A strategy for Adventist youth involvement in evangelism in South Rwanda Field

Abstract

In South Rwanda Field of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, only 19.6% of the youth are involved. Most of the youth are not involved in ministry. Therefore, there is a need to change the situation in order to increase the number of young people who actively participate in evangelism. After conducting the survey, the researcher developed a strategy, program, and plan of implementation in order to increase the number of youth who participate in church activities, particularly, in evangelism. The researcher conducted trainings, after which the young people conducted a two-week evangelistic campaign as an application of what they learned in the trainings. Questionnaires were distributed to district pastors, church elders, and some young people. Out of their respective responses, Bible studies were conducted, homiletics principles were applied, and eight selected fundamental beliefs were shared for a period of two weeks, at least. The process ended in selecting a group of forty-five young people who were ready to conduct a two-week evangelistic meeting. The findings were very positive. At the end of the whole process, the involvement of the youth in evangelism increased from 19.6% to 48.3%. Even though they did not reach the goal of 50% participation, this percentage indicates that the program was successful. The exercise also revealed to the entire leadership of South Rwanda Field that there is a need of reinforcing the involvement of the youth in church activities.