Strategi Pemuridan Diakonia: Efektivitas dan Hasil di GBI New Life Church Surabaya

Abstract

Poverty has always been the main focus of diaconal ministry. During the pandemic, more congregants faced economic problems, causing many to become disillusioned and leave the church. While other churches saw the pandemic as an obstacle, GBI New Life Church viewed it as an opportunity to be a light to the community. However, the church realized that physical aid alone was insufficient to alleviate poverty. The main barriers lay in poor character and ethics, weak mentality, and wrong mindsets. Therefore, the church designed an effective and relevant discipleship program to help congregants improve their character, ethics, mentality, and mindset. The PAR method was used, with researchers actively involved in designing and implementing the discipleship program. The research results showed that the church's discipleship program was effective, increasing the congregation's growth in both quantity and quality. However, economic success remained limited due to the small number of economically independent congregants, most of whom were elderly.