Dominic Lipsi and
Margery Lipsi
As told by Mrs. Margery Riecke Lipsi
Dominic Lipsi was born into an Italian family; his mother was a Roman Catholic and his father an atheist. When he was 11 years old Dom decided to follow his father, and never more attended the church. In his late teens during the great depression he accepted a job working for the Mafia in New Jersey.
Some time later he left the Mafia and began searching for the truth about life after death. He and his friend Charlie went to visit Mr. Taylor, a teacher in a vocational school; Mr. Taylor explained the way of salvation and invited the two boys to visit him in his home.
Mrs. Taylor gave Dom two tracts, Salvation Made Plain and God’s Remedy for Sin, Fear and Doubt. He read them both on a train on his way to a CCC camp in Georgetown Delaware; that night God spoke to him in a powerful way, he accepted Jesus as his Saviour and Lord and his life was completely transformed.
He left the camp, returned home and went to visit the Taylors who helped him in his great desire to know more of the Bible. That summer he went each night to meetings in a tent near the Taylors where every week one of the best Bible teachers in America and a few from England taught the Scriptures. In the fall he attended Camden Bible School and was faithful at church.
At the tent meetings he heard many good missionaries speak of the need of those who never heard the gospel, he was especially impressed by one from Brazil and from then on had a great desire to serve the Lord there.
It was six years after he was saved that he left for Brazil. Dom spoke Italian in his home and that was a great help in learning Portuguese.
I, Margery Riecke Lipsi was born into a Protestant family where we were taught to respect and love God. We thought we were going to heaven on our good works. When I was 14 years old I was confirmed in a Lutheran Church. Later a modernist preacher who denied the authority of the Bible became the pastor.
My older sister Louise went with friends to Philadelphia School of the Bible and got saved there. Because the Lutheran pastor did not preach the Scriptures she left the church and took me with her to a large Bible church where I was confronted with the truth that only Jesus saves, not good works.
Through the testimony of my sister, an excellent SS teacher and the preaching of the Word I got saved. We heard much about missions and had missionaries come to the church often: I was so interested. On Christmas eve that year I accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior and Lord and that night, alone in my room, I gave my life to Him to serve Him. I was 14 years old and from that time forth looked forward to being a missionary.
I thought it would be China because 6 years after being saved Louise went to China where she served the Lord so faithfully for 51 years. It was through her husband that we came into the assemblies.
In my last year of Bible School I met Dom at the young peoples missionary meeting in the church. We became interested in each other because of our mutual interest in missions. A year and a half after we started going together we were married.
We could not leave at once for Brazil because of the 2nd World War: no one could get a passport to leave the country. After Louise and David were born we were able to leave. Our home assembly Ashland Gospel Chapel commended us to the work of the Lord in Brazil.
We went to São Paulo where we arrived in November 1947 and were met, encouraged and helped in many ways by Edward Hollywell with whom we had been corresponding. What about China? The Lord knows, for by then the door to China was closed to missionaries and, anyway, Dom said if I were going to marry him I would have to go to Brazil!
After some months in the city of Sao Paulo, Dom began to search for a place where the gospel had not been proclaimed, as he realized that there were many gifted Brazilians as well as missionaries in that city preaching the gospel.
Edgard de Almeida told Dom about Campinas and opportunities there, so Dom went to Campinas on the train and went to the Presbyterian Seminary, where he met a young man who helped him to look for a house. After several visits he found one so the next week took the children and me with him to see it.
When Dom went to pay the first months rent, he was told he had to pay a one hundred and fifty reais bribe, so he replied that he would not use the Lord’s money to pay a bribe, so that was the end of that.
The next week he went again on the train to Campinas and met his seminary friend Antonio. They were in the middle of Campinas not knowing where to look when a man came along. Dom asked Antonio to ask him if he knew about a house to rent, but Antonio was ashamed to do it so Dom, who by then spoke some Portuguese asked the man. He said he did not know about houses in Campinas but in Sousas he knew of a new house being built.
So the next week when he went to Campinas he went to Sousas on the trolley car... He was told that the town tailor who also owned a store was the owner of the new house up on the hill. When Dom went to the tailor shop he found the tailor was the same man he had met on the street in Campinas!
Dom rented the little house on the spot and that is how we landed in Sousas. Though we have had difficulties (once our car was thrown in the river) the years in Sousas have been fruitful and happy ones. There was no protestant or foreigner in the town so we were quite a novelty, and that helped as folk wanted to talk to us.
With the Lord helping we started the Sousas assembly then had meetings in a home in Campinas (that turned into a work) then started Camp Bethel. Two years later we started the Vila Mimosa assembly in Campinas. Dom travelled to other places, including to the Indians in Mato Grosso.
One of the greatest blessings of our lives is that our 5 children all followed the Lord and, growing up, helped so very much in the Lord’s work. Since Dom went home to heaven in Sept. 2002 they have continued to help in assemblies and at camp. David and Jonathan are now living in US but are an important part of the work here. For these past 10 years Timothy has carried on the camp work with the help of his two children and the other grandchildren. Louise and Gary Bryar and Jeanne have also helped so much.