“Every Mar Thomite is a voluntary evangelist” (a vision of His grace the Late Abraham Mar Thoma metropolitan)

The formation of Voluntary Evangelists Association (Lay Ministry) in Mar Thoma Church, started with a group of enthusiastic people, yearning to present the gospel to others, meeting for prayer and fellowship. The Holy Spirit led them to be the first Voluntary Evangelists in the Church. Their movement was fully supported by the late Rt. Rev. Dr. Abraham Mar Thoma. The Association was formally recognised in 1925, as the Evangelical wing of Mar Thoma Church. The Edavaka Mission in our Parish is a unit of the Mar Thoma Voluntary Evangelistic Association.

The Bible demands us to pass on the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ, to those who do not know Christ. The Church recognised that its mission of evangelisation can not be effectively achieved by a few full-time evangelists. Therefore “every member of the Church must be a missionary filled with such joy and assurance of salvation as to be Christ’s witness to those who come in contact with him/her irrespective of one’s work or profession, in secular life.” With this motto, the Voluntary Evangelistic Association functions in every parish through its members.

The members of the Association meet together in each parish for intercessory prayer, fellowship, Bible study and sharing of experiences. They share the gospel message with their co-workers and outside world. The members provide active spiritual support in their parish through prayer meetings, house visits, Sunday Schools and Youth fellowship. They visit the sick and the needy and provide spiritual fellowship and material help. The Association emphasises the ministry of the laity in the Church.

We as Brisbane Mar Thoma Church Edavaka Mission, our first Edavaka Mission meeting held on 23 October 2010 at 7:30 pm at St.Philip’s Anglican Church. Edavaka Mission stresses the seven-fold activities of intercessory prayer, bible study, sharing of experience, house visit, serving the sick, prayer group avtivities, andevangelism among Christians and non-Christians.

The first meeting of Edavaka Mission witnessed the kick-start of “Vazhikatti” which is aimed at offering a helping hand to new Parish members in their initial days in Australia.