The MV Hrossey ferry, which took the I Will Go Ride team from Aberdeen to Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands, United Kingdom. [Photo: Alan Jamieson/Wikipedia Commons/CC-BY-2.0]

Trans-Europe

Adventist Cycling Team Launches Mission Initiative in UK’s Northernmost Region

No Adventist members live in the Shetland Islands, but that could soon change.

Scotland | Marcos Paseggi

“Slow Down. Children Playing,” the sign says. However, not a single child is around, playing or otherwise. Anthony Kent, Ministerial associate secretary for the General Conference (GC) of Seventh-day Adventists, is worried. “How are we going to connect with people if they are nowhere to be seen?” he asks.

Kent is part of a team that has traveled from various parts of the world to the Shetland Islands in Scotland, the United Kingdom’s northernmost region. The group, which includes I Will Go cyclists and a support team, has taken a 14-hour overnight ferry from Aberdeen, in northeast Scotland, to reach Lerwick, the capital of the archipelago, on May 15, 2023. Now they are getting acquainted with the rugged geography and small communities as they get ready to cycle the backroads of the main islands to talk to people and invite them to meetings.

Adventist Mission video producer Caleb Haakenson and Scottish Mission president Jimmy Botha take some footage and photos as they sight the southern part of the Shetland Islands. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

Adventist Mission video producer Caleb Haakenson and Scottish Mission president Jimmy Botha take some footage and photos as they sight the southern part of the Shetland Islands. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

A Challenging Landscape

The unpredictable island weather complicates their plans. One moment, the sun is shining, but five minutes later, a cold drizzle gets everything wet. Then, there is the constant, unforgiving wind. Hopefully, more moments of sun will come among dark clouds and occasional rain. Temperatures are generally cold—the historical record-high temperature for May is just 69°F (23°C), but the daily mean is 46°F (8°C). Other than a few road workers, it’s very rare to see people strolling down the road. “How will we manage to talk to them?” Kent asks again.

The visiting team of missionary hopefuls has accepted the challenge to include the Shetlands in their Reflecting Hope Scotland initiative. Kent has led meetings in Aberdeen and is planning other meetings in Inverness after leaving the islands. One key difference between those two cities on the Scottish mainland and the Shetlands is that the latter does not have a single Seventh-day Adventist church member. For all intents and purposes, the islands (pop. 23,000) have not been reached with the Adventist message.

View of Lerwick from the ferry as it approaches the port after an overnight crossing from Aberdeen, in northeast Scotland. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

View of Lerwick from the ferry as it approaches the port after an overnight crossing from Aberdeen, in northeast Scotland. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

Besides Kent, the team includes retired pastor Paul Tompkins, Inverness pastor, Wilfred Masih, and recently appointed Edinburgh pastor, Fitzroy Morris. They are waiting for GC associate Health Ministries director, Torben Bergland, and Aberdeen pastor, Weiers Coetser, to arrive on the ferry a couple days later. The support and logistics team is led by Scottish Mission president, Jimmy Botha, and includes Kanchan Masih as a cook and Adventist Mission video producer, Caleb Haakenson.

The group gets busy as they settle in a big country house and get their bicycles ready for the ride the next day. “What is going to happen?” one of them asks. “I don’t have great expectations at the moment.”

Anthony Kent leads a devotional moment in a parking lot in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on the first morning of getting acquainted with the main island. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

Anthony Kent leads a devotional moment in a parking lot in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on the first morning of getting acquainted with the main island. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

Recovering Hope Scotland

The initiative was born as a plan Kent developed to support the overall Christ for Europe efforts taking place across the continent in 2023. Before the end of the year, hundreds of church leaders and other volunteers will preach at 1,500 venues in more than three dozen European countries, according to GC organizers.

Kent came up with the idea of cycling through Scotland to distribute Adventist books and invite people to study the Bible as a way of honoring the memory of Philip Reekie and Thomas Kent, his great-great-grandfather. Reekie emigrated from Scotland to Australia in 1888, and a year later, he discovered the Adventist message.

The team, with the main island airport in the background: (left to right) Fitzroy Morris, Wilfred and Kanchan Masih, Jimmy Botha, Paul Tompkins, and Anthony Kent. Torben Bergland and Weiers Coetser would arrive later. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

The team, with the main island airport in the background: (left to right) Fitzroy Morris, Wilfred and Kanchan Masih, Jimmy Botha, Paul Tompkins, and Anthony Kent. Torben Bergland and Weiers Coetser would arrive later. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

After his conversion, Reekie cycled many miles under the merciless Australian sun, distributing Adventist literature. One day, he met Thomas Kent and shared Ellen G. White’s book The Great Controversy. That book transformed Kent’s life and the life of his friends and neighbors.

Driven by that example, Anthony Kent contacted Botha recently, and together, they developed an outreach plan. That plan became a reality on May 15 with the arrival of the I Will Go Ride team in the Shetland Islands, but even before that, the Scottish Mission mailed invitations to meetings in Lerwick, where Kent presented on “The Evidence for the Bible” and “The Evidence for Christianity.” The meetings occurred on May 19–20.

Caleb Haakenson and Anthony Kent discuss options for video footage as they get acquainted with the southern tip of the main island. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

Caleb Haakenson and Anthony Kent discuss options for video footage as they get acquainted with the southern tip of the main island. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

God Starts Opening Doors

Minutes after the ferry arrived in the Port of Lerwick on the morning of May 15, the team gathered in a corner of a downtown parking lot to reflect on Bible promises and pray. In faith, they asked God to help them connect with the residents of the Shetlands.

A couple hours later, Botha checked his phone and found a message. A resident of the Shetlands had contacted the mission office to request a copy of The Great Controversy. He had provided his address, not knowing the I Will Go Ride team was on the island and staying just a few minutes down the road from his home. Right away, two of the cyclists made plans and delivered the book in person. The surprise visit revealed a man who had worked for years in a bicycle shop, showed a great interest in their initiative, and welcomed his unexpected visitors warmly.

Two of the flyers that the I Will Go Ride team is distributing across the Shetland Islands. One of them invites people to attend meetings to answer their questions on the Bible. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

Two of the flyers that the I Will Go Ride team is distributing across the Shetland Islands. One of them invites people to attend meetings to answer their questions on the Bible. [Photo: Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review]

At the same time, as the rest of the team worked on getting their bicycles ready outside the lodging house for the first day’s ride, a neighbor stopped by to find out what they were doing. The interaction led again to moments of meaningful conversation and the sharing of Adventist literature.

“Two people. God already brought two people to us. And we haven’t even begun our ride,” Kent said. “He’s already opening doors even before we start.”

The original version of this story was posted on the Adventist Review website.

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