Waters walking what evangelism conference is talking

Gerald Harris/Index

Janie Waters has high praise for the faithful ministry of her husband Dennie at the evangelism conference in Savannah.

This year Georgia Baptist Convention Evangelism Ministries scheduled four regional evangelism conferences. Steve Parr, vice president for Sunday School and Evangelism, initiated the multi-site conferences as an every-other-year experiment in 2008 and the first two have proven to be very effective.

Parr stated, “I wrestle with the smaller crowds, because I like ‘larger crowds,’ but the average attendance this year was 20 percent more than that of the single evangelism conference at Lawrenceville’s North Metro Church in 2007 and 51 percent higher than the single conference last year at Blackshear Place in Flowery Branch.”

Whether the annual conference is held in one church or four regional churches it is an inspirational highlight for many pastors, church staff leaders, and laity. This year’s evangelism conferences challenged those in attendance to rally to the call to reach “Across Georgia” with the unchanging Gospel.

One evangelism conference attendee, Dennie Waters, pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Jesup, is already reaching his community with great effectiveness. Waters and his wife, Janie, attended the evangelism conference at Calvary in Savannah.

Waters worked as a machinist in the pulp mill near Jesup until his retirement last year and for the last 16 years has served as the bi-vocational pastor at New Bethel.

Jim Elliott, associational missionary for the Altamaha/New Sunbury Associations, stated, “Many people were shocked when God called Dennie to preach, because he was so shy, but God has used him in a very significant way.”

When Waters went to New Bethel the church was struggling to survive with less than a dozen people attending Sunday School. However, Waters began to patiently and lovingly care for the folks in the community. The church began to grow and two years ago the church was averaging 35-40 in Sunday School.

About that time Waters began to minister to a man by the name of Paul Mansfield who was in the hospital. The New Bethel pastor ultimately led him to a personal relationship to Christ.

The love and compassion of the pastor began to touch the lives of other members of the Mansfield family and one by one Waters led them to a saving faith in Jesus.

Gerald Harris/Index

The adult choir of Calvary in Savannah blesses the congregation of the evangelism conference in southeast Georgia.

Consequently, the church baptized 19 new converts in 2008 and in 2009 baptized another 19 new converts. Of those who have been immersed in the waters of baptism, 30 are in some way related to the Mansfield family. Waters has also managed to reach multiplied members of the Stephens family in the same way.

The new converts have been integrated into the life of the church and have become active, participating members. On a recent Sunday Gary Mansfield’s wife, Mandy, her daughter Mariah, and Paul Mansfield’s wife, Sissy, combined as a trio to sing, “Where are the Children.” Janie Waters suggested that this musical contribution is simply an example of just how the new members have gotten involved in the life of the church.

Another recent convert, Georgette Marchant, who was saved Aug. 30 and baptized Sept. 6, has become an effective witness for the Lord. “She is on fire for the Lord,” the pastor’s wife declared.

While the ratio of church members to baptisms in the average Baptist church is typically 47 to 1, the ratio at New Bethel for the last two years has been 6 to 1.

Interestingly, New Bethel is in a sparsely-populated rural area of Wayne County several miles west of Jesup. The truth is that if Dennie Waters can reach people the way he has and if New Bethel Baptist Church has grown the way it has in the past several years, any pastor can effectively evangelize and any church can experience growth.

Jim Elliott stated that the church averages as many as 70 in Sunday School now. Waters indicated that the church has had as many as 83 in attendance in recent months.

It is also interesting that the church gives almost 17 percent of its undesignated gifts to the Cooperative Program. Last year the church’s undesignated gifts were $36,406, with $6,140 going to the Cooperative Program and $1,324, or almost 4 percent, going to the Altamaha Baptist Association.

Elliott hailed Waters as one of the most humble, meek, cooperative pastors he has met. He exclaimed, “Denny and Janie are very people-oriented and you would be hard pressed to find anyone more supportive of the missions and ministries of the Convention than Dennie Waters.”

Gerald Harris/Index

Left to right, Johnny Bowen, Joe Goddard, and Steve McCoy engage in friendly conversation at the evangelism conference at Calvary in Savannah. Bowen is pastor of Jasper Springs Baptist in Garden City, while Goddard is a member of South Newington Baptist in Bloomingdale, where McCoy serves as pastor.