Tariku grew up as the eldest son of the village witch doctor, but now he’s a Christian church planter! CMF missionary Travis Weeks learned Tariku’s amazing story recently when he visited his teammates, long-time missionaries Craig and Allison Fowler, in the remote village of Aygali, Ethiopia.

Tariku’s got a cool story, one that demonstrates the way the Gospel is taking hold here. As the eldest son of the village witch doctor, he’s a person with the kind of background and status that would make him not so likely to get involved with the local church. However, through the ministry of the village clinic, members of the church, and a miracle, Tariku started attending worship services and the Gospel took hold of his heart.  

Now, Tariku is a leader in the Aygali church. He’s even been hired by the church to help plant new churches in other areas. And because he’s demonstrated leadership abilities, he’s been put in charge of running the church’s solar cell phone charging program that, in turn, pays his salary as a church planter.

Aygali doesn’t have electricity, but people who live there do have cell phones! So for about 25 cents, villagers can stop by and charge their cell phones with solar electricity. The Aygali church has already paid off the loan for its solar system so all the money provided by this IGA (income-generating activity) goes to the church. They use this money to hire church planters, like Tariku.

Tariku is able to do ministry and support his family because of this IGA, which is one of about 25 similar CMF-sponsored solar stations throughout Ethiopia. This is a part of our team’s ministry in Ethiopia that my wife Emily and I are here to develop. Tariku is a young, vibrant leader and we look forward to seeing what God does through him among the Gumuz people.

Your support helps make loans for projects like this available and it allows us to be here so we can help our Ethiopian partner church continue to develop these projects.