Shivani Baptist Church—A Church Planting Partnership Opportunity

Makhanani is a village 55km south of Chikombedzi. Simon Vuragu recognised the great need for planting churches in key villages, such as this one, when he visited this remote area with Baptist missionaries in the early 1990s.

The local majority Shangaan/Tsonga people have been exposed to the gospel, but many are steeped in their traditional religion and syncretistic practices, with no biblical churches in the area. The Baptist missionaries had such a positive impact on the local people and the chief, Chief Gezani, in the 1990s that the new successive chief, appointed in 2023, welcomed the church from Chikombedzi when they enquired about planting a church in Makhanani that same year.

The vision is to plant Shivani Baptist Church where the Bible is faithfully taught and Christ is proclaimed as the only mediator between God and sinful mankind. Once this church is healthy, outreach into more villages in cooperation with the Chikombedzi Church would be pursued to plant new churches in this region.

Simon Vuragu is the team leader.

The church planter is Nelson Chakavata, newly married to Priscilla, who is a student schoolteacher. He studied at Chief Shepherd Bible College and is a faithful member and leader of young adults in the church. Simon and Emily are nurturing this young couple to shepherd the church in Makhanani.

Key team members include Shepherd and Patience Muyengwa (third-year students at Bible College—a mechanic and businesswoman); Simon Zingoti (a third-year student at Bible College—an evangelist and teacher); Timothy Kwai (a second-year student at Bible College—a pastor and farmer); Thomas Guvuriro (a second-year student at Bible College with a heart for missions); and William and Sharyn Vaughan (a lecturer at Bible College and missionaries).

The strategy is an eight-year church planting plan, as follows:

• Year 1 (Complete)—Infrastructure, evangelism, Bible teaching launched
• Years 2–4: Disciple new believers
• Years 5-7+: Train church leaders
• Year 8+: Plant additional churches

Here is how you can partner with Christ Baptist Church in this church strengthening opportunity.

• Pray for Simon and Emily as they nurture Nelson and Priscilla.
• Pray for new believers’ dependence on God, to remain true to him, and growth in knowledge and understanding of his word.

• R32,000—A two-room house for the pastor
• R400,000—Church structure total cost (but will be built in phases)

• Short-term teams—to encourage, work alongside, and learn from others