International Miners’ Mission

“Introducing Miners to the Master”

Celebrating the work and witness of IMM in mining communities around the world

There was a palpable feeling of great anticipation and excitement

among a small group of Trustees of the International Miners’ Mission

(IMM) and friends as we gathered at London Heathrow airport to

catch our flight with Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Ababa on Friday

evening 5th November 2014. We had heard over many months of the

Lord’s blessing among a group of churches in southern Ethiopia and

here we were about

to see for ourselves

the wonderful story

that had been

unfolding in a

faraway place that

most of us had

never previously

visited.

SHOWERS OF BLESSING IN Ethiopia

November 6th- 11th 2014

Testimony of God’s Grace

Michael Jarvis, IMM UK Trustee, shares his

experiences and insights

Shakiso

Some of the representatives of International Miners’ Mission from the five member Committees (UK,

Switzerland, USA, South Africa and Australia.

The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Addis in bright morning

sunlight. After disembarking, each of us being checked for any signs

of Ebola and, along with a plane load of Chinese workers, passing

through immigration, changing our pounds and dollars into Ethiopian

birr and recovering our luggage, we emerged from the terminal

building to walk a short distance to

the car park. There waiting to

welcome us was Beletew Kebede,

general secretary of the Ethiopian

Addis Kidan Baptist Church and

Matthias Feurer, a member of the

IMM Swiss Council working in

Ethiopia on Bible translation for

Wycliff Bible Translators and who

had worked hard to organise the

IMM International Conference and

visit on our behalf.

Warm greetings were exchanged and

we were then driven to our

accommodation in Addis, the Blue

Nile Consultant’s Guest House!

Several colleagues from other

countries had already arrived and the

remaining participants arrived during

the day. We rested awhile, visited a

local restaurant and then moved to a

nearby Addis Kidan church for mutual

introductions and a briefing about the

programme for the conference.

“Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest

independent country and its second

Beletew Kebede and his family

Addis Kidan church mission

largest in terms of population. Apart from a five-year occupation by

Mussolini’s Italy, it has never been colonised. It has a unique cultural

heritage including the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, one of the oldest

Christian churches, and a monarchy that ended only in the coup of

1974” (BBC News website). For many of us, Ethiopia is associated

with terrible periods of drought. In

1984-5 there was a dreadful famine

in the Ogaden region of eastern

Ethiopia and the pictures we saw on

our TV screens left an unforgettable

impression of disaster on a massive

scale. On another note, Ethiopia is

also the original home of the coffee

tree and we were treated to some

wonderful coffee whilst with our

friends but more of that later.

The programme for our short visit was a busy one! Following our

briefing on Thursday 6th November we rested ready for an early start

on Friday. Promptly (fairly!) at 0600 the following morning we

boarded a small bus and set out for Shakiso in southern Ethiopia, our

principal destination. It was a long

journey, some 225 miles, on some

very good roads and some very

rough ones. We paused for

breakfast at Molo and then for

lunch at Awasa. We eventually

reached Shakiso, a town of some

35,000 inhabitants, some 14 hours

later very tired but elated to have

arrived at our destination near

Kibre Mengist of which we had

heard so much.

Stuart Burns IMM USA studies a coffee tree.

Interest by the local communities wherever our bus stopped

We passed through some beautiful

countryside and had the chance to

see much that we might not have

otherwise done. Thus we saw many

fields of teff, the staple grain of

Ethiopia, being harvested largely

by hand with a sickle type of tool

and the threshing floors where the

teff was separated from the chaff

often by teams of bullocks walking round and round over the crop. We

also saw large numbers of storks over the lake at Awasa and bee-eaters

on the telegraph wires along the roads. As we approached the Shakiso

region we climbed out of the African rift valley and into a heavily

wooded upland region, certainly far from the desert we had associated

with Ethiopia before our visit.

The International Miners’ Mission

(IMM) has been supporting

evangelists in the Shakiso region

since 1999. IMM had learnt of the

existence of gold mining in the

region through John Massink who

was the pastor of the church IMM

Trustee Vicky Yorke was attending.

John had contacts with the Addis

Kidan church through his work for

TearFund. So in God’s wonderful

way of linking His servants with

the needs of His kingdom, Vicky

was encouraged by John to visit

Ethiopia and explore the possibility

of IMM helping in the evangelism

of artisanal gold miners in the

Shakiso region. The full

Storks in the tree tops at Awasa

Shakiso high street

John Massink makes friends on an earlier visit to the Shakiso church

circumstances of this wonderful story can be read on the IMM

website. The outcome is that following one man’s evangelistic efforts

in the town of Shakiso (his name was Neguse and he spent his first

two months in the town on his own in prayer before contacting

anyone!!) there are to-day after 15 years of working together six local

churches and nine preaching points (embryo churches) in the Shakiso

area, each with pastors and elders.

On Saturday 7th November, after

finding some breakfast in the town

(scrambled eggs with chopped

spring onion was the commonest

dish on offer although the more

hardy among us tried out the

spongy teff-based injera flatbread

eaten with meat and using fingers

only!) we moved to the Shakiso

Addis Kidan Baptist church.

The church building is situated on a plot some 2600sq m in size and

was built by the fellowship themselves. There are some 120 members

and they are led by Pastor Girma, himself a former gold digger who

has lived in the town for some 27 years. Their welcome was effusive

and genuine. Inside the church we were greeted by the fellowship

with kind words of appreciation and affection.

Gathered there were all the

pastors and elders from the

churches in the Shakiso district

and one-by-one they were

introduced to us and they talked to

us about their individual

fellowships. What an amazing

gathering it was and it somehow

summarised all that God has been

Matthias, Stuart and Mohau enjoy their injera

The pastors and elders from the Shakiso region churches

doing over the past decade, the blessings of

souls saved and lives lived for the Saviour.

Our hearts were truly overwhelmed by

what God has done and how His kingdom

has grown apace in this corner of Ethiopia.

Among all the workers there, one

individual has been especially used in the

Lord’s service. His name is Pastor

Jeremias and he is responsible under God

for establishing a number of churches

going to them and encouraging them all on

foot. He was described as a modern Paul!

There is also the self-supporting volunteer

co-ordinator Gobena who travels between

all the churches in the district helping with

their needs and concerns. IMM hopes to be

able to make his and others journeys easier

and faster by providing a motor cycle for

use by the these travelling ministers.

With the welcome and

introductions completed, gifts

we had brought were

distributed. IMM Committee

member Vicky Yorke had

thoughtfully organised the

purchase of footballs, one for

each fellowship. There was

great excitement as the balls

were handed to the pastors

and elders and it wasn’t long

afterwards that they were

being put to good use. In addition there were loom bands (coloured

bands) for the younger children. Ronna Dring demonstrated how the

bands could be made into colourful bracelets and necklaces and they

Pastor Jeremias

Pastor Girma and co-ordinator Gobena

Blowing up the footballs distributed to each of the pastors and elders

too were soon being enthusiastically connected together by many little

hands.

After lunch the visitors

and pastors boarded the

bus for a trip into the

surrounding countryside

in order to see the gold

digging and mining in

action. Although there

are commercial opencast

gold mines nearby,

most of the local people

are involved in looking

for gold in the gravels along the river valleys. It is a very wet,

dangerous and dirty activity with very little precious metal to show for

all the effort that goes into seeking it. The miners have to get

permission from the land owner before they can look for gold and the

same land owner requires the lion’s share of what is found. The

process of mining involves digging the gravel, removing the larger

stones and then using the panning method to find the few flakes of

gold that might be present. It is hard back-breaking work day-in and

day-out all day long.

A highlight of the visit to

the miners was a stop we

made in one of the

villages where panning for

gold was in progress.

Everybody got out of the

bus to have a good look at

the activities and before

long a crowd of about

100 had gathered to see

what these unexpected Mohau points people to follow Jesus while Beletew (in white shirt) translates

Men, women and children as young as six often work looking for gold

visitors were up to! For brother Mohau Mofokeng (IMM sponsored

pastor from South Africa) this was too great an opportunity to miss. So

with his Bible in his hand he called for attention and began to tell the

people why we were in their village just then. He said something like:

“You are all working hard here looking for gold but I have something

in my hand which is real gold, the Bible which tells us about Jesus, the

Son of God and the Saviour of the world”. As Mohau preached the

Word the people listened intently. When he asked after about twenty

minutes if anyone was interested in learning more about Jesus some 20

of those present raised their hands in response. It was an amazing sight

to see God at work whilst Mohau preached. We all looked on with

great joy and continued on our journey rejoicing at the unexpected

opportunity to share the gospel with a spontaneous audience of mainly

young miners.

The next day was Sunday 8th

November and the visitors

were split into three groups

so that we could share

worship and ministry with

three different local

churches. The first group

joined the local Shakiso

church, the second group

travelled to Kibre Mengist

church and the third group

went farthest to Sembaba. In

each church there was a

warm welcome and some

wonderful enthusiastic,

joyous, vigorous lively

worship. In Kibre Mengist,

Ian and Ronna Dring found

the path to the church rather

muddy after the recent rains

Temporary church building at Sembaba with Matthias Feurer in foreground

below Inside the church

but had the subsequent privilege of having their feet washed by the

elders. In Sembaba the church met in a temporary building made of a

rough timber coated inside and out with traditional baked red mud.

There were no windows and a candle was used to read the scriptures

by! This Church and the one in Kibre Mengist had floors of bare earth

and rough squares of cardboard was handed out for the people to kneel

on for prayer.

Our visit was now fast

drawing to a close and the last

event was a traditional coffee

farewell. We gathered again at

the Shakiso church and there

we found that coffee berries

from trees around the church

had been dried and were

roasting over a brazier.

Eventually the beans were

ground and we sat around in a circle drinking some wonderful coffee

all derived from the trees around us.

Meanwhile the young people

were making good use of the

footballs given to them on the

previous day. And the boys

and girls were also showing

off the bracelets they had

made with the coloured bands.

Sadly it was time to depart.

We had to make a very early

start the next morning for our

long journey back to Addis. So we committed each other to our Lord

and Saviour, said our good-byes and returned to our guest house for

one more night. We were up at crack of dawn on Monday 9th

Preparing the coffee

Excited children show off the bracelets made from the loom bands

November, had some breakfast in Kibre Mengist (scrambled egg and

onions again!) and then set off. We made one more short stop at one of

the preaching points along the road called Bocco and then drove to

Lake Awasa for lunch. We were taken to a lovely spot right on the lake

front. Later we continued to Addis arriving there quite late in the

evening.

Our last full day in

Addis Ababa, Tuesday

10th November, was

used to spend time

thinking about what we

had witnessed. Without

exception everybody

testified to the amazing

development of the

work in the Shakiso

region and we brought

our praise to God for so blessing the work there. We also heard about

the history and vision of the Ethiopian Addis Kidan Baptist church

from their General Secretary Beletew Kebede. He highlighted the

opportunities the church hoped to follow. In particular there is a

pressing need and desire to establish a Bible College to train and equip

their leaders and pastors and obtain transport in order to reach out to

other mining communities in other parts of Ethiopia.

Colleagues from IMM around the world updated us on what was

happening in their areas and we prayed together about our ministry

asking the Lord to continue to richly bless the evangelists and pastors

we support around the world. How we all long to see miners from all

corners of the world saved and brought into the kingdom of our Lord

and Saviour Jesus Christ!

The IMM UK group left Addis very early on Wednesday morning 11th

November so grateful to our God for giving us the opportunity to

The Pastors and Evangelists from the Shakiso area.

Pastor Mohau writes:

“Indeed we had an awesome

time in Ethiopia. It was an

experience to me. Seeing

totally different people who

also belong to the Lord that

I’m serving. I’m also grateful

that I could serve in the

conference. I saw that angry

man, but to me it was an indication we were on a divine mission. The

open air was not planned. To me it happened so fast. I saw people

hungry for the good news. So I shared about the rest that is found in

Jesus, who is the way, the truth and life. Initially about 60 people

raised their hand to accept Jesus. The people who came forward were

about 20 predominantly miners (men) and a few ladies. All those who

came forward were handed over to a local pastor to follow them up.

Whilst most of us were visiting Shakiso, David Shillitoe had remained

in Addis Ababa and was very busily engaged fulfilling several

appointments in local churches there. David writes

While staying in Addis

Ababa (which I learnt means

‘New flower’ in English –

what a lovely name for a

city!) my host was, Abraham

Equbay, who is a member of

the Ethiopian Addis Kidan

Baptist Church working at

Headquarters. Here he is

standing in front of the very Abraham stands in front of Addis Kidan Church

witness at first hand the astonishing development of His church around

Shakiso and encouraged that what has happened and continues to

happen there among the gold miners demonstrates that nothing is too

hard for the Lord anywhere and at any time. Hallelujah!

modest corrugated iron buildings, from which the whole church

group administration is run. He and I travelled around Addis in the

church transport – an elderly 4x4 truck with a very high mileage on

the clock. I was glad Abraham was driving as the traffic in Addis

Ababa was often quite hair-raising!

I cannot relate all my experiences, but one does stand out. I was

asked to speak at an Ethiopian Addis Kidan (= New Covenant)

church in a suburb of Ethiopia called Yerer. Abraham drove me for

well over half-an-hour to the church, picking up Joel on the way.

Joel was to act as my interpreter. Yerer church is only four years old

and as the picture below shows, it is simply built of corrugated iron

sheeting for the roof and walls supported by rough wooden posts.

Many of the churches in Ethiopia are like this.

Seated ready to preach, I

witnessed the members of

the church fellowship

e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y

participating in the

worship of praise and

prayer - ‘Amen!’ ‘Praise

the Lord!’ ‘Hallelujah!’

The singing of the songs

was very loud lengthy and

hearty. They listened to

the message I brought with

careful attention and afterwards the pastor applied what I had said to

encourage the congregation. What a privilege to share ministry with

these joyful Christians, many of them relatively new in the faith of

Jesus Christ.

David Shillitoe waiting to preach at Yerer

Correspondence address:

David Shillitoe: 5 Old Rectory Court ~ 61 Wood Street ~ Barnet ~ Hertfordshire EN5 4BL

visit IMM’s website at www.minersmission.com

David’s email address: dshillitoe@minersmission.com

The International Miners Mission (Glynn-Vivian Miners Mission Incorporated 1906)

is company limited by guarantee 90484 and registered charity 221853

Registered office: 5 Old Rectory Court ~ 61 Wood Street ~ Barnet ~ Hertfordshire EN5