The Catholic mission – in the sense of spreading the Gospel among the non-Christian peoples – reached its zenith in the 19th and 20th centuries. Every family had an aunty nun or an uncle priest who worked in the missions in Africa or Southeast Asia. This nkonde power figure comes from the Yombe people of southwestern Congo. Such figures generally belong to a ritual specialist, who is consulted for all kinds of problems, such as illness, disasters and danger. During the ritual one or more nails, or other metal objects, are driven into the figure to activate its power. Additions, such as scraps of textile, pieces of glass and shells, are tokens related to the formulated prayer and serve to lead the power to where it is needed. The actual power itself comes from magical ingredients contained in a small round cavity in the belly of the figure. It is believed that the mirror glass that covers this cavity and the mirror glass used for the eyes show the owner any kind of threat, approaching from whatever angle. Missions collected such figures. They are a testimony to mission work and to the many problems associated with it.