Intended to embolden Mississippi Baptists to go and proclaim the gospel, the 2024 State Evangelism Conference succeeded to start a spark — but not quite as expected. In the middle of the conference, according to the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, “the Holy Spirit began to light His fire from within the church.”
Sponsored by MBCB’s Evangelism Department, the conference was held at Northcrest Baptist Church in Meridian, Jan. 28–29. Sunday night, the William Carey University Choir and Orchestra led a worship service, and the congregation could not help but join in praise. Following the worship, Shane Pruitt, next generation evangelism director of the North American Mission Board, shared a message from Genesis 1–3 themed around the statement “Tell Me the Truth.” His message answered the questions “Where did I come from?” “Why am I here?” “What is wrong with me?” and “What is the solution?”
“Your heart was created to be full of passion for the Lord,” Pruitt said. “Your hands were created to serve the Lord. Your knees were created to bow before the King of kings and the Lord of all lords. Your feet were created to follow the Lord. You exist for the Lord, and you always feel something is missing in your life as long as someone is missing.”
Answered prayer
Wade Phillips, senior pastor of Northcrest, remarked on the evening, “The invitation that night was the culmination of everything that we had prayed and hoped for in our months of planning.”
“When the invitation began,” he noted, “and I began to see people raising their hands, then responding, it was an answered prayer. I think the most surprising thing was the number of students in the choir who responded! That was a huge blessing!”
A total of 13 students came to the altar to repent of their sins and accept Christ as their Savior. Others joined them at the foot of the cross. Adults and high school students prayed at the steps of the altar. Believers came forward to answer calls to ministry. More than 30 people surrendered to Jesus, from repentance to obedience.
On fire with the Spirit
William Carey students who accepted Christ at the conference were baptized at Carterville Church in Petal on Feb. 6. An excited crowd of friends and families, and Carterville and Northcrest members, made up the congregation.
For the students who were previously not connected to a local church, William Carey University is working with them to find a church home.
Fanning the flame
“Our school is faithful to present the gospel in every rehearsal in some form or another,” said Wes Dykes, William Carey choir and orchestra director and dean of the Winters School of Music. “We teach our students about worship, how to live a life of worship, how to encourage in worship, and that we were created to worship Him, according to the Word of God.
“We have been praying over those students who made decisions for quite some time. I believe the Holy Spirit moved mightily in all of our hearts during the worship service, and the Holy Spirit used Shane Pruitt to reap a mighty harvest that night! My hope from that night is revival — campus revival that will spread beyond our campus to the world!”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Lindsey Williams and originally published by the Baptist Record.
