Proposed Approach for Involving Women in Evangelism in Kayonza Seventh-day Adventist Church, Rwanda

Abstract

Evangelism is the top priority in all programs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). The mission of God’s church is to preach the Gospel to the people in order to prepare them for the soon return of Christ. Involving women in evangelism is the way of nurturing and making them part of the church through participation to spreading the gospel in the world. Jesus commended His disciples to go out into the world and preach the gospel to every human being. This is rooted in Matthew 28: 19-20 and Mark 16: 15-16. The women as members of the church are called out to declare God’s greatness to the world by actively participating in witnessing activities. By doing this, they are fulfilling the great work of winning souls to Jesus Christ. It will be possible if the women were equipped for the ministry through training, besides the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The study sought to find out why the women of Kayonza Seventh-day Adventist Church do not participate actively in evangelism. The tools employed in carrying out the research were included questionnaires and interviews. Women and church elders were asked to fill out questionnaires. Besides filling questionnaires others were interviewed. The 204 who filled out questionnaires and the few that were interviewed would represent the entire church. The researcher analyzed the data and came up with a program to equip the women with tools for effective evangelism. Equipping women was done through organization of seminars that empowered them for effective evangelism. The result was seen through the increase in baptismal class members and the baptism event in the church in 2015 and 2016 as compared with the previous years. Also, there was a large number of women elected for church activities in 2015 - 2016. Increase in Dorcas’ activities and home visitations by women were also seen in Kayonza SDA Church. The number of choirs was augmented from 3 to 5.