Master of Arts in Leadership
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Item Spiritual development program for young church leaders in Magwi District: Focus on discipleship(Adventist University of Africa, 2017-03) Marcello, Robert YoungThe reason for the existence of the church is to reach out and be a blessing to the community. There is a need for a vibrant church that can meet the challenges of these last days lukewarmness. This research ventured into the vision, mission and the resources of the churches in Magwi district. Understanding of how to align and empower the human resource for the mission was the primary focus of the research. Purposeful sampling methods, utilizing researcher-designed questionnaires to collect data, and data analysis were applied to achieve the goal of the study. Appropriate sources were used for the research. Of these sources, the Holy Scripture was foremost. Besides the Scriptures, the contributions of Ellen G. White related to this study, and the literature of the other writers on discipleship were applied. Furthermore, sociological writers on this topic were consulted. Finally, a survey was carried out among the Seventh-day Adventist first converts in the region and concerned leaders in the community to have their input regarding this topic. The conclusion of this study was based on two observations. The first was the Biblical teaching regarding discipleship. The second was the result of the survey done which indicated that the degree of good small group leadership and the conviction that every member of the church is responsible for the growth of the church was as low as 20%. The study, therefore, proposed several strategies to raise the degree of good small group leadership and conviction of the responsibility for the mission – making disciples. From this standpoint, the study was beneficial when the recommendations and the strategies for the change are implemented. The sense of, the value of, and love for the Great Commission will be stirred in the minds and hearts of the members. Disciples made will become disciple makers. The church as a whole will grow and experience the righteousness of God and His coming kingdom.Item Strategies for improving land management in Buwalasi Seventh-day Adventist Church, Eastern Uganda Field(Adventist University of Africa, 2023-03) Kauke, JaredLand in rural Bugisu sub-region is acquired and disposed of through customary tenure. The customs seem to favor the individuals more than the institutions. The Buwalasi Seventh-day Adventist Church District has been severely affected by unceasing land wrangles which has contributed to the slowing of the mission work. The unavailability of guidelines and recommendations relating to the acquisition of land for church activities persist as a problem. The purpose of this study was to develop strategies for improving land management for the Buwalasi Seventh-day Adventist Church. The study adopted quantitative and qualitative approaches. Questionnaire and focus group discussion were used as the main instruments for data collection. The level of land management by the church was found to be low meaning that the church leadership did not manage well the church land as expressed in statistical value where Mean(𝑋̅) = 1.93; SD 0.75. As a result of the study, church members in Buwalasi SDA church learnt numerous issues pertaining to land. Some of them who were customary land holders gained insight and started the process of acquiring customary certificates of occupancy. The interventions and the recommendation pointed to the need for the church to: 1. Establish clear landmarks through planting of trees in the boundaries; 2. The Church Board to embark on the process of registering the lands through the government office of land; 3. Sensitize Buwalasi Seventh-day Adventist Church members and the district churches on processes required to secure the mission lands.Item Ascertaining the effect of church members’ participation in church on church growth in selected church congregations in Western Uganda Field(Adventist University of Africa, 2022-05) Rusoke RichardThis research project sought to ascertain the effect of church members’ participation on church growth in Western Uganda. The main objectives related to finding out the effect of the leadership role, community service, financial support of church members towards church growth. According to Shanahan (2019) theology of growth is knowing that God blesses His Church by adding onto its membership and finances and expands this growth by increasing more opportunities as blessings to those who actively participate in its activities. Literature suggests that God is the initiator of church growth right from Genesis 1:1. He commissioned his disciples and apostles to participate in church work and grow the church. God expects every believer who accepts salvation to get involved and participate in church growth activities hence conducting this research in Western Uganda. Hardaway (1982) points out that the church is a group of people and this group is made up of members who stay close to one another so that it is possible for them to be involved actively in activities of the church. The study employed qualitative research methods. The population was 1080 regular church members from congregations in Western Uganda i.e Kagote, Kasiina, Kagadi, Kikwite and Masindi Churches. A sample of 250 was drawn using purposive sampling to identify regular church members. From each of this church 50 respondents were further randomly selected. Questionnaires were issued and oral questionnaires given to those who were not able to read or write. Data was collected, cleaned, coded and entered and analyzed with SPSS. The findings indicated that the participation of church members in church activities like Sabbath attendance, outward show of church attendance by church members in church services every Sabbath is not correlated with church growth in Western Uganda. The participation in activities in this study revealed that they do not translate into important church developmental projects and eventual church growth because of spirituality, leadership, management issues. Thus, there is room for improvement if the leadership put into consideration the findings and suggestions of this study.Item The role of effective leadership on church growth: A case study for the Namibia North Conference(Adventist University of Africa, 2023-04) Sipobole, Victor MumbelaThis study aims to fill the gap in investigating the relationship between effective leadership and church growth in the Namibia North Conference. The study focused on effective leadership's role in vision, interpersonal relationships, and modeling to see how these influence membership growth, relationships, spiritual growth, and discipleship in church members. A pilot study of 20 church members with Cronbach alpha between 75-95% on effective leadership and 50% low output on membership growth was done. The cross-sectional study was adopted to help analyze effective leadership and church growth. The study was done in a non-contrived setting and used a descriptive survey research design. A sample size of three hundred eighty-four (384), 196 males and 188 females of nine thousand three hundred twenty-nine (9,329) church members from five (5) districts were targeted. Findings from the study on question one have shown that the Namibia north conference has a compelling vision, high levels of effective interpersonal relationships, and modeling. Question two's aggregate score indicated an average membership growth, a high relationship growth; an average growth level of spirituality; and a high growth level of discipleship. Question three's findings demonstrated statistically significant weak positive correlations between effective leadership and church growth. Hence on question four, the study proposed a disciple-making strategy that could enhance membership and spiritual growth. The proposed recommendations were that the conference should work with district pastors to train elders in discipleship and interpersonal relationships since they are the critical leaders at the local church level to bring about change. To the researchers, the study recommended that they study and understand the causes for statistically significant weak positive correlations between effective leadership and church growth in Namibia north conference. Another recommendation was that the researchers should further study church growth in terms of membership transfers and profession of faith. Keywords for this research study include effective leadership, relationships, church growth, membership growth, and discipleship.Item An analysis of parental nurture of children’s spirituality in selected churches of the Kabulonga Mission District, Woodlands Conference, Lusaka, Zambia(Adventist University of Africa, 2020-12) Mulendema, HamiltonThe purpose of this study was to analyze the level of parental concern for the spirituality of their children in the missionary district of Kabulonga at the Woodlands Conference, Lusaka, Zambia. A cross-sectional descriptive design was used for the study. The population consisted of local church parents and the sample was drawn from 4 churches at the Woodlands conference in Lusaka, Zambia. A total of 274 people were invited to participate in the study. The instrument of the study was a self-developed questionnaire, which was completed by e-mail within 1 month. A total of 127 questionnaires were received. The findings revealed that the parents strive to nurture their children’s spirituality but is still room for improvement (mean = 3.71, standard deviation = 1.07). The highest score is about teaching the children how to read God’s word, (mean = 4.14 and standard deviation = 0.92). It is closely followed by the teaching about how to pray before meals (mean = 4.13 and standard deviation = 1.07). An area of concern is the low level of teaching regarding how to pray during worship at home (mean = 2.84; standard deviation = 1.17). The aggregate score also indicates that the parents have a high level of nurturing for the level of informal nurturing. The highest score was during recreational activities, during play time (mean = 3.94; standard deviation = 1.17). The area with the lowest score was about the children hearing adult conversation centering on religious matters (mean = 3.57; standard deviation = 1.15). However, the findings indicated that both forms of nurturing do not reach a mean of 4.50 (very high level of nurturing). Regarding the second research question, the results showed that there is no significant difference in parenting activities according to their demographic variables: a) gender, b) age, c) level of education, and d) marital status. It follows from this study that none of these factors give parents an advantage or disadvantage when it comes to nurturing the spirituality of their children. The recommendations made were to prepare parents to be better equipped to care for the spiritual needs of their children. Those responsible for the trainings would be the Conference, Field, as well as the local church leaders in Family Life and Children Ministries departments.Item Strategies for improving land management in Buwalasi Seventh-day Adventist Church, Eastern Uganda Field(Adventist University of Africa, 2023-03) Kauke, JaredLand in rural Bugisu sub-region is acquired and disposed of through customary tenure. The customs seem to favor the individuals more than the institutions. The Buwalasi Seventh-day Adventist Church District has been severely affected by unceasing land wrangles which has contributed to the slowing of the mission work. The unavailability of guidelines and recommendations relating to the acquisition of land for church activities persist as a problem. The purpose of this study was to develop strategies for improving land management for the Buwalasi Seventh-day Adventist Church. The study adopted quantitative and qualitative approaches. Questionnaire and focus group discussion were used as the main instruments for data collection. The level of land management by the church was found to be low meaning that the church leadership did not manage well the church land as expressed in statistical value where Mean(𝑋̅) = 1.93; SD 0.75. As a result of the study, church members in Buwalasi SDA church learnt numerous issues pertaining to land. Some of them who were customary land holders gained insight and started the process of acquiring customary certificates of occupancy. The interventions and the recommendation pointed to the need for the church to: 1. Establish clear landmarks through planting of trees in the boundaries; 2. The Church Board to embark on the process of registering the lands through the government office of land; 3. Sensitize Buwalasi Seventh-day Adventist Church members and the district churches on processes required to secure the mission lands.Item A Strategic Plan to Develop Evangelism Through Sabbath School Small Groups. A Case Study of Cyasemakamba SDA Church in Kibungo Town, Rwanda(Adventist University of Africa, 2021-08) Ngerero, Ami FideleThe aim of the study was to assess the views of the leaders of Cyasemakamba SDA about the evangelization that uses Sabbath School small groups. Based on the study results, a strategic plan has been proposed to foster evangelism through Sabbath school small groups in Cyasemakamba SDA Church? The study utilized a cross sectional design and mixed approaches of quantitative and qualitative. The participants were the church elders, church committee members, leaders of small groups who responded to the research questionnaire and participated in organized focus group discussion sessions. In total forty-five respondents participated in the survey while three focus group discussion were held. Concerning knowledge of participants on Sabbath school small group, 44.4% of participants confirmed that they know the traits and qualities that make an effective group leader in a Sabbath school small group format, while 97.6% reported that they have interest in Sabbath school small group in regard to its awareness. The study, upon its findings, has summarized the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Cyasemakamba SDA. There is also a proposed strategic plan which can be implemented to improve the evangelism within the same area.Item Strategies to Alleviate Poverty Among the Seventh-day Adventist Youth Through Education in the East Cameroon Mission(Adventist University of Africa, 2015-07) Assekere, Dodi Armand BarkaThe average Adventist youth in the East Cameroon Region is faced with too much poverty. This situation constitutes a serious predicament to the development of the church in this part of the world. It is an open secret that the authorities of the land have forgotten the region. The region is actually endowed with forests, mineral resources and the like, yet nothing is done to cater for the populations living in this area. The purpose of this project was to lay down strategies that, if implemented, may yield some dividends and alleviate the crunch of poverty on the young people in our churches. If we go by the old adage that says the youth of today is the church of tomorrow, it becomes imperative that strong measures be taken at the level of the mission to see to it that young people be engaged in activities that will move them away from the quagmire of poverty, and by so doing prepare the youth to be equal to the task to provide the churches with strong families where parents can afford to nurture, educate their offspring, and perpetuate the Church in our region. The writer believes that if nothing is done on these lines, youth will continue to be exposed to all kinds of social ills such as prostitution, drug addiction, or crime. On the other hand, the implementation of these strategies could serve as a template to other youth societies in other regions in Cameroon and beyond. The study analysed the impact of education on poverty reduction in Belabo and Ndelele cities by extracting data through questionnaires and analysing them by the method of descriptive statistics in Chapters 3 and 4.Item A strategic plan to develop evangelism through sabbath school small groups. a case study of Cyasemakamba SDA Church in Kibungo Town, Rwanda(Adventist University of Africa, 2021-08) Ngerero, Ami FideleThe aim of the study was to assess the views of the leaders of Cyasemakamba SDA about the evangelization that uses Sabbath School small groups. Based on the study results, a strategic plan has been proposed to foster evangelism through Sabbath school small groups in Cyasemakamba SDA Church? The study utilized a cross sectional design and mixed approaches of quantitative and qualitative. The participants were the church elders, church committee members, leaders of small groups who responded to the research questionnaire and participated in organized focus group discussion sessions. In total forty-five respondents participated in the survey while three focus group discussion were held. Concerning knowledge of participants on Sabbath school small group, 44.4% of participants confirmed that they know the traits and qualities that make an effective group leader in a Sabbath school small group format, while 97.6% reported that they have interest in Sabbath school small group in regard to its awareness. The study, upon its findings, has summarized the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Cyasemakamba SDA. There is also a proposed strategic plan which can be implemented to improve the evangelism within the same area.Item Women in Leadership in the executive levels of the Seventh-day Adventist church(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2013-08-02) Ramages, Beverley PriscillaThere are too few women in the leadership or executive levels of the Seventh-day Adventist Church even though they represent more than 50% of the membership. Women are significantly underrepresented at every strata of Adventist executive leadership. This study examines the biblical foundations for inclusive ministry and how biblical church practice either includes or excludes women. Biblical foundations are examined with a view to increase the number of women in church leadership. The foundations begin with equality as the basis for relationships between male and female in their representation of God. This equality is never revoked. True equality is evident in a unity of brotherhood amongst God’s children, John 17. This study accepts that unity should be a distinguishing feature of the Adventist Church. Spiritual gifts are the foundation that edifies the church. These gifts are not gender specific and are awarded solely on the discretion of the Holy Spirit. The priesthood of all believers is an underlying principle flowing from the Old Testament right into eternity and Jesus Christ is the High Priest of all believers. Paul compares with Jesus and Luke in His inclusion and acknowledgement of women in his ministry; Roman 16 demonstrates this. Jesus came at a time when the world needed change but it is Jesus’ empowerment of women that arrests ones attention. The historical position of Adventists to women in leadership differs substantially from the current position. That vibrancy is lacking in the policy driven approach to women in leadership today. For mission success women must have their voice back.Item The application of the Leadership of Nehemiah in the rehabilitation of the mother Church to improve the performance of the Marovoay District(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2013-08-02) Rabenarivo, Jim HervéFor a district pastor, the mission is to make his district more spiritually powerful. This is possible if the district manages to find the priority problem and then finds its resolution which will involves the resolution of all the other problems. It was a qualitative study at the Marovoay district level (Indian Ocean Union Missions), including the elders, members and non-Adventists. The study felt that the priority problem is the out datedness of the mother Church. The most relevant strategy to cure it is the extension and the rehabilitation of this Church with the participation of all the churches and all the members of the Marovoay district without waiting for assistance come from outside. Once established the project will run for 8 months with 6 months of preparation and 2 months of actual work of rehabilitation. One applied the leadership principles of Nehemiah. A study on evaluation will be conducted, comparing the spirituality of the members before and after the rehabilitation. Before starting the project, only 30% of the church members were satisfied with the worship. Four months later, the satisfaction of project significantly rose to 70% on the statistics. The impact could not be measured due to shortness of time; however from the direct results obtained the church elders justified the increase in tithe. Meanwhile, the non Adventist members were astonished and this caused them to become Seventh-day Adventist church members.Item Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy as a means for Improving Pastoral Ministry in Anambra-Imo Conference(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2016-06) Akubude, Obinna M.Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has played a huge role in the spread of Christianity throughout history. However, the huge burden on pastors serving in Anambra-Imo Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church calls for attention. In 2015, the membership of the church in Anambra-Imo Conference was 9,805 compared to the 19 field pastors. This places an enormous task of reaching out to the members on every pastor serving in the area. This has been a great challenge for the field pastors serving in Anambra-Imo Conference and formed the basis for this study. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized in this research. Two sets of questionnaires were administered. 180 questionnaire were distributed to church members, out of which 116 (70.3%) were returned. All of the fifteen (100%) administered to the pastors were completed. Parts of the data collated from the pastors were gathered through face to face and group interviews.All fifteen (100.0%) pastors interviewed indicated that the evolution and acceptance of ICT are part of prophecy fulfilment. Eleven (73.3%) of the pastors interviewed thought they would most likely be more successful in their pastoral ministry if they would begin to apply ICT in their ministry. The results from this study show that pastors in Anambra-Imo Conference need the application of ICT to improve their pastoral ministry. This work thus recommends that the leadership of the conference organise routine ICT training for both pastors and the members of the local churches. This may increase the interests of the church members in the application of ICT and may enhance pastoral ministry in the region.Item The impact of small groups on evangelism: a case study of Nketa 8 Church in Nketa/Emganwini District, South Zimbabwe Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2017-05) Kohlisa, BrightonThe Seventh-day Adventist Church is evangelistic in nature. Its members believe that evangelism is the primary purpose for the Church’s existence. Small groups are one important vehicle that can be used to carry the good news of the gospel to the entire world making a people ready for the Second Coming of Jesus, the Savior. Nketa 8 Church in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, seems to be experiencing a problem in enlisting all the members in evangelism. The purpose of this study was to discover how members could best utilize small groups in evangelism in Nketa, a suburb of Bulawayo. The researcher compared the literature on small groups in order to develop a body of information on small groups. Participants were drawn from Nketa 8 church where the researcher sampled 150 members, including fifteen (15) elders and nine (9) section leaders who shall be referred to as zonal leaders. A total of forty-five (45) board members were also part of the sample. Small groups were formed, launched, trained and sent to study the Bible with members of the neighborhood. This was done on the 3rd of July 2016. An evangelistic effort was conducted from the 8th to the 21st of January 2017 mainly through these small groups that also were the respondents to the questionnaire. As compared to previous events where persons were only baptized when there was public evangelism, a total of forty-five (45) persons were baptized as a result of the small groups studying with people in their private homes.Item Factors militating tribal conflict and strategies to promote tribal unity in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Atlantic Conference, Lagos State, Nigeria(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2020-01) Oladapo, Amos AramideThe gravity of the adverse effects of tribal and intertribal conflict is a big threat to the unity of a nation and the churches all over the world. This trend has increased, threatening the perfect unity of the church to move forward spiritually and to increase numerically. This conflict had been on the increase and had progressed through the rank and file of the church levels, wrecking great havoc within the church and the community. Thus, this study assessed the factors militating tribal conflict (TC) and recommends strategies to promote tribal unity in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Atlantic Conference, Lagos State, Nigeria. This study adopted case study research design that entails the detailed and intensive analysis of a single case and a case study of single community and organization, the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Purposive sampling method and simple random sampling was used to assign all volunteered church members (n= 135) into the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were used through an interview guide and a validated semi-structured survey questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha =0.74) was used to obtain data from the respondents. The result showed that more than half (51.9%) were between the age ranges of 40-59 while few (3%) were between ages 15-19. Majority (76.3%) of respondents were male. Virtually, all (98.5%) were from Nigeria. Less than half (45.9%) of the respondents were part of the Igbo ethnic group, while 42.2% were from Yoruba tribe only few (5.9%) were Hausa. The majority (85.9%) of the respondents reported tribal conflict as detrimental to the church. Slightly more than half (57.8%) of the respondents reported that tribal conflict led to fear in the church leaders over the loss of control of their congregation. Also, sixty five percent (65%) of the respondents reported that tribal conflict leads to inability to express one’s opinion. From the leadership perspective, 36.3% stated that church leaders always set good examples of ethical behavior and that less than half (40%) of the leaders never showed preferential treatment. Ethics and integrity were communicated clearly and convincingly by 34.8% to avert conflict. The extent to which tribal difference affects the church was measured on a 40 point rating scale and the mean score was 19.39 ±5.3. This inferred that 48.45% of the respondents reported that tribal differences affect the church unity. In conclusion, this study has given meaningful insight into the evil effects of tribal conflict and the need to provide strategies to combat it. It is recommended that leaders teach their members to follow the teaching of Christ and, secondly, to follow Biblical principles to “pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (NKJV Hebrew 12:14). Furthermore, it is recommended that in the selection of leaders, emphasis be placed on the character and honest report, people full of Holy Ghost, wisdom, good standing, (Church Manual, 2015; Act 6:3), great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:2-13; Titus 1:5-11 and 2:1, 7, 8).Item Factors affecting youth retention in Seventh-day Adventist churches in Nyaburi District, Kenya Lake Conference, Kenya(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2020-09) Agalo, MicahAccording to a report given at the 2016 year-end church board meeting that was conducted in the Nyaburi District of the Kenya Lake Conference, it was noted that more than 40 percent of the youths baptized each year drop out from the church. This drop was also noted in all the 14 churches in the Nyaburi District. This study, therefore, investigated the factors that affected youth retention in churches in Nyaburi District, Kenya Lake Conference, Kenya. The study was guided by three objectives; how secularism affected youth retention in churches, how leadership affected youth retention in churches, and how nurturing affected youth retention in churches in Nyaburi District, Kenya lake Conference, Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive and research survey design and inferential statistics and obtained its data from primary and secondary sources. The primary data were derived from the questionnaires. The target population comprised all the 14 churches in the Nyaburi District. The researcher used census sampling to select 32 youth leaders and 50 adult leaders from the 14 churches. The sample size was 82 respondents. Data were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics and were presented in the form of pie charts. Findings revealed that 72.7% of the respondents agreed that factors such as secular worship, secular music, and social media affected youth retention in the churches in the Nyaburi District. The findings also revealed that 70.9% of the respondents agreed that that leadership factors such as conservativeness, lack of involvement, gossip, and parents affected youth retention in churches in the Nyaburi District. Again, 75% of the respondents agreed that nurturing factors such as fellowship, teaching, and sharing affected youth retention in churches in the Nyaburi District. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that secularism, leadership, and nurturing affected youth retention in SDA Churches in Nyaburi District, Kenya Lake Conference, Kenya. To enhance youth retention, the study recommended that the youths be sensitized on the effects of the dangers in secularism. The church leaders should be trained on how to handle youths by not being too conservative, involving the youths in church programs and decision making, discouraging gossip, and encouraging parents to allow their children to attend church. Nurturing committees should also make sure that youths are involved in fellowship, they are taught on church doctrines and allowed to share their views with other church members.Item How unhappy marriages affect the spirituality of members in the West Cameroon Mission(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2015-06) Chentu, Jean NenkoMarriage is one of the institutions that God blessed in the Garden of Eden and as the director of the family life ministries in the West Cameroon Mission, the researcher had to find means and strategies to reduce the marital problems which affects the spirituality of members. With this study the researcher expects that those couples who have lost happiness in their homes and their spirituality is reduced, will regain them back. Three churches were selected in the West Cameroon Mission in which the researcher conducted a survey and an interview to couples who have been married between 5 and 31 years to both men and women, before and after the family life seminar. After the seminar 54.11% of spouses started praying together and 93% started observing regular family worship. In conclusion, unhappiness in the home affects the church community hence spirituality also. So seminars, retreats and workshops should be organized at least once a year.Item Marital challenges in the Saints Adventist Church in Seychelles(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2015-06) Bijoux, Georges Michael JamesGod instituted the marriage institution immediately at the end of the creation week (Gen 2:24). This institution was set as a model that human beings should follow in order to fulfill God’s requirements for generations to come. God’s purpose in marriage is that a woman and a man united together in covenant relationship will live together as long as they both shall live provided they follow the guidelines given to them by their maker. The marriage vows would bind them together in sacred bond that no man should separate. However, in the Saints Adventist Church in Seychelles, many couples are continuously contemplating divorce, young girls are having children before getting married and church members are getting married with non-SDAs. The Saints Church in Seychelles have experienced significant challenges in terms of marital relationships whereby many active members at some time were lead into practices which have not brought glory and honor to God. God’s Church worldwide including the Saints Adventist Church in the Seychelles Mission in the Indian Ocean has a high moral responsibility in defending the biblical principles in family life with the advantage of having principles from the Bible and inspired commentary from the writings of Ellen G. White. The context of this small state country with a population of not more than 100,000 favors strong external influences within the community. Many members now, especially the young ones who accepted the faith and come into the new community of believers were faced with the pressure of past unbiblical cultural relationship practices. Hence the urge of proper education to young adults and adolescents seemed crucial and timely. This project examined the situation of the Saints SDA Church so as to find lifelong solutions towards the existing unfavorable trend. The researcher asked the church clerk at the Saint’s SDA Church to distribute 100 questionnaires to 100 members. Among the members who received the questionnaires care was taken to make sure that all the members were baptized members from the Saint’s SDA church only. There were young people, middle age and elderly, married spouses, singles, divorcees, widows and widowers, spouses with or without children, and young people contemplating marriage. Gender sensitivity was also taken care of during the selection process. Only 55 copies of the questionnaire distributed came back from the members. This represented 55% of the total distributed. Furthermore, among the 55 collected only 37 (67.3%) were filled as they should. Besides filling of the questionnaires there were 25 spouses who were selected for interview. The following were considered in the selection: young men and women contemplating marriage, recently married spouses with and without children; spouses remarried after divorce, and divorced spouses with children. The interview was carried out following appointments with the selected spouses in the list after sending a letter of appointment. Results showed that failures in marital issues in families in Seychelles were due to weak foundations in the family relationships and thus required immediate remedial approaches to change the direction of the trend.Item Causes of marital conflict and divorce among Adventist couples in Cape Coast, Ghana(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2015-01) Kusi-Acheampong, SolomonMarital conflicts, separations and divorce are fast growing phenomena in the Cape coast district and its environments. It is an undisputable fact that a solution should be found for this problem in the society. This study therefore aimed at designing, implementing and evaluating an educational strategy to reduce these marital conflict that result in divorce to the barest minimum. After an intensive literature review which embodied the study of the bible, the Spirit of prophecy books and other relevant materials, a program was designed and implemented in the Cape Cost district which included: a weekly reading of marriage passages from the book Adventist Home by selected families. Furthermore, during Sunday bible studies program in the church, the book Encounter with Marriage Truth was read. Monthly meetings for a “Family Life Week of Prayer” for a period of six months were held, and an intensive Pastoral visitation to the selected respondents. It was based on these educational activities that the program was assessed.The implementation of the program attracted non Adventists, especially Adventist whose parents were non Adventist. Most local churches had their premises filled to the capacity during the program. Some of the participants gave their lives to Christ and got baptized. The confessions and pronouncements made by some attendees, and the reduction in conflicts, separations and divorce during and after the program indicated that the messages had deep impact on the participants. Moreover, the relationship between the district pastors and the church members was improved tremendously. It was observed after the program implementation that many church members were half baked in matters of marriage, hence the numerous marital problems. The researcher recommended that a bible study guide on marriage be prepared for the churches. It was also suggested that both the programs Christian Home marriage week and Family Togetherness week programs continue in the various churches.Item Proposed Evangelistic Program for Winning Mijikenda into the Adventist Church, Kenya(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2015-12) Marwa, Zachariah MwitaIn any random sample taken from any church in the coast it will show that the indigenous Mijikenda are the Minority or at times are not represented in the church at all For Kenya Coast Field to succeed in evangelizing the whole coast region, major target should be the Mijikenda who for a long time have not responded well to the Adventist message as expected. The researcher therefore developed an evangelistic strategy through which the Mijikenda are to be reached and be won into the Adventist Church. This strategy involved the church pastors, church elders and members that the researcher had trained in Ziwani Church before the program started. The methods used in this strategy were predominantly public evangelism and literature distribution and visitations. The researcher developed an evangelistic program whereby a team of members were trained through lectures and sent to un-entered Mijikenda areas to do visitation, distribute literature, and conduct evangelistic meetings in various centers.As a result, in 2010, thirteen evangelistic meetings was conducted, 300 literature were distributed, and 276 souls from the indigenous people were baptized. In 2011, twelve meetings were conducted, 222 literature were distributed, and 259 souls were baptized. In the third year, that is 2012, fifteen meetings were conducted, 300 literature distributed, and 344 souls were won to Christ. This researcher recommends the following; that Kenya Coast Field consider deliberate evangelistic program among the Mijikenda as their primary objective, and that Kenya Coast Field increase the spiritual growth of the members in all its territory people in order to spur them into evangelism, and lastly that a replication this study in the rest of the Field focusing the Mijikenda as a target group.Item Retaining Literature Evangelists in North East Tanzania Conference(Adventist University of Africa, School of Postgraduate Studies, 2014-06) Kujiru, Elitabu MuzeThe Publishing Ministries Department in Northeast Tanzania Conference has been faced with the challenge of retention of Literature Evangelists. About 50% of those who join the ministry as literature evangelists quit within six to twelve months. Since Literature Evangelists play a significant role in winning souls to the kingdom of God, retaining them in Literature Ministry is automatically to support the mission of the church. Through Bible study, writings of Ellen G. White, and other authors, a training program was developed by the researcher focusing on the retention of Literature Evangelists in Northeast Tanzania Conference. Data was collected from the said conference. Forty three Literature Evangelists and 4 APDs were involved from the five zones of NETC. Three retirees (two former Publishing Directors and one former APD), and one conference officer were the leaders who were involved. Data from Northeast Tanzania Conference Publishing Department office was collected. The researcher used SPSS computer software to analyze data. The program was implemented for ten days, five days at a time at the interval of one year involving 43 Literature Evangelists and 4 Assistant Publishing Directors. Evaluation was done after two years of work from the first training session and one year after the second training session. After the training program Literature Evangelists were more satisfied with their career, managed to plan their schedule of work, more increased their financial stability, more practiced capital investment plan, more APDs managed to work with LEs on a regular basis, and as a result more Literature evangelists were retained.