Rev Leonard Muocha was, from 1971 till 1987, the leader of the African Baptist Assembly, much better known as Providence Industrial Mission (PIM). This was a mission of the American National Baptist Convention Inc., whose first missionary was John Chilembwe, a native of Chiradzulu District, trained in America, who founded PIM in 1900 and extended its work to several parts of South Eastern Malawi. He became famous for the Chilembwe Uprising in 1915 against British colonial rule, and on 15th of each January, he is commemorated as Malawi's national hero. After the failed insurrection, the impressive church was destroyed and PIM was forbidden, but was allowed to reopen n 1924. The leader from 1926 – 1971 was Dr Daniel Malikebu, a Malawian like Chilembwe, and as well trained in the USA, both as a pastor and as a medical doctor. His successor was Leonard Muocha, who led PIM from 1971-1987. He oversaw a major growth of the African Baptist Assembly in other parts of Malawi and in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Katanga and South Africa.