sentences:  The beginning of the church's work in North America is usually given as 1740, when Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg sent Christian Henry Rauch to New York City on a mission to preach and convert native peoples.Eager to learn more, the Mahican chiefs "Tschoop" and "Shabash" invited Rauch to visit their village (in present-day Dutchess County) to teach them.In September 1740, they led him to "Shekomeko", where he established a Moravian mission.