The Impact of Miracles on Church Growth at Redeemed Gospel Church, Quarry, Nairobi (1998-2007)

Abstract

Whereas the happening of miracles, whether divine or demonic, may seem indisputable in some communities today, their impact is one thing that has not been systematically considered and chronicled. It was this realization, after years of ministry and study in the area of miracles and healing, that caused the researcher to embark on such a study whose purpose was to investigate the impact of miracles on church growth. The focus of this study was on the Redeemed Gospel Church (RGC), Quarry, which is in the Embakasi area of Nairobi. This is a congregation that had began in the early nineties but split in 1997 leaving a congregation of 40 people from an attendance of200. What has caused the congregation to surge from 40 to about 800? What place has miracles had on this phenomenal numerical growth with the coming of their new Pastor in 1998 to 2007? Research procedures were three faceted as a way of seeking to unearth data to answer the problem statement: 1. Literature Review (Chapter 2): This was widely done by the researcher as a beginning to find out what: a) The Bible had to say on the topic b) Researchers and authors have said or written on the same. 2. Qualitative Research: This was done in two spheres by the researcher: participant observer and ethnographic interviews of the Pastor and 25 members of the church. 3. Quantitative Research: closed ended self-administered questionnaires were used for the general congregation. 115 members filled the questionnaires (one of which was at the end discarded due to serious inconsistency), 112 believers, and 2 unbelievers. The research findings (Chapter 4) based on all the procedures revealed that miracles have a positive and significant impact on church growth, especially numerically in RGC Quarry. It also revealed that preaching, which is laced with miracles, is a main attraction of the people to the church. Conclusions drawn from this and the missiological implications are given in Chapter 5.