The role of Pentecostal Assemblies of God Church in the development of Education in Nyamira County- Kenya from 1938-2015

Abstract

The Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) Church has been in Nyamira County for almost a century today, just like the other major denominations found in the County. However, when compared with the other denominations in the county, more especially Seventh Day Adventists and Roman Catholics, PAG has performed poorly in the development of education. In spite of this, there has not been any systematic investigation and documentation of the reasons for this situation. The objectives of the study were: to find out PAG’s level of involvement in socio-economic activities in Nyamira county, to determine factors for PAG’s poor performance in the development of education in Nyamira County and to establish the possible contribution of PAG’s teachings and beliefs to the Church’s poor performance in the development of education in Nyamira county. The theory of liberation/salvation paradigm as understood by Mugambi (1990) informed this study. A mixed methodology was used in collecting and analyzing data, that is, quantitative and qualitative research methods. Populations of 115 respondents were sampled purposively and randomly from among members of PAG Church. The findings demonstrate that PAG has performed poorly in the development of education as well as in socio-economic activities in Nyamira County. It is hoped that the findings of this study would be useful to the leadership of PAG Church as a wakeup call as well as the state and non state actors in the education sector.