Europeans at El Mina have told me that an African king has recently been converted to their religion of Christianity. This king's home is a place called the Kongo. It is south and east of our coast and has rich copper mines. This king, whose name was Nzinga a Nkuwa, underwent a ritual called baptism and is now known as John. He sent some of his people to a place called Portugal, where they met with the king of that nation. This monarch was very glad to meet people from Kongo, and he sent back Christian leaders called missionaries and craftsmen who know some of the white people's ways of making things.

John and his white people have built a Christian place of worship, called a church, at his capital. The Europeans are very happy about this because they can now trade for Kongo's copper with people of their own faith. And John's people are happy because they can learn the ways of the Europeans and become more powerful.