Personal Ministries.

Personal Ministries is about people caring about the needs of others. The department helps provide training and support services for pastors and members of the local church in their Christ-ordained work of helping their neighbors, friends, coworkers, and family members know of Jesus’ love. Its goal is to see every member of our churches involved in and excited about sharing the good news of Jesus and His soon coming. It attempts to accomplish this goal through the following training seminars, events, and programs:

A. Personal Evangelism Preparation (PEP) Training: PEP focuses on four main areas of ministry:

    (1) Personal Bible Study Ministry,

    (2) Small Group Ministry,

    (3) Health Outreach Ministry, and

    (4) Lay Evangelist Ministry.

It provides the curriculum and materials for each of these areas so that a pastor or personal ministries leader in the local church can organize and provide training opportunities in the church. PEP is an integral part of Southwest Region’s plan to empower every church to be a training center for Christian workers. This program is called Harvest Strategy.

B. Festival of Faith: Despite all our conscientious efforts and prayer, many people we work for and study the Bible with in our communities do not make decisions for Christ and join the Adventist Church. The Festival of Faith assists our members with this need. It is a mini-evangelistic decision-making weekend that builds on the truths that non-members have been studying. Many decisions for baptism are made during this retreat.

C. Festival of Discipleship: Christ wants and needs active disciples who are growing in their personal relationship with Him and faithfully witnessing about their new experience. The Festival of Discipleship encourages this development in new members. Through small groups and actual out-in-the-real-world opportunities, those who attend are introduced to Christian discipleship.

D. Other Ministries of the Personal Ministries Department:

1. Ingathering: Annual Appeal—This is our annual campaign to visit homes in our communities, share with them a report of our local and worldwide humanitarian work, and give them an opportunity to financially support this work.
2. Prison Ministry—The department supports the work of ministering to those in prison.
3. Disaster Response—Southwest Region is in the process of creating an extensive disaster response ministry with four separate teams: (a) mobile kitchen team, (b) chainsaw debris removal team, (c) radio communication team, and (d) donated goods distribution team. If you would like to join a team, please call the conference office.
4. Health Screening Van Ministry—Southwest Region is looking to the near future to operate a mobile health-screening ministry in several of its cities with the participation of its churches.