  Conflicts with the mission board over this issue eventually led Doering to resign in 1925<ref>Snyder, C. Arnold, and Lapp, John Allen, A Global Mennonite History: Africa (Pandora Press, 2003), p. 84.</ref> and found the Unevangelized Tribes Mission the following year, 1926.

Technically and officially she was a Lutheran,<ref>Klaus Fiedler, History of Faith Missions,PUBLISHER, 1994, p. 52</ref> but she was sent to Congo first by a Swedish missionary society and then by the Defenseless Mennonites.<ref>”Stepping Stones—The Journey of the Mennonite Church in Congo, Congo—100 Years http://www.mennonitemission.net/SiteCollectionDocuments/Stories/BeyondOurselves/Congo/BL.BYO.Congo.SteppingStones.pdf</ref> She was described by another author as “A Mennonite missionary with holiness sympathies.”<ref>Robison, James, Divine Healing:The Years of Expansion, 1906-1930 (Eugene,OR:Pickwick Publishers, 2014). P.49</ref>  She was also influenced by the [[Pentecostal movement]], apparently following an experience she had while attending the Sunderland Convention in the [[UK]] in 1908.  Donald McGee relates that she testified in that meeting to recognizing a “unknown tongue” spoken there as a warning in the Kifioti tribal language with which she was familiar, and she said that the “interpretation” was given correctly.<ref>Revival Library Online “Wind and Fire”, http://www.revival-library.org/index.php/catalogues-menu/pentecostal/wind-and-fire  The same event is related in McGee’s book The Pentecostal Movement—A Short History, n.p., n.d</ref>  Following this experience, Doering wrote frequently for Pentecostal publications, but also spoke at major [[Mennonite]] Conferences.<ref>Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online  http://www.gameo.org/index.php?title=Doering, _Alma_(1878-1959) Accessed October 23, 2015.</ref>  Never one to be tied down by any one single Christian group, Doering tried to steer the Congo Inland Mission in the same interdenominational direction.  Conflicts with the mission board over this issue eventually led Doering to resign in 1925<ref>Snyder, C. Arnold, and Lapp, John Allen, A Global Mennonite History: Africa (Pandora Press, 2003), p. 84.</ref> and found the Unevangelized Tribes Mission the following year, 1926.

A map published in 1939 by the mission shows nine mission stations the full length of the southeastern part of the Bandundu Region (now Bandundu Province).  It stated that the aim of the UTM is to “occupy fields not touched by other missions,” and claimed work in eleven tribes, with beginnings in three others.<ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious, (Germantown, PA:Unevangelized Tribes Mission), p. 16.</ref>  The official organ of the mission was “The Unevangelized”.<ref>Doering, Alma, His Way Out, (Germantown, PA:Office of the Unevangelized, 1940) p. 57</ref>  The UTM was eventually absorbed by the Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission and other missions.<ref>"Congo Mission News, 1959, Zaire Church News, Vol. 185-206, p. 21.</ref><ref>Cornelius Dyck & Dennis D. Martin, The Mennonite Encyclopedia, (Mennonite Brethren Publishing House, 1990).</ref>   

A [[map]] published in 1939 by the mission shows nine mission stations the full length of the southeastern part of the Bandundu Region (now Bandundu Province).  It stated that the aim of the UTM is to “occupy fields not touched by other missions,” and claimed work in eleven tribes, with beginnings in three others.<ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious, (Germantown, PA:Unevangelized Tribes Mission), p. 16.</ref>  The official organ of the mission was “The Unevangelized”.<ref>Doering, Alma, His Way Out, (Germantown, PA:Office of the Unevangelized, 1940) p. 57</ref>  The UTM was eventually absorbed by the Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission and other missions.<ref>"Congo Mission News, 1959, Zaire Church News, Vol. 185-206, p. 21.</ref><ref>Cornelius Dyck & Dennis D. Martin, The Mennonite Encyclopedia, (Mennonite Brethren Publishing House, 1990).</ref>   

===Missions promoter and recruiter===

===Missions promoter and recruiter===

===Linguistic and Translation Work in African Languages===

===Linguistic and Translation Work in African Languages===

Although not a trained linguist, Doering showed unusual linguistic ability.  She learned and reduced to writing eight African languages, and was also fluent in several European languages.<ref>Marjorie Creamer, Times Religion Writer, "Mission Provides a Restful Haven," St. Petersburg Times, July 1, 1967, p. 45</ref>  She translated several books of the Bible into tribal languages, which were later used by the British and American Bible Societies in the production of tribal New Testaments.<ref>http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/151945255</ref><ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious, (Germantown,PA:Unevangelized Tribes Mission, 1939), p.40.</ref>

Although not a trained linguist, Doering showed unusual [[linguistic]] ability.  She learned and reduced to writing eight African [[language]]s, and was also fluent in several European languages.<ref>Marjorie Creamer, Times Religion Writer, "Mission Provides a Restful Haven," St. Petersburg Times, July 1, 1967, p. 45</ref>  She translated several books of the Bible into tribal languages, which were later used by the British and American Bible Societies in the production of tribal New Testaments.<ref>http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Alma-Doering/151945255</ref><ref>Doering, Alma, Vision Victorious, (Germantown,PA:Unevangelized Tribes Mission, 1939), p.40.</ref>

===Founding of D&D Missionary Homes, 1949===

===Founding of D&D Missionary Homes, 1949===