The GROW Your Church Evangelistic Model has five phases, namely, (1) Prepare, (2) Plant, (3) Cultivate, (4) Harvest and (5) Preserve. The planting focuses on “Active Literature and Media Ministry” where “The seed of the Word must be planted with truth-filled literature, media, testimonies, and invitations to Bible studies” (https://grow.adventist.org/).
In this month’s article, we feature KHAMFU District, who, under the leadership of Pastor M Lamani, have demonstrated that sharing the seed of God’s Word with others starts with receiving and cultivating the seed of God’s Word in our own lives first.
Local Church Bible School Initiative
KHAMFU District took their newly baptized members in 2021 and enrolled them in the Voice of Prophecy (VOP) Bible School to further and reinforce what they have learned in their baptismal classes. These students of the Word became the first group to initiate what has now become known as a Local Church Bible School (LCBS), a twin-sister of VOP’s outreach-focused Community Bible School (CBS). These members have already gone through 5 of the Bible study series with VOP (Kidz Zone, Discover, Daniel and Revelation, Unsealing Daniel, Unlocking Revelation) and are now busy with the New Millennium Bible study series.
After completing the various courses at VOP, the KHAMFU DIstrict plans to arrange for this class to take a course with the EG White Estate.
This class of Bible students were afforded the opportunity to have a tour of the Voice of Prophecy Academy (VOPA), after which, working alongside VOPA, the KHAMFU District took the students through a basic preaching course, where those who completed the course have received certification and will also still receive a preaching licence. There have already been two graduations in this regard, one of them being at their 2022 Camp Meeting at ATKV in Hartenbos. The hope is to host a third graduation in 2023 by both the Voice of Prophecy Academy and the EG White Estate.
Outreach Programme
Having been equipped, this group of new members, alongside the churched in KHAMFU, are now reaching out and sharing the gospel with the community.
Each church in the district was given 100 copies of Ithemba Elikhulu (The Great Hope) and Voice of Prophecy Bible School enrolment cards. All books have been distributed and the processing of the VOP Bible School enrolment cards is underway.
The motivation is to have each local church in the District register with VOP as a Community Bible School (CBS) whilst doing the Local Church Bible School (LCBS) with its members.
The KHAMFU District is also reaching out to a nearby informal area named Tsepetsepe. After January 2022’s Ten Days of Prayer, the students of the Bible class reproduced their experience with VOP by reaching out to 35 little children in Tsepetsepe, introducing them to Christ and sharing sandwiches with them. The KHAMFU District have strategically planned to serve this community through a number of different impact initiatives, namely:
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VOP Bible Lessons
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A Vacation Bible School (VBS)
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Community Adventurer/Pathfinder Clubs
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Meals on Wheels Community Services (MOWCS)
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Community Gardening
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Clothes and children’s spiritual reading material distribution
This outreach to the community will assist in preparing the way for the reaping campaigns planned for October this year.
Conclusion
KHAMFU District have demonstrated that planting the seed of God’s Word in the lives of others flows out of one’s own experience with God’s Word.
In the words of EG White,
“It is our own character and experience that determine our influence upon others. In order to convince others of the power of Christ's grace, we must know its power in our own hearts and lives. The gospel we present for the saving of souls must be the gospel by which our own souls are saved. Only through a living faith in Christ as a personal Saviour is it possible to make our influence felt in a skeptical world. If we would draw sinners out of the swift-running current, our own feet must be firmly set upon the Rock, Christ Jesus.” (The Ministry of Healing, p469).
