Church work

The main goal for the churches on MBA is to preach the good news to all the people.

There is so much happening in MBAs churches, too much to list here! However, to give you an idea of the work, below is mentioned the main areas of work done in the churches, briefly described.

Training leaders In order to maintain faithfulness to the word of God and equip leaders with the skillset they need to help their congregations live and grow, MBA facilitates a few different ways to train leaders. School for Training Christians for Service (STCS). This program spans over two years and is open for any church member who believe in Jesus. The goal is not to hand out titles but simply to help the spiritual life of the members to grow. MBA arranges small scale training for leaders on district level. MBA sends recommended church members to Fiwale Bible College to become pastors. The scholarship is funded by Interact and means a lot to both pastors and the whole of MBA! MBA also arrange retreats for pastors where they get to share their experiences and receive teaching. Working as a pastor is often very challenging because the churches have many areas of need combined with very low wages. Many churches don’t have a pastor of their own, but is lead by elders instead.
Youths The world today changes rapidly and brings many challenges with it. The main goal for the youth work is to invite them to know Jesus Christ. Sometimes it’s hard to find fellowship in church if you’re not in a choir, because singing is a big part of the culture in church. However, we strive to include everyone, therefore the activities done during youth meetings may also include bible studies, memorizing scripture, drama, practical work and more.
Women The women of MBA gather regularly for a number of reasons in their local churches. Typically it means praying together, sharing the word of God together, singing in a choir, cleaning, evangelizing or cooking for individuals or groups in need. One big annual event is the women’s conference. In 2017 it gathered over a thousand participants in Mpongwe. One of the goals of the conference is to raise funds to support different needs. However, the main goal is to share fellowship with each other as a group.
Sunday school Typically the children gather in large numbers every Sunday to learn about Jesus, memory verses, dance, paint and sing. One of the challenges the teachers face is that they have large numbers of children to handle at once. The problem of child abuse is also present. In order to face these challenges the teachers receive training from MBA in how to handle the children, material to teach from and attitude towards the work. This training is being monitored by the facilitators who also offer followup meetings.
Planting churches MBA is a growing organization. New churches often arise when an MBA member move to a new area for work or other reasons. When there is no nearby church to go to, he or she starts a fellowship group in their house, and when the group has gathered enough people, a church is planted and registered in MBA. The registration is important in order to get support and keep the churches united. The support from MBA can come in different shapes, but commonly it has to do with evangelization, training and building the church building. One great challenge is to provide the many churches with pastors. Often times the churches are located rurally and the pay is very low. But without pastors it is hard to maintain unity and fellowship across all the districts.