Shiparango Village

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
Romans 11:15

Here is the story of how this small village church began...

Missionaries often travel to South Africa to get away for a weekend, shop for items not found in MOZ & some are required to leave the country every 30 or 90 days depending on their visa. Madalena (Brazilian missionary that Katie lives with) had made this trip often. On her way to SA she noticed a small village (about an hour away from the city) & often wondered about the people who lived there. For over two years she drove by this village and prayed for them. On one of her trips from SA she stopped to visit with the people. She asked them if they would be interested in having church sometime.

Their reply..."YES! WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO COME."

They had never heard of Jesus Christ before.

So she gathered some other leaders and they showed them the Jesus video on a Saturday and held a church service that Sunday. Last February marked the first church service in this village of about 70 families.

Last Sunday I had a chance to visit the village. We had church under a tree...the women sat on a bamboo mat and the men brought their own rock to sit on. There were about 15-20 people. We sang songs, prayed, talked about how the crops were doing,took an offering and then Madalena gave a sermon on John 15. It was an awesome experience to see how a small village in Africa builds a church from the ground up, literally. The church then went to a couple of houses to pray for the sick. We prayed for 2 women with malaria. This small village seems like a tight knit group of people, all looking out for one another. I do not know much about them or what they go through day to day, but I hope to visit their village again. It is very primitive...they do not have much in terms of material things, but they have the hope of Jesus Christ now and that is priceless. I wonder what I would have done if I had passed by that village...? Would I have prayed for them? Probably. Would I have stopped and visited with them about church? Probably not...I would have been too scared...or I would have thought that they probably already had a church...assuming they knew the God I know.

Madalena prayed. She heard God. She obeyed. She stopped. They were waiting for someone to stop. Waiting for someone to bring them good news...to bring them something to hope in, something to believe in. That is what life is all about. Bringing the good news to those who have not heard.


Madalena (pastor)


above: church praying for sick woman


me w/kids


Katie handing out pretzels!


baby wrapped in capalana


Lorenzo-"Thumbs Up"