The first major item of business conducted at the 58th Session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists on Thursday afternoon June 30 was the acceptance of three new divisions, or world church regions, all of which are in Africa, into the Adven
The first major item of business conducted at the 58th Session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists on Thursday afternoon June 30 was the acceptance of three new divisions, or world church regions, all of which are in Africa, into the Adventist Church.
The East-Central Africa, Southern-Africa Indian Ocean, and the West African church regions have been operating since Jan.1, 2003, when a major reorganization was carried out. However, this move needed to be ratified by a formal business session of the church for the regions to be officially recognized.
The reorganization of world regions and the recognition of new regions was “evidence of the growth of the church,” said Vice President of the Adventist world church, Lowell Cooper, who chaired the business session. Over the last five years, 5 million new members have joined the Adventist Church, many of whom have been in Africa.
The East-Central African region (ECD), comprising the countries of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda, is a brand new creation, reflecting how quickly the church is growing in this part of the world.
“The church we belong to started because the 3,000-member Nairobi Central church, like many of our churches, was full,” said Rosette Kibuuka who works at the church’s office in East Central Africa. “We started meeting in a big blue and white tent about two-and-a-half years ago, and we are still in it today, along with 150 to 200 other members. It is a very happy church, mixed culturally and nationally, but we all get on very well together.”
Germaine Musoni, who works with and attends church with Kibuuka sees positives to their meeting place. “One advantage of the tent is that when it gets hot we just take the sides down! However we have been given a plot of land by the East Africa Union [church region] and we are raising funds to build a church that will seat 400.”
When asked the secret behind the explosive growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in East Africa, Kibuuka and Musoni both pointed to a heavy emphasis on evangelism. “During our recent year of evangelism every officer and director in the [regional] office ran at least one campaign, and they were very successful,” Musoni said. “While they were running the campaigns we had special prayer for them.”
The church is growing in other parts of the world, but there are very few places where it is growing as quickly as in East Africa. When asked what was special about her part of the world, Musoni replied, “In Africa we have time—the people want to listen and understand. The Holy Spirit is really moving here.”