Religion: The Littlest Messiah

Elias Murambodoro's father was frightened. What kind of son, he wondered, had he put into the world? The boy had begun to talk unusually early, and the father finally concluded that voodoo must be to blame. Throwing mother and child out of his hut, he disappeared into the bush.

According to Elias' mother, the boy was unusual in other ways. He was born with all his teeth, she claimed, a sure sign that he had come straight from Heaven. He was preaching the Gospel before he was a year old, and at five, she said, Elias could read the Bible upside down...