Kimpa Vita-Nsimba grew up during the tribal wars of the Kongo Kingdom. When she was very young, she was recognized as nganga marinda – in other words an intermediary between the human world and the spirits’ world. Then, over the years she acquired a power that threatened the King and the missionaries. In 1706, her and her family were sentenced to be burnt at the stakes as heretics. Kimpa Vita, who was later nicknamed “the Joan of Arc of the Kongo”, died at age 21 whispering Jesus’ name.