Scouting South Africa

Bryan Loritts and John Bryson had been at Sparrow Village for less than five minutes when they looked at each other and knew that Sparrow was exactly what they were looking for. 

Bryan and JB went to South Africa in December of 2007 searching for a long term opportunity for Fellowship Memphis to invest.  They visited several places the week they were there, but the need at Sparrow Village was so obvious they knew this opportunity had to be pursued fully. 

Sparrow Village is, in their own words: Sparrow Village is an inter-denominational Ministry of Help not associated with any specific church.  We take care of the destitute, terminally ill adults and children with HIV/AIDS.  We primarily function as in in-patient hospice facility offering comprehensive medical, nursing, psychological, social, spiritual, educational and occupational care – through a multi-disciplinary team.

Bryan came back and shared the vision of Fellowship ministering there long term to the body a few weeks later. He said that Fellowship Memphis will fight for people to live with dignity and he was excited about Fellowship Memphis serving in a place to help people die with dignity. 

The plan is now to send two people, Rachelle Pichardo and Kate Snider to Sparrow for two months to “spy out” the land and assess the opportunity for future trips for years to come.