DEMOPOLIS – “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “And I will make you fishers of men.”

This verse sets the theme for the Evangelism Emphasis Conference held on Friday, Aug. 26 through Sunday, Aug. 28 at the First Presbyterian Church of Demopolis.

There will be several events throughout the week for those specifically interested in learning about evangelism and for the entire community to come and support the cause. Three guest speakers will be present at the conference: Dr. Henry Krabbendam, Pastor Sam Kisembo and Rev. Wesley Holland.

Krabbendam, a professor at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., will discuss topics on evangelism in four sessions. One session will take place Friday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and three

sessions will be Saturday

from 9 to 10:30 a.m., from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Krabbendam is affiliated with the African Christian Training Institute. He will also preach at morning worship service at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Kisembo is a pastor from Mutungo, Uganda. He will share his testimony of his work in Africa Friday evening. Kisembo will also be active in evangelistic efforts throughout the weekend, and will remain in Demopolis for the week following the conference.

Holland will speak Saturday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Evangelistic Outreach Barbecue and on Sunday evening. He will share his experiences with evangelism and encourage others to evangelize.

Saturday evening’s events will include barbecue, live music and testimonials. Doug McNutt, an intern who organized the conference for the First Presbyterian Church, said the barbecue is an opportunity for the church to reach out to the community.

McNutt works with the First Presbyterian Church in youth ministry and evangelism, and also as a pastoral intern. “I put the conference together for the church to teach about evangelism,” McNutt said. His wife, Kelly, is a native of Demopolis.

Though the First Presbyterian Church has held missions conferences in the past, it has never had an evangelism conference. McNutt said this conference is a counterpart to the missions conferences which teach about foreign missions. The evangelism conference teaches about “sending ourselves to our community,” rather than to foreign countries, McNutt said.