An Assignment submitted in fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of

Doctorate in Theology At The University Of America; TX –USA.

TOPIC:

A ROADMAP TO EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM FOR CHURCH GROWTH

A survey of Pentecostal Churches In Kiambu County

STUDENT NAME
Martin Nyagah

DATE
th
15 May, 2021
NAIROBI KENYA.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
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Evangelism is the lifeline of Church growth. It is the biblical and the only time tested tool that
keeps the Church thriving. Whether by design or default the church members in a local assembly
are there courtesy of one method of evangelism or the other. Every church must embrace some
form of evangelism or the other that fits into their social environment.

This paper serves to develop an impetus for evangelistic strategies which will increase ministry
effectiveness in Pentecostal Churches in Kiambu county so that they may be able to process
and resolve church evangelism issues in a way that enhances the spiritual, emotional, and
relational health of the fellowship which grows the church. This project provides a practical
process to teach ministers of pentecostal churches in Kenya the biblical principles of
evangelism initiatives that can be applied to their church, family, and personal lives.

1.1 History Of The Pentecostal Movement

It is of foremost importance to give consideration to an overview of the historical Roots of

Pentecostalism1in the world and in the local Kenyan setting. Throughout the latter half of the
19thcentury in the United States, Protestants from various backgrounds began to ask themselves
why their churches did not seem to exhibit the same vibrant, faith-filled life as those in the New
Testament. Many of these believers joined evangelical or Holiness churches, engaged in ardent
prayer and personal sacrifice, and earnestly sought God. It was in this context that people began
experiencing biblical spiritual gifts.Pentecostals pioneers were hungry for authentic Christianity,
and they looked to previous spiritual outpourings, such as the First Great Awakening (1730s-40s)
and Second Great Awakening (1800s-30s), for inspiration and instruction. They identified
themselves in the tradition of reformers and revivalists such as Martin Luther, John Wesley, and
Dwight L. Moody. The key to this revival was evangelism.

1.2 Importance Of Evangelism

1
1995-2015 by The General Council of the Assemblies of God 1445 N Boonville Ave  Springfield, MO 65802.

2
Evangelism has evolved over the centuries with different dispensations coming up with what
they considered the most effective means of evangelism in their particular historical epoch. Since
the Early church day, evangelism has served as the main tool and means for the growth of the
christian faith. In the present era of christianity evangelism has taken various forms with some
being seen as the more superior. The early church relied mainly on one on one witnessing and
the apostolic gatherings that the apostles used as platforms to declare the new faith in the midst
of hostility and persecution. Though these two approches remained the basic and most common ,
the growth of technology and increse in populations has seen the emergence of other types of
evangelism to impact the growth of the church worlswide. This however is not without
challenges. For instance the modern use of high watt public address systems and elaborate
entertainment andhigh profile music arrangements in the west has diffused into the African
church. This has largely contributed to a redefinition of the practice of evangelism. The result
has been an inclination towards capital intensive evangelism other than the biblical age old
practice of labour intensive evangelism.

1.1 The Evangelism Problem

The Pentecostal Churches in kenya currently needs growth in both quality and quantity through
an effective strategy of evangelism.In addition, the strategy should be developed in
consideration of the present situation of The Pentecostal Churches in kenya . In order to vitalize
evangelistic ministry in The Pentecostal Churches in kenya, adequate methodology of
evangelism is required. The overarching purpose of this dissertation is to develop a strategy of
evangelism and apply it to the local church. As stated earlier, because evangelism is not merely
an event but a process, a strategic approach is needed for the church to achieve evangelism
successfully. To accomplish this purpose, this paper will examine the evangelistic activities of
the pentecostal churches in Kenya.
This survey serves as an overview of the problem and solutions for evangelism initiatives in the
Pentecostal churches of Kenya without any assurance of a full or specific representation of any
specific counties or subcounties. The study may be limited in scope and not adequately
representative of the body of Christ globally. Several papers, theses, and books could be written

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about this subject, and perhaps need to be. Due to the scope of brevity associated with this paper,
several limitations must be articulated.
First, not all of the scriptural research performed on these subjects is able to be presented.
Second, most Pentecostal churches are all autonomous,2 which means that they are self-
governed. The churches are in the unique position to invite people in to help them with their
evangelism situations. Third, each state convention uses different tools to aid in current
evangelism with their pastors and churches. There is not a uniform way of handling, and
reporting, evangelism within the Pentecostal churches. Fourth, in the survey individual church
members may not stand out to talk about the conflicts disturbing their churches due to their
perception that a church is supposed to be spotless, a place and example of love and unity. Many
times alow percent of church members participate in the yearly surveys concerning the
conflictual rows in their churches. Fifth, there has never been a formal scientific study or survey
of church evangelism involving both pastors and members on how they do evangelism. Lastly,
this study only surveys local assembly members of churches for their opinions. There is
primarily little local data documentation or information on research of articles , books, and
interviews with leadership within the Pentecostal churches, state conventions, associations and
the national convention agencies.

1.3 Biblical Overview Of Evangelism

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he commanded, “therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”3 This verse contains an important
mission the church should pursue in the world. Concerning this point, Rod Dempsey claims that
“the church exists to win people to Christ, help them grow in their faith and then send them out
to participate in the mission of winning the entire world. The process of growing them in their
faith and sending them is called discipleship, and it is God's will for every church.”4 God‟s
2
Henderson, Ian. Power without Glory: a Study in Ecumenical Politics. American ed. Richmond, Va.: John Knox
Press, 1968, cop. 1967. N.B.: A study of the evangelism and prestige of episcopal church authority with other forms
of church polity as they affect inter-Christian relations and ecumenism. SSN 5042-1497-2.
3
Matt. 28:19-20 (NIV).

4
Rod Dempsey, “What is God‟s Will for My Church? Discipleship!: The Purpose of Church,” in
Innovatechurch: Innovative Leadership for the Next Generation Church, ed. Jonathan Falwell (Nashville,
TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2008), 103.

4
biggest hope is to save the unbelievers in the world. He wants all people to be saved and come to
know the truth. He uses His church to accomplish the hope. This means that all works the church
does should be carried out centering around evangelism. Many modern churches, however, have
used evangelism as a means of church growth, and as a result of that they have failed.
Evangelism should not be considered as a one-time event that merely increases the number of
people who attend the church, but as an entire process that wins people and makes disciples.4
The heart of being a purposedriven church is to focus on growing individuals spiritually with a
process instead of trying to grow a church with programs. For a church‟s growth to be healthy,
balanced, and consistent, the church should map out a strategy for developing disciples of Jesus
and adhere to it.5 It is not easy for people to move from being inactive or unreached to being
active and committed disciples of Jesus Christ. For doing this, an effective evangelistic strategy
consisting of several stages is required.6 The mission statement of a church generally consists of
five purposes: worship,evangelism, fellowship, ministry, and discipleship.7 Evangelism is
usually considered as a separate area from the others. For example, people think that even if
discipleship is not working well, evangelism can be successful regardless of the failure of
discipleship. However, evangelism should not be treated only as a free-standing program but as
one of the closely-knit ministries of the church. Evangelism should not function as a mere
section of God‟s whole strategy for a church, but it should be the engine that drives motivation
and direction for each aspect of the congregation‟s productivity. In other words, evangelism
should be a principle, central axis in accomplishing God‟s will through churches, ruling over
other aspects of the purpose of a church. Many unbelievers go to church because they are lonely
and need relationships in the immediate community. There is a common adage amongst the
people that one needs to identify with one church or the other so that at death there would be a
church burial for the member. This is so since church does not bury non-members. It is notable

5
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message &
Mission (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 108.
6
Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson, Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and
Yours Can Too (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2007), 99.
7
David Wheeler, “Outreach: Back to Basics in Strategic Planning: A Suggested Strategic
Structure,” in Innovatechurch: Innovative Leadership for the Next Generation Church, ed. Jonathan Falwell
(Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2008), 127.
,

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that in this community it is considered dishonorable to be buried without any church being
involved. Unfortunately, however, most of the churches have few proper strategies for
evangelism. Though the churches sometimes succeed in drawing unbelievers from outside their
church through an evangelistic event, they do not have the next step that makes them disciples.
There are two reasons for this. One is that the churches do not have passion for and an interest in
their regeneration as much as in drawing them into their church. The other reason is that they are
satisfied with just those attending their church. As a result, those who become new members of
the church may remain unbelievers inside the church for a long time, and a conflict for
hegemony between the unbelievers and the existing members may arise. In other words, if the
existing people are not involved in evangelizing the unbelievers who attend regularly, the church
may experience difficulty. Stephen Macchia illustrates the necessity of discipleship and of
relationship between the existing people and the unbelievers in the following words: I am
convinced that virtually everything we accomplish in ministry is the direct result of the quality of
our relationships. Without true community there is limited growth and learning. Without first
creating a safe environment for each person in the faith community to be himself or herself, their
growth in Christ will be hampered. Therefore, as leaders in the local church, we must consider
the needs8 of the disciple and all who are in the disciple-making process and determine ways to
facilitate their development, whether in a classroom setting or in a small
group, a ministry context or on the mission field.

1.4 Approaches To Evangelism

In her long history, the body of Christ has applied many different approaches to spread
Christianity via the practice of evangelism. Christianity began with only a few different
evangelistic approaches, but over the years, many different forms of evangelism have been
employed by various groups to spread their faith. Many of these forms of evangelism are often
employed in only certain parts of the world by Christians in different geographical areas. In
particular, most new approaches to evangelism today have arisen out of Europe or the United
States, especially when new technologies are used for the effort of evangelism. For the purpose
of this study the following types approaches of evangelism will be identified with;

8
http://www.christiantoday.us/sub_read.html?uid=11841&section=section12&section2=.
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1.4.1 Open-air preaching

A representative painting of Jesus Christ delivering the open-air Sermon on the Mount9 Open-air
preaching is an approach to evangelism characterized by speaking in public places out in the
open, generally to crowds of people at a time, using a message, sermon, or speech which spreads
the gospel. Supporters of this approach note that both Jesus10 and many of the Old Testament
prophets often preached about God in public places.[2] It is one of the oldest approaches to
evangelism.11 One of the earliest open-air preachers of Christianity, according to the gospels, was
Jesus Christ, whose first specifically recorded sermon was the Sermon on the Mount, which took
place on a mountainside in the open air. In the Gospel of Luke (Luke 6:17-49), it was recorded
that Jesus also gave an open-air sermon known as the Sermon on the Plain. After Jesus' death,
many of his apostles and followers open-air preached the gospel in the Temple of Jerusalem or in
other open spaces. During the Middle Ages and the Protestant Reformation, open-air preaching
was often employed by Protestants throughout Europe who could not always preach inside
churches, which were mostly Catholic. Open-air preaching in Europe continued during the rise
of Puritanism and other Protestant movements. It was often used in Pastoral environments as
well as in cities, the former sometimes due to a desire to avoid the authorities, and the latter
because, for one reason, it could reach eccentric people living in cities who would not otherwise
hear the gospel.In the time period of the late 19th century and early-to-mid-20th century many
famous open-air preachers in the United States began to preach, such as Billy Sunday and Billy
Graham. Graham in particular used a combination of open-air preaching and the recent advent of
televangelism to broadcast his sermons, which often took place in large venues such as stadiums,
to large portions of the world and millions of Americans.12 John Wesley, founder of Methodism
declared, "I am well assured that I did far more good to my Lincolnshire parishioners by
preaching three days on my father's tomb than I did by preaching three years in his pulpit ... To
this day field preaching is a cross to me, but I know my commission and see no other way of
preaching the gospel to every creature. 13"Wesley's contemporary, Anglican preacher George

9
Biblegateway.com, New International Version, Matthew 5:1
10
Spurgeon C.H,2C. Pg 234
11
Charles H. Spurgeon, http://www.biblebelievers.com/StreetPreaching2.html "OPEN-AIR
PREACHING, A SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY AND REMARKS THEREON.
12
Lee, R. "The History Guy: The Reverend Billy Graham"
13
"A History Of Street Preaching". Soulwinning.info. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
7
Whitefield stated: "I believe I never was more acceptable to my Master than when I was standing
to teach those hearers in the open fields ... I now preach to ten times more people than I should, if
had been confined to the churches." Including the field outside Park Street. It was said that one
of the regular practices of America evangelist Dwight L. Moody in the late 1860s "was to exhort
the passersby in the evenings from the steps of the court house. Often these impromptu gathering
drew as many hecklers as supporters. Open-air preachers throughout history have often noted
that preaching to large crowds often causes preachers to be abused in certain ways, typically by
having objects thrown at them such as rotting vegetables or unsanitary liquids of many varieties.
Charles Spurgeon, the famous open-air Baptist preacher of England, believed that open-air
preaching was instrumental in getting people to hear the gospel who might otherwise never hear
it, and many open-air preachers today believe that it reaches many more people at once than
other approaches to evangelism do. Charles Spurgeon recommends several things for open-air
preachers, such as never trying to speak into the wind, trying to speak away from the wind so
one's voice will carry farther, (sometimes up to half a mile by Spurgeon's account) keeping
sermons concise instead of overly verbose and complicated, use illustrations and anecdotes to
keep the crowd interested, and to not speak at the very top of your voice so you don't wear
yourself out too quickly. Spurgeon also recommended to never use tents when preaching due to
their muffling effects, and to be careful of what is on the other side of walls you may be
preaching in front of, since people behind the wall or living in spaces in buildings could harass
preachers.14

1.4.2 Trickle-down evangelism

Trickle-down evangelism is an approach to evangelism primarily concerned with converting

high-ranking members of a society, so that their influence can serve to help spread Christianity
throughout the society in question. It was practiced especially often during the Middle Ages.
Trickle-down evangelism was practiced throughout China multiple times during the Middle
Ages, with examples such as converted or sympathetic officials helping the Jesuits or other parts
of the Catholic church spread, or the expedition of Marco Polo resulting in the Mongol ruler of
China Kublai Khan inviting the Pope to send "teachers of science and religion" to China.

14
Ray Comfort.The Evidence Bible; Bridge-Logos Publishers, 2003, p.
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Trickle-down evangelism was also applied often in European areas during ancient times, such as
in the northern Sweden area, as the Catholic Church tried to send missionaries into the area.15

1.4.3 Door-to-door preaching

Door-to-door preaching is an approach to evangelism where a Christian will go from household

to household in a certain area to evangelize to residents, often in conjunction with passing out
gospel tracts. Jesus often went into other people's homes during his own ministry, and according
to The Encyclopedia of Protestantism, it is a very important approach to evangelism. One of the
first modern large-scale uses of door-to-door preaching was when the Oriental Mission Society
attempted to visit the homes of an entire nation, by visiting 10.3 million homes in Japan from
1912 to 1917. The international organization Every Home for Christ began door-to-door
preaching in 1953 throughout many countries, and as of 2010, total home visits by their members
became 1.3 billion. Many local parishes and churches worldwide use this approach to
evangelism.16 Groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses[21] and Mormons are famous in particular for
spreading their beliefs by door to door evangelism at people's homes, often in pairs or small
groups. Both groups' main organizations use door-to-door preaching to a great extent. Full-time
missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints use this, and other techniques, to
find people to teach.

1.4.4 Evangelizing through a sermon

Many churches regularly have an evangelistic message preached in a sermon. Often, this will
include an altar call where people are invited to come forward and accept Christ. The use of altar
calls is somewhat controversial, while it is practiced by many evangelical churches, some
Calvinists object to it in the grounds it creates false conversions.

1.4.5 Lifestyle evangelism

Lifestyle evangelism is an approach to evangelism characterized by someone demonstrating their

faith by their actions in the hope that people around them will be impressed with how God

15
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III. Published 1908. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil.
16
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approaches _to _evangelism*note_Barrett_2C.p721
9
affects that person's life, and become a Christian. According to The Encyclopedia of
Protestantism printed in 2004, approximately 100 million people use this approach to
evangelism. Supporters of this approach to evangelism often cite Matthew 5:16 as a proof verse.
Supporters also often point out that Jesus drew people to God by showing them kindness and
performing good deeds, while detractors sometimes note that people may not realize one's good
behavior is due to Christianity. Supporters claim this is more effective than direct evangelism
because of the perception that it is harder to live "righteously" than to preach a sermon.17

1.4.6 Friendship evangelism

Similar to lifestyle evangelism, friendship evangelism is an approach to evangelism

characterized by Christians developing relationships with people in order to show them kindness
and talk to them about God eventually. Supporters sometimes say that Jesus related to those who
took an interest in him as friends, or that it is more effective than other methods of evangelism
which are seen as less personal. This approach is also known as "loving someone into the
kingdom". Opponents hold that friendship evangelism contrasts with the approach of Jesus, Paul
and the apostles towards preaching the gospel. Missionary dating takes this a step further and
Flirty Fishing takes it to an extreme.18

1.4.7 Child evangelism

The child evangelism movement is a Christian evangelism movement that was begun in the 20th
century. It focuses on the 4/14 Window which centers on evangelizing children between the ages
of 4 and 14 years old. 19

1.4.8 Creative evangelism

17
The Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Editor Hans J. Hillerbrand, Assistant Editor James H. Thrall, Volume 3 L-R,
Routlege publishing, Published in 2004, ISBN 0-415-92472-3.
18
https://www.christians.eu./friendship_evangelism-a Critical Look at “Friendship Evangelism”.
Luis Bush (June 18, 2013). "4/14 Window - a Golden Age of Opportunity" (PDF). 4/14
19

Movement.
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The creative arts (such as music, visual art, drama, film) are used to present a gospel message.[29]
Examples include Wendy Alec's novel "The Fall of Lucifer", Christian rock band Delirious? and
Johann Sebastian Bach's musical composition "Matthäuspassion" (Saint Matthew Passion).[30]
However, some ministries refer to this kind of evangelism as simply the practice of finding
creative ways to evangelize. One of the most famous examples of creative evangelism is George
Handel's oratio, "Messiah", written in 1741. It is the most performed major choral work in
history, has been tied to the revival of the Church of England and to influencing famous
evangelist John Wesley's theology concerning Eternal security, and in modern times, has around
four million viewers per year.Campus Crusade for Christ, an evangelical Christian association
with branches in a multitude of countries, owns the distribution rights for a movie called "Jesus
Film", a presentation of the life of Jesus Christ. This movie, which has been translated into 80
languages, has been viewed by about 850 million people. In the Church of Pakistan, the Diocese
of Hyderbad uses this approach to evangelism among tribal groups in areas of Pakistan which
have a high population of Sindhis.20

1.4.9 Using Gospel tracts

A gospel tract in the Christian sense is a leaflet with a gospel message. It is typically a short
presentation of the Gospel lasting only a few pages, and is typically printed on small pieces of
paper. Estimated numbers of tracts distributed in the year 2000 amount to around 5 billion. It is
often used in conjunction with street preaching or door to door preaching. As an approach to
evangelism, many modern evangelists attest to the usefulness of gospel tracts to spread the
gospel.21

1.4.10 Televangelism

Televangelism is an approach to evangelism characterized by an evangelistic message presented

through the medium of television, often through a charismatic sermon. Large Christian television
networks such as the Catholic broadcasting channel EWTN or the Protestant televangelism

20
http://www.pcusa.org/worldwide/pakistan/programministries.htm
21
"Why use tracts", Ray Comfort; http://www.christiananswers.net/evangelism_methods-
tracts.html.
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channel Trinity Broadcasting Network feature many televangelist preachers. Televangelism was
started in the United States and Canada in the mid-20th century, as a primarily evangelical
Protestant approach to evangelism. It made Christian viewpoints much more visible in the world
at the time than they were before.22

1.4.11 Radio evangelism

Radio evangelism is an approach to evangelism which began around 1921, and has reached more
people per hour than any other kind of evangelism, according to The Encyclopedia of
Protestantism. It is the usage of radio broadcasts to evangelize to listeners, sometimes worldwide
in one broadcast. Maria Miranda, the most listened to radio evangelist from Latin America in
1990, was heard by over 100 million people per day through 537 radio stations in 22 countries
during that time. In Yemen, a country in which 97 percent of the country is listed as Muslim, 10
percent of the population listens to Christian radio.23 The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod has
had a radio station on KFUO called "The Lutheran Hour" since 1925, had 5 million listeners by
1931, and broadcast in over 31 languages with 40 million listeners in 1987. The first missionary
specific radio station, HCJB, went on the air in Ecuador on December 25, 1931.

1.4.12 Internet evangelism

In the United States, the Internet Evangelism Coalition, set up by the Billy Graham Center in
1999, initiated Internet Evangelism Day on the last Sunday of April every year. In their Pew
Internet and American Life Project, the Pew Research Center found that "Nearly two-thirds of
online Americans use the Internet for faith-related reasons. The sixty-four percent of Internet
users who perform spiritual and religious activities online represent nearly eighty-two million
Americans".24

1.4.13 Phone evangelism

22

23
Barett.2C. P721-19
24
The Developing Ministry of Sharing Christ Online", Internet Evangelism Coalition, Billy Graham Center, Retrieved
June 5, 2007.
12
Evangelism involves using phones to contact people in order to spread the gospel to them. This
sometimes takes the form of random phone calls, or is done after someone contacts the
evangelist to recommend people to whom a person may want the evangelist to ngelize. The huge
growth in cell phones and other mobile devices is opening up the way for new and creative
methods of evangelism.25

1.4.14 Personal evangelism

Sometimes referred to as "one to one" or "personal work", this approach to evangelism is when
one Christian evangelizes to, typically, one non-Christian, or only a few non-Christians, in a
private manner. A 1982 Gallup Poll revealed that 51 percent of all Americans had tried to
convince someone to become a Christian during their life.26

1.4.15 Creation evangelism

This is not to be confused with creative evangelism, creation evangelism is the use of creationist
philosophical and theological arguments to prove the literal interpretation of Genesis27 and thus
the reliability of the Bible and the truth of the Christian gospel to people so that they may
become convinced that Christianity is true.28 This approach has also been described as using a
strategy of persuading a "non-believer that modern science is wrong and creationism is correct
on scientific terms. Once that is accepted, then the non-believer will accept the truth of the Bible
and become a Christian.

1.4.16 Archaeology evangelism

This method has been used with considerable success by groups such as Seventh-day Adventists
and Christadelphians, practitioners use archaeological discoveries to demonstrate the historical

25
"Mobile phone evangelism using cell phones and other mobile devices: Christian outreach
strategies". Internetevangelismday.com. Retrieved 2013-02-15.
26
Barett.2C,P721-19
27
Ken Ham,Creation Evangelism,Answers in Genesis, 2006
28
Wilkinson, David (2010). Christian Eschatology and the Physical Universe. T & A Clark Ltd.
p.  182. ISBN  978-0-567-04546-1.
13
and prophetic reliability of the Bible. The ready availability of archaeological programs on radio
and television has made this approach less popular and effective than in earlier years. At one
time this approach drew large crowds to London's New Gallery Theatre and the Opera House in
Sydney with David Down, as well as many less prestigious venues such as halls and churches.

1.4.17 Prophetic evangelism

This method is employed mainly by charismatic Christians. This is where (as its practitioners
believe) God speaks through a Christian to a non-believer to say something that will prompt that
person to seek God. On most occasions it is something that the speaker could not have known
naturally; for example, someone who is having a secret affair may be told that God knows they
are doing wrong and wants them to change their ways. However, some critics of this approach
note that other religions appear to use a similar method to spread their faith.

1.4.18 Treasure hunts

Treasure hunts are a type of prophetic evangelism. A small group of Christians takes time to
pray and listen to revelation from the Holy Spirit about people God wants the group to find.
There is a close correlation to personal evangelism.29 This type of evangelism may be referred to
as a game of searching for God's treasures, which are people. The group typically receives
revelation, or clues, consisting of places, clothing, hairstyle, or situations which will help identify
the "treasure.30 After receiving these revelations, the group goes out and looks for the people
identified by the clues. Sometimes they are able to speak God's love and the Gospel of Jesus
Christ into somebody's life. On other occasions the group prays for the person's healing or other
needs.The main focus in this type of evangelism is to let people know that they are valuable to
God and that God is searching for them as his treasure.

1.4.19 Use of props

29
John Gilchrist, The Christian Witness to the Muslim.2002. pp. 37-58
30
Dedmon, Kevin (2007). The Ultimate Treasure Hunt. Destiny Image. ISBN 0-7684-2602-2
14
Various props may serve as visual aids to accompany the verbal explanation of the Gospel
message in many of the above approaches. Such props include variations on the Wordless Book,
commercial products such as the eCube, and specialized flannelgraph or flip chart sets.31

1.5 The Most Effective Methods Of Evangelism

Many diverse methods of evangelism are applied by the premodern church with the arising query
as to, “What methods are the most effective?” It is imperative that we are good stewards of our
time and talents. These gifts must be used wisely and in the most effective manor. It can be
commonly agreed that people win people, not programs. The concept that the more programs
you have or the more outreach methods you use, the more people will be reached, is a myth. The
truth is, the more thinly we are spread and the more divided our focus, the more ineffective we
become. A church does not need fifty outreach ministries to reach their city. It is not important
that a church does “everything,” but that it does what is most productive and effective. It is better
to focus on a few areas and do them well than to attempt to do everything and do it poorly. In
Apostolic Pentecost there are four methods of reaching people with the Gospel that have been
more effective than any other. Research has proven this. All work from the concept that is
commonly called “Oikos Evangelism.” Oikos Evangelism refers to the two Greek works oikia
and oikos, which are interpreted as “house, household, or home.” In the greater sense, oikos
means an individuals family, friends, and associates.32 Recent studies show that the majority of
people in church today were brought to the Lord by the testimony or invitation of family, friend,
or associate. What this means is this: the best methods, the most productive methods, the “chain
saws,” work from the oikos principle: reaching people through family, friend, or associate
contact. The four methods currently being used within Apostolic Churches that do this the best
are as follows:

31
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, "Lectures to My Students", Zondervan publishing house, 1977
Eighth printing, ISBN 0-310-32910-8.

32
Tim Massengale,Total Church Growth . 2004.P79

15
 One,bring a guest to church. More people have been saved by being brought to an evangelistic,
Holy Ghost filled service than by any other method. It is no coincidence that this was also the
most common and effective means of evangelism in the New Testament. “Preach the Word,”
Paul told his son in the Lord, “For God hath chosen the foolishness of preaching to save them
that believe.” Few things are more powerful and leave a more lasting impression than a
Pentecostal service. If you can get your people to bring more visitors to church, you will see
more conversions.

Teach a Home Bible Study. “And daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to
teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:42). If the lost won’t come to us, we must go to them.
Home Bible Study, without a doubt, has been the most effective outreach method developed in
the last twenty years. If we will sow the seed, we will reap the harvest. Home Bible Studies are
by far the finest way of doing this.

Personal Witnessing. The most powerful tool a person possesses is their testimony of how God
saved them. Paul proved this by repeatedly giving his personal testimony throughout Asia Minor.
People may argue with your interpretation of scripture, or your theology, but they cannot argue
with what the Lord has done for you. Your testimony can be a healing, your conversion
experience, your deliverance, or simply your joy of living for God. If we can encourage people
to witness to their oikos more, as well as to others they meet, than it will result in more visitors in
church and more Bible studies in homes.

Finally Sunday School. This last method might surprise some, but for the church that is
growing, it is no surprise as all. It is not by accident that the ten largest Protestant churches in
America all have large, thriving Sunday Schools.33 This also holds true for most large Apostolic
churches. Why? Because the Sunday School is the most effective method of turning a stranger
into a friend. It establishes a long term contact with an individual. It effectively plants the seed in
the heart, and it produces a common bond with the church itself. A healthy percentage of
children raised up in Sunday School become church members, whether their parents come in or
not. It also is an extremely effective means of reaching into the home and establishing a
relationship with the parents. So here are your “chain-saws.

33
Tim Massengale. Let My People Grow.2000. p4.
16
These four methods have brought more lasting results for the amount of effort extended than any
other ministry or program. Of course, there are other methods that have worked. But these are
the most successful, the most common, and the most easily adapted to all churches, large or
small.34

1.6 The Challenges In Evangelism

There are three broad categories of challenges faced in effectively presenting the gospel to non-
believers in the 21st Century. The first challenge is post-Christendom suspicion wihch presents
an imbalanced view of the legacy of Christendom has left an impression that the Church is really
only interested in power and control, wanting to dictate what people should believe. In the post-
Christendom world, Bryan Stone suggests that, “An evangelistic church is called to patience,
obedience, and martyrdom rather than effectiveness, control, or success”. He adds that, “with
adequate clarification”, evangelism in this context could be defined as “the practice of offering
the gospel in such a way that it can be rejected responsibly”.35 Secondly there is the Postmodern
scepticism that has rendered presenting God’s truth doubly challenging since, whereas
modernity questioned God’s existence, postmodernity questions truth’s existence. Finally Post-
Fall sinfulness. It must not be forgotten that the primary reason why people reject the gospel is
not because of cultural trends, but because of the effects of sin on their lives. We must be
prayerful in evangelism, recognising that conversion requires God to shine His light in hearts,
but confident that He does this through our clear and faithful proclamation of the gospel (2
Corinthians 4:1-6). We need great confidence in the gospel.

1.6.1 Avoiding unnecessary offence

The gospel is preached with an unavoidable offence inherent in the message. When the message
of the cross confronts the rebelliousness of the sinful heart, sparks will fly. People ensnared in
Satan’s lies may perceive an attack on those false ideas as an attack on them. There are, however,
three sources of unnecessary offence that are implicit in the following words from Scripture:
hope to anyone who asks you about it, but do it gently and in fear [of God], with a clear

34

35
Bryan Stone. 2007. Evangelism After Christendom (Grand Rapids: Brazos), p. 125, 129-130.
17
conscience, so that people who falsely claim that being in Christ leads to bad behaviour will be
put to shame when the evidence is examined ”(1 Peter 3:15-16).36
Ignorance: Insight is valuable and can be exercised in taking time to listen and to understand
others is an integral part of honouring them,acknowledging the value they have in God’s sight.
People will want to know the reason for our hope, but we need to listen to them in order to hear
their questions and to be able to connect the gospel with their lives.
Arrogance; Humility is of essence i presenting the gospel effectively. Christianity is one beggar
telling another beggar where he found bread" (D. T.Niles). Humility is the cardinal Christian
virtue that results from the gospel. Its absence is a denial of the gospel.Humility derives from
fear of God and confidence that Jesus is Lord expressed in consecration to Him.
Hypocrisy; Integrity is demanded – our words must be supported by individual lives and Church
communities that demonstrate the attractiveness of the gospel.
Boldness in evangelism rests on these three foundations: insightful understanding of the beliefs
and lives of others; humble trust in Christ’s sovereignty; and integrity in our lives as we embody
the transforming power of the gospel.

2.0 THE BIBLIO-THEOLOGICAL BASIS OF EVANGELISM

The biblical foundation for evangelism starts from an understanding of the definition of the
Gospel. The word “gospel” means “good news.” C. Gordon Olson describes the gospel as
follows: “It is the good news that the Lord Jesus and His Apostles proclaimed to a lost world of
sinners-Jew and Gentile. The essence of the gospel is the person and work of the Lord Jesus and
how the benefits of His life, death, and resurrection are realized in the lives of individuals. Most
evangelical Christians agree about the person and work of Christ: that He was God incarnate in
human flesh to provide eternal life to a spiritually dead humanity through His death and
resurrection.37

2.1 The Four Spiritual Laws

36
Ravi Zacharias. 2000. ‘An Ancient Message, through Modern Means, to a Postmodern Mind’, in Telling the
Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns ed. by D.A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Zondervan), p.26ff.
C. Gordon Olson, Getting the Gospel Right: A Balanded View of Salvation Truth (Cedar
37

Knolls, NJ: Global Gospel Publishers, 2005), 1.

18
Law 1: God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.
Law 2: Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and
experience God’s love and plan for his life.
Law 3: Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and
experience God’s love and plan for your life. He died in our place (Romans 5:8).
He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). He is the only way to God (John 14:6).
Law 4: We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we
can know and experience God‟s love and plan for our lives.
We must receive Christ (John 1:12). We receive Christ through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
We receive Christ by personal invitation (Revelation 3:20).Receiving Christ involves turning to
God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to
make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the son of God
and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an
emotional experience. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.
According to the above definition of the gospel, the gospel includes not only salvation by
faith but also the entire process of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ through following
Christ.38 In relation to the definition of evangelism, C. Peter Wagner states, “evangelism
is not reaching people with the gospel message and bringing them to a decision for Christ,
it is making them disciples.”39 In other words, evangelism includes proclaiming the
gospel, bringing unbelievers to Jesus, and making disciples of Jesus Christ. The Anglican
Archbishops developed the definition of evangelism as follows: “to evangelize is so to
present Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, that men and women shall come to
put their trust in God through Him, to accept Him as their Saviour, and serve Him as their
King in the fellowship of His church.”40 John Stott suggests the definition of evangelism
as follows: “the nature of evangelization is the communication of the Good News. The purpose
of evangelization is to give individuals a valid opportunity to accept Jesus Christ. The goal of
evangelization is the persuading of men and women to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,
and serve Him in the fellowship of His church. As shown in Matt. 28:18-20, making disciples is
38
Bill Bright, The Four Spiritual Laws, 3rd ed. (Orlando, FL: New Life Publications, 2002),P7.
39
C. Peter Wagner, Leading Your Church to Growth, 21.
40
C. Peter Wagner, Strategies for Church Growth: Tools for Effective Mission and Evangelism
(Vantura, CA: Regal Books, 1987), 128.

19
involved in the process of evangelism and consists of “baptizing and teaching.” At this point, the
main verb is “make disciples,” and baptizing and teaching (v.20) are just participles reliant on
the main verb, indicating what is involved in discipleship.41 Jesus gave all churches on the earth
not only the great commission but also a powerful and definite method to carry out the great
commission: making disciples. Making disciples enables people to reproduce and multiply other
disciples. Also, making disciples helps new attendees not to leave their church. Through the
reproduction and multiplication of disciples, a church can achieve world evangelization.42
Evangelism can be accomplished through a series of steps that make the unbelievers into
disciples of Jesus Christ. Related to this point, the apostle Paul says, “What, after all, is Apollos?
And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe - as the Lord has
assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow (1
Cor. 3:5-6).”20 According to this verse, the process of evangelism is compared to
agriculture. In order to harvest fruit, numerous actions are needed as well as workers.
In the same way, the unbeliever is evangelized through many evangelistic efforts made
by a number of ministers.21 Actually, in the passage Paul's primary interest is the
comparative unimportance of their work. He says that it is only God who made it grow,
not himself and Apollos. At this point, Morris notes that “this verb, „made‟, is imperfect,
whereas those for planting and watering are aorist. The work of Paul and Apollos is
viewed as completed, but God‟s activity in giving the increase goes on. However, at the
same time Paul points out that he and Apollos have one purpose for evangelism.43
People tend to consider evangelism as an event rather than a process. It takes a lot of time for
hearts that have long been closed to God to be opened. Sjogren explains evangelism well:
“Sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with out neighbors is a process rather than a project….
Paul's view of evangelism is quite unlike the post modern mindset that tends to focus on the
'harvesting' aspect of soul winning rather than the planting part.”
Leon Morris, acknowledges that planter and waterer depend upon each other and the work of
neither can be successful unless they get together. There is each own responsibility and role on

41
R.T . France, Matthew: The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press,
1985), 414.
42
Bill Hull, The Disciple-Making Pastor: The Key to Building Healthy Christians in Today’s
church (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 2005), 23.
43
Steve Sjogren, Conspiracy of Kindness: A Unique Apporach toSharing the Love of Jesus (Ventura, CA: Regal,
1993), 26.
20
the process of evangelism.”44 In relation to this point, Jesus describes evangelism as a process
rather than a one-time event that happens quickly in John 4:35-38. It says:Do you not say, “Four
months more and then the harvest?” I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are
ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now the harvests the crop for eternal
life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying “One sows and
another reaps” is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the
hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour. Jesus obviously mentions that there
is a gap between the time of sowing and reaping. In other words, it takes time for a person to be
saved after they receive the message of good news. Conversion is an event which happens
instantaneously, but authentic evangelism is progressive, helping people on a journey to
conversion to Jesus Christ and on to spiritual maturity.45 Evangelism should be viewed as a
process that starts people on a journey that helps them believe in Jesus. Therefore, evangelism
should not be considered as one-time event-oriented but as process-oriented. Also, from this
point of view, evangelism is relational rather than propositional. They maintain that evangelism
should not be considered as a solitary component because it is only one part of a larger process
that contains the whole disciple-making process. Stetzer and Putman posit that “evangelism
needs to be returned to an ecclesiological (church) focus - the focus of evangelism is people
coming to faith in Christ through God‟s chosen missional instrument, the church.46 Another
significant passage that is supportive of process-oriented evangelism is found in 1 Cor. 12:12.
The apostle Paul said to the Corinthians “The body is a unit,though it is made up of many parts;
and though all its parts are many, they form one body.”Concerning this issue, the local
congregation of a church is compared to a human body of which every part is influenced by
every other part. According to the apostle Paul,a church is the body of Christ, functioning and
operating through a series of systems.Therefore, the process of evangelism is conducted by
mutual cooperation of all parts consisting of the church, the body of Christ. This can be
confirmed in Acts 2:42-47 which describes the community life of the early church. Fernando
says that “there was care of the new believers (v. 42), the various elements of worship (v. 42,

44
Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England:
Inter-Varsity Press, 1985), 67-68.

45
Ed Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches (Nashvile, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2003), 184.
46
Ed Stetzer and David Putman, Breaking the Missional Code (Nashville, TN: Broadman &

21
47), evangelistic outreach (v. 43, 47), caring for the material needs of each other (v. 45), oneness
in spirit (v. 44), and joyful informal fellowship in homes (v. 46)”27 in the community life of the
early church. As the result of this effective community life, people outside of the church
began to admire it and the church grew numerically (v. 47). Personal witnessing through
word and life as well as the miraculous signs and public preaching resulted in evangelizing a
number of unbelievers effectively. Therefore, evangelism is the result of various factors that
influence unbelievers.47 However, there is a misunderstanding of the definition of evangelism
among the believers in the church. Some Christians have a narrow definition of evangelism that
consists only of bringing the unbelievers from the world into a church and making them
Christians. They do not consider praying or serving unbelievers as evangelistic work. The
reason is that they value results rather than process. Whenever their pastor emphasizes
evangelism, they feel guilty about few results of evangelizing people though they have lived for
a long time as Christians. Regarding this issue, some regard evangelism as a spiritual gift of the
Holy Spirit. They seem to feel no accountability for evangelism by
thinking that it is the exclusive work of those who have the spiritual gift of evangelism.
Some think that their church does not grow because their pastor's sermons are not
interesting to unbelievers. According to McGavran, there are few members in most
congregations who make an effort of reaching the lost with passion and incorporating
them into Christ‟s body. Those congregations usually think that their church does not grow
zecause their pastor cannot preach appealing, exciting, humorous, and excellent sermons for
unbelievers. However, attributing church growth to only the pastor‟s sermons is not right. Good
preaching may be a positive factor which is able to maintain growth of a church, but it is not a
method which makes a stagnant church grow. Though the word, “some evangelists”, is
mentioned in Eph. 4:11, it should be understood by full-time evangelists, not those who have an
exclusive right of evangelism. This verse does not exclude all Christian from having the
accountability for the Great Commission.48 There is no relationship existing between church
growth and quality of preaching. Though sermons are important in reaching unbelievers, it is not
the key to church growth.Evangelism should not be the sole possession of specified people like

47
Ajith Fernando, Acts: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,
1998), 124.
48
Paul Benjamin, The Equipping Ministry (Cincinnati, OH: Standard Publishing, 1978), 26.
22
pastors or evangelists but be the work of every church member.49 In Ephesians 4:11-16, in order
to build up the body of Christ, Jesus Christ trains lay people. They are trained to become workers
themselves. Therefore, effective evangelism would be possible when all members of the church,
the body of Christ, are involved in the process of evangelism in various positions. The
fundamental reason that evangelism should be regarded as a process, not as a one-time program
or a one-time event without follow-up like discipleship training, is that the conversion of people
is achieved by a series of steps. Effective evangelism recognizes that people are at different
levels of spiritual awareness and attitude. One person may be completely unaware of spiritual
things from a biblical perspective, but that individual also has a desire or a willingness to learn.
Another person may have some knowledge of God, the Bible, and the gospel, but that individual
is close minded about making a decision to repent and receive Jesus Christ as personal Lord and
Savior. Effective evangelism takes all of this into account and recognizes that people are at
different stages.50 Towns classifies the whole process of evangelism into three parts: pre-
evangelism,conversion, and post-evangelism, like the human life cycle. If evangelism and
follow-up, however, are conceptually separated in the evangelistic process, the whole process of
evangelism will fail.35 Because the whole process of evangelism includes the step in which a
person become a responsible member of a church and a disciple of Jesus, follow-up after
conversion should be considered as a part of evangelism, not a step to be taken after evangelism
is finished. Towns says that like human life cycle consists of events such as conception and Birth
and processes such as gestation and maturing, evangelism life cycle also involves events such as
initial contact and conversion and processes such as pre-evangelism and spiritual growth.
According to Towns, pre-evangelism has 7 steps up to conversion: Step 1. I know there is a God;
Step 2. I know I am responsible to God; Step 3. I realize I am a sinner; Step 4. I realize my sin
has alienated me from God; Step 5. I recognize I am reconciled to God through Christ; Step 6. I
am willing to be saved; Step 7. I repent of my sin, and accept Christ.51

2.2 PRAYER AND EVANGELISM

The spiritual exercise of Prayer is fundamental for any significant evangelistic work to bear fruit.

C. Kirk Hadaway, Church Growth Principles (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1991), 81.
49

50
Elmer L. Towns & Ed Stetzer, Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging
Chruch (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2004), 142.
51
Elmer L. Towns, Winning the Winnable (Lynchburg, VA: Church Growth Institute, 1987), 16.
23
In Matt. 9:38, Jesus says, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his
harvest field.” Jesus commands his disciples to pray for workers who will reach the lost. Praying
for workers is as important as praying for souls or for God to give the money to meet the budget
for evangelism. When praying for workers to reach the lost, God will send them to the local
church. According to Lawson and Yamamori, every great period of church growth and revival in
Christian history was anteceded by passionate prayer because God blesses the people praying for
winning souls and works through the prayer.52 Salvation of souls is the work of God. Christians
are just helpers of God who accomplishes evangelism. Therefore, Christians must ask God to
work for evangelism as much as possible through prayer. If people do not pray for
evangelism,God will not work for evangelism. The more God works for evangelism, the better
everything relative to it will eventually be.53 It is important to pray for evangelism because
evangelism is spiritual work.Evangelism is a fierce battlefield in spiritual warfare. Prayer is the
strongest spiritual weapon to win souls from Satan‟s power. Satan will not allow Christians to
plunder his kingdom. He continually tries to prevent Christians from evangelizing multiplying,
and equipping. Without powerful prayer, it is impossible to evangelize successfully. Therefore,
the most important task of Satan is to make Christians not to pray for evangelism. The only
weapon with which Christians can hold Satan off and push him
back is prayer. This is why Christians must pray unceasingly. Intercession is effective prayer for
evangelism. There is power of converting the heart of the lost in resilient, triumphant
intercession. Intercession enables their heart to be opened toward Jesus Christ and the Gospel.
Bonnke says, “evangelism without intercession is an explosive without a detonator. Intercession
without evangelism is a detonator without an explosive.”54
Boldness is essential to preach the Gospel. It can be attained through only prayer. A valuable part
of an effective outreach strategy is to pray for boldness and for presence of the Holy Spirit within
the community and in the lives of the lost. 55Only those who obtain the boldness through prayer
can overcome the attack and challenge of Satan and evangelize the lost effectively. In order to

52
Dave Earley, Prayer: The Timeless Secret of High-Impact Leaders (Chattanooga, TN: Living
Ink Books, 2008), 7.
53
E. LeRoy Lawson & Tetsunao Yamamori, Church Growth: Everybody’s Business (Cincinnati,
OH: Standard Publishing, 1976), 93.
54
Reinhard Bonnke, Evangelism by Fire: Igniting Your Passion for the Lost (Frankfurt,
Germany: Full Flame GmbH, 2002), 278.
55
Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson, Comeback Churches, 70.
24
cause the church to grow, people must make efforts to pray fervently. For quantitative,
qualitative, and organic growth of a church, church members must pray much more intentionally
than they have in the past.56 Growing congregations put a greater emphasis on not only
evangelism and outreach but also prayer for evangelizing, and also make an effort to make the
spiritual growth of their members a major priority.The reason why prayer is helpful to grow the
church is to equip people for evangelism. Prayer enables people to realize that God wants them
to evangelize the lost earnestly, to find those who are outside the fold. Through prayer people
come to realize God‟s great will of evangelism and are actively involved in the work of reaching
the lost.57

3.0 THE SKILL FOR DRAWING THE LOST INTO THE LOCAL CHURCH

The Bible clearly shows in proverbs... that skill is a necessity for success.
The most important and urgent method in drawing people into the local church is
to select and identify target to reach. The most effective way to draw unbelievers into the
church is to reach the most receptive people. The most receptive people to the gospel are
as follows: friends, relatives, associates and neighbors. The reason why these people
are receptive to the gospel is that they have close relationship with a believer. The more
people are intimate with a believer and trust in him or her, the more they accept his or her
message. Receptivity to the Gospel and responsiveness to the church determine the time
to win a person‟s soul.58 However, the receptive people who are close to believers need a certain
motivation to go to the church. The church should provide church members something special
for their friends to come and see in order for church members to be more likely to go and tell.59
Outreach events are an effective way to draw people. Jenson and Stevens point out, “events
include men‟s breakfasts, women‟s luncheons, or dinners with a speaker and music. The purpose
of these events is outreach. These events give Christians the opportunity to bring a neighbor,
friend, or fellow worker to an interesting program in which the gospel will be presented in a low-
key, yet clear, way. Intentionally growing churches utilize outreach events or doors of entry to
56
Ron Jenson and Jim Stevens, Dynamics of Church Growth (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book
House, 1981), 26.
57
Bill M. Sullivan, Ten Steps to Breaking the 200 Barrier (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City,
1988), 25.
58
Elmer Towns, Winning the Winnable (Lynchburg, VA: Church Growth Institute, 1987), 29.
59
Ed. Stetzer and Mike Dodson, Comeback Churches, 112.
25
bring unbelievers into the church. Another effective way to witness is need-oriented seminars.
All people have specific needs in their lives such as marriage, career, physical problems, and
parenting. As well as these things there are universal needs like love, acceptance, forgiveness,
apurpose for living. If a church can meet their needs, the unbelievers will come to the church.
The probability of church growth is within the limits of its capacity to meet needs of people.
Need-oriented seminars may be satisfactory means that fulfill the needs wonderfully. The
important factor in the seminars is to discover the common needs that Christians and non-
Christians can share because non-Christians usually think that Christians differs from
themselves.60 If unbelievers realize that there are specific needs which they and Christians have
in common, they will have interest in faith and Jesus Christ easily.167 They also suggest topics
which can be used in the seminars as follows: Time management; parenting; Family leadership;
maximum marriage; career development; women‟s physical problems; financial planning; or
dating amongst others.61
Sjogren, Ping, and Pollock claim that every human being has four kinds of needs:
physical, emotional/relational, directional, and spiritual needs. They suggest that to meet
these needs Christians should learn four basic skills. The skills are as follows: Active Kindness
for Physical Needs; Active Listening for Emotional/Relational Needs; Active Wondering for
Directional Needs; Active Sharing for Spiritual Needs.62
Reaching out to the lost is not just the work of specified people who are given the
spiritual gift of evangelism. God wants all people in the local church to be involved in
evangelizing others actively. If only a few people participate in evangelism and the
remainder is indifferent to it, it will not succeed. All people in the local church should be
involved in evangelism by playing their roles which help unbelievers to come to the
church. Everyone can participate in evangelism by performing their duty as a praying
person, bringer, and/or teller, and should be trained and equipped in one or more of these
areas. According to “Saturation Evangelism,” all believers can be trained and

60
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House,
1995), 222.

61
Ron Jenson and Jim Stevens, Dynamics of Church Growth, 192.
62
Steve Sjogren, Dave Ping, and Doug Pollock, Irresistibel Evagelism: Natural Ways to Open
Others to Jesus (Loveland, CO: Group, 2004), 69.
26
equipped for reaching out to the lost.63

3.1 Strategic Plan For Effective Evangelism

In this chapter emphasis will be put in mapping out a strategy of evangelism in pentecostal local
assemblies in Kenya on the basis of the following results of a contextual observation analysis,
case studies and literature research ; The following result areas were interrogated and the
information collated with the existing body of knowledge on evangelism.
Results from Field Observation Analysis
1. Environmental difficulty for.evangelism 2. Good leadership of the senior pastor 3. Few guests
who visit the church 4. Small group system for management 5. The ratio of consistent
attendance is low. 6. Low participation in training for evangelism and discipleship.
Results from The Case study
1. The senior pastor needs to have passion for evangelism. 2. The senior pastor needs to make an
effort to reach out privately. 3. The senior pastor needs to preach the gospel in his sermons. 4.
All church ministries should be carried out centering around new members and evangelism. 5.
Relationship in the setting of small groups is effective to attract unbelievers. 6. A one-on-one
care system for new members is effective for them to be assimilated into the church. 7. The
church has to have much interest in the salvation of unbelievers who attend the church. 8.
Training in evangelism and discipleship is very important for church members to be competent
evangelists.

Results from literature Research

1. A passion for soul Winning. 2. The importance of the leadership of the senior pastor. 3.
strategic plan of evangelism .4. Fervent prayer for evangelism. 5. The skill of drawing
the lost into the local church 6. Evangelism through a small group 7. Development of small
group leadership 8. Development of a system for assimilating visitors and new members
9. Attractive climate for the unchurched 10. Reproduction through discipleship

63
Jonathan Falwell ed., “Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership: Win,” in Innovatechurch: Innovative
Leadership for the Next Generation Church, (Nashville, TN: B and H Publishing Group, 2008), 41
27
3.3 The Results From Each Research Method
The strategy for evangelism in Pentecostal local assemblies in kiambu county consists of the
leadership of the senior pastor, bringing the unchurched into the church, assimilating new
members, and reproducing through discipleship as shown in Figure 38. The leadership of the
senior pastor is situated in the center of the whole process, and the three other factors are
conducted according to the leadership of the senior pastor and form a cyclic process.
Because all factors of the strategy are interdependent, when they are working together
well the strategy will be successful.

3.3.1 Leadership of the senior pastor

It very strategic for effective evangelism for the senior pastor to be passionate for souls. Since
there are many things which distract his mind from evangelism in the field of church ministry, it
is more difficult for the senior pastor to have passion and interest in evangelism continuously
than for others.
Therefore, the biggest task given to the senior pastor is overcoming this difficulty and
keeping his mind filled with passion for soul winning at all times. In order to do this, the
senior pastor needs to put the priority of his ministry on evangelism and pray that God
may give him love and passion for souls at all times.The senior pastor needs to emphasize
evangelism through sermons and training conducted in the church in order for church members
not to lose passion and concentration on evangelism. It is necessary to encourage them to have
interest in reaching out to unbelievers by presenting evangelistic videos or movies or inviting
famous evangelists as guest speakers. Also, the senior pastor needs to lead in order for all church
ministries to be focused on evangelism. Because too many programs may distract from
concentration on evangelism of the church, the senior pastor needs to control the number of
church ministries to keep the focus on evangelism and gather all available power of the church
for reaching out. The senior pastor needs to supervise all processes of bringing unbelievers,
assimilating new members, and reproducing through discipleship carefully and directly.
Initially, he should appoint persons in charge of each program. The senior pastor may
nominate three elders among the present five elders, one for each program. The four
people, including the senior pastor, should meet together once a month, and discuss and
cooperate with one another for the whole process of evangelism to go on smoothly. The
28
senior pastor needs to control in order for the whole process not to be biased toward any
part because one of the most important factors in operating a complete process is a
harmonious balance between all steps. On a regular basis the senior pastor should check
the following. The number of: visitors, excluding tourists; people who joined the church; people
who were baptized; people who participated in the training of evangelism;people who attended
each small group;people who participated in the discipleship training; people who joined but did
not attend the church on Sunday and the reason for that.
The senior pastor may evaluate the strategy of evangelism through looking at the results
of the above measurement and take measures to address each situation with the three
elders at the meeting. For inspiring evangelism in the hearts of people, the ceremony of baptism
is a very good opportunity. The senior pastor should make the ceremony not merely a
formality with no deep gratitude but a celebration with grace and thanksgiving. For that,
the senior pastor can do several things. First, the senior pastor asks candidates for baptism
to write out their testimony of salvation and then to present it to church members in the
ceremony of baptism. When church members listen to the testimony, they come to realize the
importance and necessity of winning souls and have as much enthusiasm to evangelize
unbelievers as do the candidates for baptism themselves. The senior pastor may ask church
members to give flowers or gifts to the people who are supposed to be baptized in order for the
ceremony to be a wonderful and unforgettable celebration to all people who participate in
the ceremony.

3.3.2 Bringing the unchurched into the church

The researcher suggests that the “Friends Sunday Evangelism System” be applied to pentecostal
local assemblies in kiambu county. The current strategy of out door crusade meetings used by
the pentecostal local assemblies to bring the unchurched into the church has tended to be more
expensive as they are capital intensive. The friends sunday evangelism is the strategy which
The Sound of the Sound of the Trumpet Church employs for evangelism. Few churches can
partake in the Capital intensive crusades because of the capital and organizational requirements
attached. Many smaller churches may not have the structure and staff for this demanding
approach of evangelism.

29
Also, the Capital intensive out door mass crusades do not have a keen follow-up system which
helps new members to be assimilated into the church. As a result,this approach has dwindled
over the last few years as a productive means in evangelizing unbelievers. Added to this is the
western view of mass crusades as capital intensive affairs. This attitude has sank into the local
churches rendering crusades as very expensive to initiate. Unlike in the past constitution , today
it is impossible to hold such rallies without a licence from the county government and from the
environmental watchdog NEEMA.
There are two main strengths in Friends sunday evangelism. One is that most church members
can be involved in evangelism because it is systematized, so that most people, not a few
people, come to participate in the special friends sunday evangelism service.. The other is that
friends sunday evangelism has a follow-up system which lasts eight weeks to help the settlement
of new members. Within thses weeks the new members are grounded in the word of God and
also helped to identify with the vision of the church. The core spirit in this program is to recover
God‟s heart for the lost and to evangelize them.
Changing the current lead pastor directed evangelism into a team approach in the pentecostal
churches in kiambu county is necessary because many people do not have target people to reach
out to. If the senior pastor emphasizes evangelism continuously, those who do not have target
people will come to be discouraged. To solve the problem, it is necessary to make a team for
evangelism with people who do not have target people and people who do have target people. In
the team the people who do not have target people can play a role in praying for evangelizing
without feeling a sense of alienation from evangelism. The team consisted of three or four people
for evangelism should be organized in small groups. Small group leaders give the team time to
meet together at the end of the small group meeting for about 10 minutes. During this time, team
members pray for evangelism and plan to serve target people and bring them into the church.
Another important task to accomplish the strategy of bringing unbelievers into the church is to
change the management-centered small group system into an evangelismcentered one. It will
take a long time to change, however, because church members have been familiar with the
traditional management-centered small group system for as long as thirty years. To accomplish
the change, first of all, the senior pastor should thoroughly share the necessity, vision, goal, and
method of the change with the current five elders.
At the same time, the senior pastor should have them experience an evangelism-centered
30
small group through a prototype small group until they realize the necessity of the change
and the strengths of evangelism-centered small groups.
When all elders agree to the change, the senior pastor should lead another prototype small
group for one year, which consists of the current six small group leaders and their
spouses. After doing that, during the third year, the six small group leaders will carry out
the change in their groups.
It is observed that the ratio of consistent attendance of new members at the Sound of the Trumpet
Church is low. This fact shows that there is room for improvement in the ministry of
assimilation. New members who have just started to attend the church absolutely need
much care and interest from existing church members and from the senior pastor.
For new members to be assimilated, the church will use a fivefold strategy
The fivefold strategy consists of the care system, the class for new members,
the strategy of involving new members in church ministry, the helper system, and the
small group system.
The new members are then involved in a structured learning process. In this case it is called the
New Believers Class or the Foundation Class. The last factor of the fivefold strategy is involving
new members in church ministry. As mentioned earlier, all church ministries should be carried
out centering around new members and evangelism. The senior pastor should give an
application form for church ministry to new members at the last class for new members.
Applications for small group leadership can be given through small group leaders, and for
one-on-one discipleship training through a trainer. The senior pastor should prevent church
members from occupying for a long time places of church ministry in which new members can
easily be involved. In this way he reallocates church ministry for new members. If necessary, the
senior pastor should create new ministries immediately and strategically in which new members
can participate, in order for them not to be neglected by the church without jobs.
Reproducing through discipleship training There are two purposes in conducting discipleship
training. One is the salvation of unbelievers who participate in discipleship training. The other is
to make them into disciples who can evangelize and make others disciples. For accomplishing
these purposes, the church will conduct five training courses as follows (Figure 44);
discipleship training, a one-on-one nurturing program, a course for receiving Jesus,
training for evangelism, and leadership training. Unbelievers can participate in all of
31
these, except leadership training because salvation may happen at any time during the
four types of training.
Discipleship training
The church should lead new members who have just completed the class for new
members to discipleship training for them to learn to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.
This training lasts 16 weeks, and will be held twice a year. The senior pastor may appoint
to this discipleship training a trainer who finished this course and leadership training. The
senior pastor may designate three people who completed discipleship training and
leadership training as staff
Leadership training
Only those who have completed discipleship training are eligible for taking
leadership training. To make a disciple a great leader, the church must present disciples
with great leadership training, because a leader is made, not born. The purpose of
leadership training is to make competent leaders who can train other potential leaders.
Leadership training lasts 10 weeks, is carried out twice a year, and is led by the senior
pastor. The reason that the senior pastor teaches directly is because all leaders of the
church must hold the pastoral philosophy and the vision of the senior pastor in common.
Those who completed the training are entitled to be a leader of disciple training and of a
small group. The senior pastor chooses three people among those who have completed
leadership training, and makes them staff to serve the training course. The tasks of staff
members are as follows:

4.0 LIFTING THE STANDARD FOR EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM

Effective evangelization in the Holy Spirit is an indispenable necessity to accomplish the Great
Commission given by Jesus Christ. However the reality of the observed phenomena related to
evangelism shows that the ministry of evangelism in the pentecostal churches in Kenya has
32
room for improvement. On the other hand, according to the result of the survey, most church
members feel the necessity of evangelism, have passion for it, and have a will to participate in
training for evangelism and discipleship. Therefore, it is evident that these local assemblies have
the possibility of achieving evangelism in the future successfully.
The reason for the stagnated evangelism in the Pentecostal churches in Kenya lies not in only
one area, but in all areas of church ministry. In other words, because an adequate system for the
whole process of evangelism was not prepared in the church, the church members were not
equipped with passion and the capability for evangelism. They were not trained as competent
disciples of Christ, and ultimately scattered, not producing other disciples through evangelism.
When church members are not trained in discipleship, they may remain as immature people for a
long time. As a result, the church will lose spiritual power and will not function well as a witness
for Jesus Christ. As stated in chapter one, evangelism is not a one-time event, but a process.
Specifically, evangelism is a well-arranged and tuned process, which brings unbelievers into the
church, assimilates them into the church, trains them as faithful disciples of Christ, and then lets
them regenerate, thereby finishing the task of evangelism by bringing unbelievers into the
church. Therefore, the whole process of evangelism should be set up intentionally and carefully.
Also, because the process is related to the whole ministry of the church, mapping out a strategy
in evangelism should be carried out by the cooperation of the senior pastor and the leadership of
the church.

4.1 Operationalizing Evangelism In The Pentecostal Churches Of Kiambu County

there are numerous strategies in mapping out the complete process of evangelism. However, the
findings here will be focused on setting up applicable and possible strategies in accordance with
the current reality and condition of our area of study. In consequence, this study conceived the
following process of evangelism for the Local Pentecostal Assemblies in Kiambu county.

4.2 The whole process of evangelism in the Pentecostal Local churches;

Leadership of the senior pastor

The leadership of the senior pastor is the most important factor in mapping out the whole process
of evangelism. Because the senior pastor is the highest leader of a church who takes the
responsibility for the vision and ministry of the church, it cannot be imagined to set up the whole
33
process of evangelism without the leadership and articipation of the senior pastor. Generally
speaking, church members are apt to be satisfied with the current situation even when their
church is declining, not reaching out to unbelievers at all. The senior pastor is required to
challenge and encourage the church members to evangelize the unchurched. Church members
come to be active and passionate for evangelism only when they realize the fact that their senior
pastor is bringing the unchurched into the church.
Discipling Assimilating Leadership of the senior pastor’s priority and utmost interest is
evangelism. Though church members have passion for evangelism and love of souls, if the senior
pastor does not lead them to evangelize unbelievers properly and provide the assimilating system
and training for discipling the unbelievers, church members will lose motivation and passion for
evangelism more and more. The senior pastor, as a leader who always bears the whole process of
evangelism in mind, has to use his leadership to control and facilitate the flow of evangelism,
from bringing unbelievers into the church and assimilating them to the church, to discipling
them; church members may not see the whole process of evangelism, being buried in a
local part of it. When church members are attached to their ministries without considering
the whole process and ultimate goal for evangelism, a problem occurs in the transfer from
one step to the next one, and consequently the church will not gain high productivity in
evangelism. Therefore, the senior pastor should let church members open their eyes to
see the whole process in order for it to progress with no block or stagnation.

Bringing the unchurched into the church

The strategy of bringing the unchurched into the church can be approached in various ways.
Most of all, the understanding of the target people to whom the church will reach out should
precede the mapping out of the strategy. Church members have to know what characteristics the
target people have and what needs they have. Also, the church should be ready to meet the needs
successfully. Especially, because in a social seetting people come to a church with various
needs, not just spiritual needs or interest in Christianity, a church should pay attention to needs
such as education for children or a desire for ulture. The church has to train church members to
be strong witnesses of the gospel through training for evangelism. If people are not thoroughly
trained for evangelism, they cannot witness the gospel to unbelievers with confidence and
spiritual power. If a Christian does not have confidence and correct knowledge of the gospel,
34
unbelievers will not have interest in it. In addition, if a Christian is not trained in prayer and the
Word of God, he will be easily discouraged by the refusal of unbelievers. There are two groups
of people who bring unbelievers into the church. One brings people into the church by telling
them the gospel. The other group does so without telling them the gospel. The latter is a method
Jesus used to recruit disciples. Jesus just said to prospective disciples, “follow me” or “come and
see” without telling the truth and the Gospel. For bringing unbelievers without telling the
Gospel, it would be better for a church to have an evangelistic event which attracts unbelievers
successfully. According to the result of the survey used in the chapter two, unbelievers come
to church by themselves without any relationship with church members. For them to come to a
church, a church should provide an opportunity for them to know information of the church
through Internet websites, magazines, conferences, etc.
The Pentecostal Local assemblies in kiambu county should make an effort to improve the image
of the church through serving the regional society and keeping the church healthy. If pentecostal
local assemblies do not escape from the negative image of the church, unbelievers will not have
any interest in the church. 235 See. Matt. 4:19, John 1:39.
In chapter three, it was observed that evangelism through relationships in small groups is
very effective. The pentecostal local assemblies in kiambu county need to change the features of
small groups from managementcentered to evangelism-centered.

Assimilating new members into the church

when guests visit a church for the first time, the strategy of early care for them is very important
because they mostly decide whether or not to continue attending the church in the early stage of
attendance. the strategy of early care for visitors should be executed immediately after they come
to a church. when early care is carried out through not only the senior pastor but also the laymen,
it is more effective because visitors have different needs which can be met by the senior pastor
and laymen. visitors are more likely to be successfully assimilated when they are cared for by
individuals and small groups. they want to have personal relationships, both one on one and at
the same time have a more social relationship through a small group. new members feel the
church is strange to them. the thing that is needed for them is continuous and thoughtful
consideration, love, and interest in them, not any knowledge or information about the church.
usually, most church ministry is conducted with little consideration for new members, so that
35
they feel a sense of alienation and that they are not welcomed by the existing church members.
for assimilating new members nto a church, the priority of all church ministries should be given
to new members,including announcements in the worship service and the environment of the
church. New members who join a church consist of two categories; unbelievers and believers. a
program for informing the ministry and vision of a church is necessary for bothtypes to be well
assimilated. especially, in the case of unbelievers, a program of teaching the gospel should be
presented to them so that they can be challenged by the truth and the work of god and be saved.
Pentecostal local assemblies in kiambu county must not leave new members alone by giving no
opportunities to be involved in any church ministries. although new members may not have
attended a church for a long time, the church should entrust even small activities to them so that
they feel a kind of responsibility for the church and find identity. if necessary, the church should
reallocate church ministries and create new activities for them in order for them to be involved in
the ministry.
Discipling new members Immediately on being assimilated successfully, new members should
be led to the next step, discipleship training by the church. If the church lets new members alone
absent-mindedly after they settle down, it will be more difficult to involve them in discipleship
training. Because those who have recently assimilated into the church have passion for God, and
a stronger will to participate in discipleship training than at any other time, the church should not
miss this chance to let new members participate in discipleship training. The ultimate goal is to
make an unbeliever a disciple of Christ and then to make another unbeliever another disciple
through the former disciple. A disciple is not born,but made through training. However, for the
training to be accomplished after unbelievers are saved, the church should present a program for
unbelievers to learn the gospel and be saved. Of course, even if unbelievers are not saved
through the program, the church.
should continuously persuade them to be involved in following discipleship training because the
time of salvation is not limited to only one program and can occur anytime during other training.
Discipleship training should be conducted not for the goal of obtaining knowledge of the Bible,
but for the goal of winning souls and making disciples. Those who have much knowledge of the
Bible but who neglect evangelism are not eligible to be disciples of Christ. Christians who only
gain knowledge of the Bible through discipleship training and do not make an effort to reach out
to unbelievers will come to be arrogant and be obstacles to church ministry. Therefore, the
36
curriculum of discipleship training must include not only knowledge of the Bible but also
practice in evangelizing, and the leader of the training must emphasize this to trainees until the
training is finished. Those who are recently saved have a higher probability of evangelizing
unbelievers than people who have lived the Christian life for a long time. There are two reasons.
One is because people who are just saved have many non-Christian friends. The other is that they
are filled with a strong sense of gratitude, joy, and passion for salvation. Therefore, leaders of
disciple training should know this, and then encourage and challenge to reach out to unbelievers
close to them. The life of mature Christians greatly influences unbelievers outside a church to
open their mind toward Christianity and churches. Trainers should continually encourage
and help trainees to gain maturity in every area of the Christian life. Trainees should passionately
pray that God sends out workers to evangelize unbelievers. In Luke 10:2, Jesus said, “The
harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into his harvest field.” This verse means that evangelism is under the absolute authority
of God, and prayer for workers to reach out is very important in discipleship training.

CONCLUSION

It is suggested that a strategy of evangelism for pentecostal local assemblies in kiambu county
be worked out on the basis of the results from the field analysis, the case study, and the literature
research. The strategy consists of the four following factors: leadership of the senior pastor,
bringing the unchurched into the church, assimilating new members, and reproducing through
discipleship. Each factor is necessary for unbelievers to be saved and then to be a faithful
disciple of Jesus Christ, and each should be developed carefully and intentionally.
Because the four factors are correlated closely and can affect one another, it is very
important for each one to cooperate with one another for the purpose of evangelism and
to make a steady advance in the strategy without being blocked or stagnant. Churches need to
grow in quality and quantity. Unfortunately, however, many churches are stagnant or decreasing
in spite of their efforts to evangelize unbelievers. Further still some churches only grow in

37
quantity as the quality dimnishingly wanting. One of the reasons they are not growing is that
they consider salvation of souls as only an event, not as a process. Of course, though salvation of
human being happens in a moment like an event, the fact cannot be denied that there are many
steps for salvation to occur. Another reason many churches fail to evangelize the lost is that the
churches have just a program for evangelism but do not have a system consisting of necessary
successive processes for evangelism. However, because most unbelievers are not saved as soon
as they come to the church and have their own receptivity for the Gospel and Jesus Christ,the
church should present them many opportunities to be saved and to grow.
However, as a result of lack of keen attention to evangelism, the ministry of the churches for
evangelism has gradually come to be weakened. As the numbers of unbelievers who attend
churches for a long time without being properly nurtured and being a disciple of Jesus Christ has
increased more and more, the spiritual power of the churches has decreased. pentecostal
churches in kiambu county has also struggled with this problem over the years. The ministry of
evangelism in the Pentecostal churches in kiambu county has low productivity because there is
not a sufficient strategy of evangelism which can help unbelievers to be saved and to be disciples
committed to Jesus Christ.
To map out an effective strategy of evangelism for overcoming the problem that Pentecostal
churches have now, the the study examined the ministry of evangelism of the pentecostal
Churches in Kiambu which accomplish evangelism successfully with an effective strategy and
passion for evangelism. Throughout the case study, a point of similarity is found in the
target churches. The point of similarity is a successive process for evangelism.
Specifically, all these churches have a successive process by which unbelievers can be
brought to the church, assimilated, saved, and become a disciple who is able to reproduce
another disciple of Jesus. In addition, the researcher gathered valuable knowledge and
content for mapping out a strategy of evangelism through literature research.
The author developed a strategy of evangelism to apply to pentecostal local assemblies in
kiambu county on the basis of the reality of the ministry of evangelism in the Pentecostal
churches , the results from the case study, and lessons from literature research. The strategy
consists of leadership of the senior pastor,bringing unbelievers into the church, assimilating new
members, and reproducing through discipleship. Because the strategy is a process in which the

38
four factors are interdependent, only when the four factors are working well equally will the
strategy be productive. Therefore, the senior pastor and all church members should recognize the
whole process and principles of the strategy, and the unique status and function of the
four factors. When the senior pastor, not any leader of the church, operates the strategy directly,
the strategy can be most successful. Because the strategy rises and falls on the leadership
of the senior pastor, it is necessary for the senior pastor to be equipped with passion and
adequate training for evangelism. The senior pastor should help church members and all
church ministries to focus on evangelism continually without concentrating on activities
remote from evangelism, and keep church members‟ minds, as well as his own filled with
passion for winning souls. Also, because the strategy of evangelism by nature may easily
become imbalanced, the senior pastor should take responsibility for controlling and
supervising whether or not the whole process goes on well. By delegating authority and
responsibility for each factor of the strategy to core leaders of the church, the senior
pastor is the driving force for all church members to be involved in the strategy.
For bringing unbelievers into the church, the researcher suggests the Family Day
Evangelism System, which consists of inviting friends and relatives to church for Sunday
worship service on a selected familysunday.
The point of Family sunday evangelism is training 20% of all church members for evangelism
thoroughly and then letting them lead the remainder of the church. The senior pastor should
change the method of evangelism from individual-centered to team-centered by leading the
creation of a team for evangelism within small groups. Furthermore, the focus on the small group
system should be changed from management of small group members to evangelism.
As to the assimilation of new members, the author suggests a fivefold strategy.
The fivefold strategy is as follows: the early care system, the class for new members, the
strategy of involving new members to church ministry, the helper system, and the small
group system. The essence of the strategy of assimilation is love and interest for new
members. Although perfect programs for helping new members to be assimilated to the
church are presented, if there is no genuine love of the existing members, visitors will not
be successfully assimilated to the church. New members need information on the church
and loving care from the senior pastor and laymen individually. They also need love
given from a small group, and a church ministry in which they can be involved.
39
For achieving the ultimate purpose of winning souls and making disciples able to
reproduce the disciples, the author suggests the following five training courses:
discipleship training, one-on-one nurturing program, a course for receiving Jesus, training
for evangelism, and leadership training courses. Trainers and trainees of all trainings
must not forget the fact that the common purpose of all courses is not just to obtain
spiritual knowledge but to win souls and make disciples for evangelism.
If the four factors of the strategy of evangelism stated in this project work well,
functioning at their own status and cooperating with one another harmoniously, the
strategy of evangelism will be accomplished, so that Pentecostal churches in Kiambu may win
many souls and successfully produce committed disciples of Jesus Christ.

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