Mishgida is a village located five kilometers south of Durame town in the Kambaata County, former South Shewa Region. Alemu Shetta, later General Secretary of the Evangelical Churches Fellowship of Ethiopia, and others founded the choir in 1975, as they felt a need for revival and preparation following the start of the Ethiopian Revolution. Prayer was of the utmost importance to the choir; holiness and biblical teachings were foundational.
This choir met every Friday for fasting and prayer, and every Saturday for song practice. Every Sunday, they sang in different churches, and on Wednesday evening, they served during the chapel service on the SIM compound in Teza (near Durame). The choir relocated from their original meeting place in Teza to the neighbouring Kale Heywet Mishgida Parish head office in 1976. From the beginning, the choir sang in various Kale Heywet congregations of the Mishigida Parish, as well as at spiritual conferences, such as the annual conferences held for Kambaata and Hadiyya Kale Heywet congregations on the SIM compound in Teza and the mission conferences on the SIM compound in Bobicho (near Hossana).
Most of the songs were written by the following members of the choir (listed alphabetically): Abebech Mikore, Desta Langena, Kebebush Atebo, Samerew Seso, Tadesse Yohannes, and Tesfanesh Yohannes.
The choir also sang songs from Addis Ababa Meserete Kristos Choir, Dilla Kale Heywet Choir, and Mekanisa Mekane Yesus Choir, as well as from solo singers like Tamirat Haile, Tesfaye Gabisso, Dereje Kebede, Tamrat Walba, Shewaye Damte, Agegnehu Yideg, Aster Tona, and Addisu Worku.
The main solo singer of the Mishgida choir was Kebebush Atebo, while Tadesse Yohannes and Birhanu Ludego accompanied on the guitar, and Desta Langena, Eyasu Abuye, Eliyas Herano, and Samerawu Seso played the accordion at different times.
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