Friendship evangelism as a strategy to reach the Langi of Northern Uganda WITH the SDA message

Abstract

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in northern Uganda has survived through a perilous internal conflict that left the entire regional population displaced for about two decades. This human displacement introduced a culture that changed the lifestyle of the community and made evangelism difficult. For that reason, friendship evangelism, which is the focus of this study, was identified as a method that to help congregations in this region meet outreach obligation, when embraced and implemented. In an era of information scrutiny, a biblical foundation for the study is necessary. Some theological and exegetical study on friendship evangelism is done in order to give it biblical authenticity. Excerpts from both the Old and New Testaments, and the writings of Ellen G. White used dismisses human invention of the method. The six chapters of the dissertation which starts with an introduction that presents the ministry context covers the geographical location of the area and the general background of the church in the region. Here the slow growth of the church is introduced as a major problem that necessitates the study. The researcher proposed a mixed method approach to the study in which quantitative and qualitative methods of research were used. The statistical and the qualitative data collected were analysed and presented in percentages. The researcher chose to design, implement, and evaluate friendship evangelism as an alternative method to reach the Langi of northern Uganda with the Seventh-day Adventist message. In order to actualize the project task, the field survey, data analysis, intervention strategy and implementation; and finally, evaluation of the findings were done. The result of the study indicates that 51.1 and 73.3 percent of the respondents expressed lack of knowledge and training about friendship evangelism respectively, signalling a need for intervention. As a response to the need of friendship evangelism awareness, a seminar that focussed on the biblical basis for friendship evangelism, its rationale, and its practicality was conducted. The evaluation shows that friendship evangelism is appropriate and if practiced correctly becomes contagious, and eventually all church members become involved in the mission of the church, a fact which is in agreement with the current total member involvement (TMI) concept practiced in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.