the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of mankind; the shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the of the children of God; the promotion of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness and well-being of mankind. Different departments and institutions have been set with specific mandates to pursue programmes to achieve the objectives in order to fulfil the mission of the Synod.

Rev. Vanasiyo C. Mzunga (pictured) is leading the Evangelism department. This is a huge task as Blantyre Synod covers a huge area which is split into 18 presbyteries with over 600 congregations but only about 180 ministers.

The last Evangelism Rally took place on 27-28th August 2011.

Objectives

1. The aim of Evangelism and Mission is to present the claims of the gospel of Christ, thus leading mankind to repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
2. To be Christ’s faithful evangelists by going into the world making disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that God has commanded.
3. To demonstrate by love for one another and by the quality of common life, the new reality of life in Christ through worship, fellowshipping and practicing a deepened life of prayer and service in order the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
4. To Minister to the needs of the poor, sick lovely and powerless.

The following is an update of the activities that are coordinated by the department.

1. Training of Session Clerks and Pledge Treasurer
   
   
   • Session Clerk - how to manage a congregation. Sometimes a church does not have a minister or shares a minister with other churches. In such cases, the administration is in the hands of the session clerk and he must be capable to administering the congregation and to handle all communication within the church.
   • Pledge Treasurer. This position is distinct from a congregation treasurer who administers the money for the congregation and oversees how it is spent. The pledge Treasurer is responsible for collecting the money coming from the congregation to the Synod or to the presbytery. Also, a pledge from an individual member to the church comes under the responsibility of the congregational treasurer.


2. Revival Evangelism Campaign Rallies

   The campaigns are open air and usually take place in one of the two venues in the presbytery. They take place Fridays afternoon, all day Saturdays and all day Sundays. The evening sessions at 7pm and 9pm are usually attended by muslims. The campaigns are advertised using posters, on the radio and on the TV and people may also receive invitations by letters or cards.

   The department coordinates programs of the Synod to go into the Presbyteries (4 or 5 or 6 per year). The Presbytery Evangelism co-ordinators are trained through the Synod Evangelism and Training Department. The main training program for this year took place in January. Not all of the 18 presbyteries hold evangelism rallies or have a disignated coordinator. However, the aim is that within 3 years, all presbyteries will be able to organise their own evangelism campaigns.

   Financial Challenges We are currently looking to purchase some equipment for the rallies: 2 Mega phones, 2 electric rechargeable torches, 1 generator, 1 amplifier, 2 microphones, 2 mike cables, 2 speakers, 1 DVD player, 2 amplifier cables, 2 speaker cables, 1 camera. Transport is also a problem.




3. Trainers of Trainers in many aspects: satanism and witchcraft, marriage, training church elders in preaching, how to conduct evangelism rallies.



4. Dynamic Church Planting

   Last year we run a program of church planting - but not this year. The programs focuses on setting up a prayer house near an established church and train the church to start and manage a prayer house. This is easy where there are CCAP Christians but more difficult where there are no CCAP Christians. The difficulties arise either from competition between denominations or because in some places where the only place of worship is muslim.

   Church planting in difficult places. At first the members tend to be non religious, later muslim converts come. There is not strong opposition from the muslims except that for the following: the church is warned not to convert muslims by the muslim leaders and the muslims are warned by their leaders not to join the Christian church. If the church administration is run well then muslims come of their own accord. Muslim - Christian relations are quite good in Malawi.