The following
meditation was written by the Rev. Nedson Zulu, evangelism and
projects coordinator for the Tete Province.
Church growth has to start from somewhere so it can be taken
to other people in another place. We started with four preaching
points in 1994. We trained a small group of leaders who went
back to their community to train three to five people. Then
these people trained people and formed groups of five to twelve
people who went home and reached out from there.
When each one who is trained fulfills the promise to reach
out to at least two people in seven days, that means the next
meeting will be attended by no fewer than 15–27 people!
This multiplication plan has worked well in village areas because
people in villages can spare more time for a week’s training.
In town, a week’s training needs to fit into weekends
and Sundays after service.
This outreach training has helped people understand who God
is, what God can do, and how God can act in their lives and
families. It also teaches people that they can make God known
to other people by the way they live.
We cannot manage to talk to all the people at one time, but
we meet with a small group for three to five days and send them
back to educate the whole community on a specific issue such
as health, outreach, life and living, and family matters.
Executing an outreach strategy is not easy, but as time goes
by people learn more about the goals of the program. They are
able to make suggestions and adapt the program to meet the needs
of their community. This program has helped the church in Tete
Province grow both spiritually and physically because the program
and process belong to them. |
