Harmon Schmelzenbach (January 23, 1882 – June 11, 1929) was an American preacher and missionary whose ministry launched the Church of the Nazarene’s work in Africa, blending evangelism with compassionate service across two decades. Born in Elida, Ohio, to Henry Schmelzenbach and Elizabeth Hadding, he became an orphan at 12 after his parents died within a year of each other, leaving him and his siblings to fend for themselves in Allen County. With little formal education—quitting school to work in a pottery—he converted at 17 in 1899 at a revival meeting, later enrolling at Peniel Bible School in Texas in 1906, where he met Lula Glatzel, his future wife. Schmelzenbach’s preaching career ignited with a call to “Dark Africa,” leading him to sail for South Africa in May 1907 with nine Holiness missionaries, including Lula, whom he married in 1908 in Port Elizabeth. Initially expelled from Pondoland, they settled in Swaziland (now Eswatini) in 1910, establishing the Piggs Peak mission under extreme conditions—earning their first convert in 1913 after three years of perseverance. His sermons, delivered in Zulu and Swazi after mastering both languages, focused on salvation and holiness, planting churches and schools across Swaziland, South Africa, and Mozambique. Author of The Edge of Africa’s Eden (published posthumously in 1991), he took one furlough in 1928 to the U.S., raising funds before returning to Africa. Married to Lula Glatzel, with whom he had four children—two surviving infancy, including Elmer—he passed away at age 47 in Piggs Peak, Swaziland.