“Take It Personally, My316” will be the theme for the State Evangelism Conference, Jan. 25-26 at Moore, First, 301 N.E. 27th St.
Leaders are praying there will not be a repeat of last year’s conference, which was dismissed after one session because of an ice storm.
This year’s meeting will feature six speakers from across the nation, including Scott Dawson, Birmingham, Ala., evangelist; Charles Lowery, communicator/psychologist from Plano, Texas; Johnny Derouen, associate professor of student ministry at Southwestern Seminary; Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif.; Junior Hill, evangelist from Harselle, Ala., and Afshin Ziafat, evangelist from Dallas, Texas.
Music for the event will be led by Randy Lind, worship leader at Oklahoma City, Southern Hills.
In addition to general sessions at 9:30 a.m., 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Monday and 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, there will be 12 breakout sessions on Tuesday morning at 9 and 10:30 a.m., along with and Ethnic breakout session, also at 9.
Breakout sessions and leaders include “Sharing the Gospel with Asians,” Jason Kim and REDACTED; “Sharing the Gospel with African Americans,” Paul Brewer and Leroy Fountain; “Sharing the Gospel with Hispanics,” Herman Rios and Jess Fairbanks; “Sharing the Gospel with Native Americans,” Emerson Falls and Ledtkey McIntosh; “12 Characteristics of Young Adult Culture,” Cris Lowery; “An Introduction to the ‘RELAY’ Evangelism Strategy,” Lynn Webb; “Evangelistic Youth Ministries,” Johnny Derouen; “Sharing Jesus from a Pastor’s Heart,” Keith Wiginton; “Using Service Projects to Share the Gospel,” Sam Porter; “Using John 3:16 as an Evangelism Tool,” Norman Flowers; “Preview of My316 Strategy,” Chris Forbes, and “Sharing the Gospel with Muslims,” Tony Emamgoraishi.
Randy Adams, BGCO Church Outreach team leader, said Oklahoma is an increasingly diverse state, and the breakout sessions emphasize reaching the state’s ethnic population.
“In Oklahoma, 11 percent of students in public schools are Hispanic,” Adams said. “In Oklahoma City, that total grows to 41 percent, compared with only 22 percent who are Anglo.”
The State Evangelism Conference will launch MY316.com, which is an effort to involve each Oklahoma Southern Baptist church member in gospel work that is both intentional and missional.
“This will be the biggest personal emphasis on helping every Oklahoma Southern Baptist know how to share Jesus,” said Adams.
The gospel presentation is based on personal testimony and John 3:16, a Scripture which is known and received with high favorability by virtually everyone in Oklahoma, said Adams. It focuses on the teaching of John 3:16, and the action of serving people through Christ’s love—praying, sharing and serving, he added.
“A survey of 400 Oklahomans revealed that three of five can quote the verse and many more are familiar with it,” said Adams. “Even those who are unchurched and reveal no relationship with Jesus Christ are favorable toward it. Thus, John 3:16, which is the Gospel in a nutshell, is, at the same time, a bridge to sharing Christ with many lost people because it’s a verse they already know.”
Also, following the Monday night session, there will be a Coffee Chat from 9-10 with selected speakers.
The conference will open on Monday morning at 9 with the annual Vocational Evangelists’ Session.
There is no cost to attend the event, which is made possible through gifts from the Cooperative Program.
