Bishop Harold to run Belfast Marathon with Ethiopian Church leaders
Bishop Harold and Revd David McClay, rector of Willowfield, will run the Belfast Marathon Relay with two Ethiopian Church Leaders to bring help and hope to 5,000 Ethiopians living in poor communities.
They will be joined by Revd Stafford Carson, Former Presbyterian Moderator; Revd Ken Todd, Former Methodist President; Dave Dunlop, Windsor Baptist Pastor; Dave Dickinson, Alpha Ireland and Beth Laverty, 24/7 Prayer Ireland.
The clergy teams will be joined by over 100 runners from churches around Northern Ireland.
The 2 Ethiopian Church leaders, Simon Haile and Tefera Abiche, both work for the Kale Heywet Church, which has been a long term partner of Christian Relief and Development agency Tearfund. To date, Tearfund's support has enabled 275 Kale Heywet churches to establish savings schemes and small businesses benefiting 70,000 people living in poor communities.
'The average life expectancy in Ethiopia is 48 which would mean that some of our team wouldn't be alive to make this run' says Bishop Harold Miller. 'As an Anglican, I'm delighted to be linking up with Christians across Northern Ireland to help churches bring help and hope to communities in Ethiopia’.
Together, the teams hope to raise £10,000 to help 20 more Ethiopian churches establish savings groups and small businesses which will benefit a further 5,000 people in poor communities.
Former Presbyterian Moderator Stafford Carson visited a Kale Heywet church in Ethiopia in 2009. 'I saw how one local church was able to transform the lives of over 600 people living in a slum in Addis Ababa. Thhuy, for example, used a loan of £30 from a savings scheme to set up a bakery business - as a result she is able to feed her family of 5 properly for the first time.
You can sponsor the Clergy team online via their 'Just Giving' fundraising page or by phoning the Tearfund NI office on 028 90 682828.
‘This run highlights how local churches are helping us deliver our vision - to lift 50 million people out of material and spiritual poverty through a worldwide network of 100,000 local churches’ says Tim Magowan NI Director, Tearfund. ‘
You can see for yourself the impact local churches are making here.