Located in the southwestern part of the state, this association spans all of Beaurgard Parish and a western portion of Allen Parish.
BEAUREGARD BAPTIST ASSOCIATION — Located in the southwestern part of the state, this association spans all of Beaurgard Parish and a western portion of Allen Parish.
It also borders Texas on the west.
DeRidder, the biggest city in Beauregard Parish, had a population of more than 23,000 people, according to the U.S. Census 2000 data; the parish as a whole had a population of almost 33,000.
The Beauregard Association’s eastern border in Allen Parish falls just short of the Allen Parish seat, Oberlin. Oakdale, another larger city in Allen Parish, is further east of the border as well, so that the majority of the parish that is included in the association is primarily rural.
“I’ve come to appreciate what it means when you see a log truck with logs,” said Beauregard Director of Missions Don Hunt about one of the major local industries. “I never appreciated the industry until I understood what the products are doing across our nation.”
The association itself has a deep sense of history rooted among the piney woods, the DOM said, especially since it is home to some of the state’s oldest churches, including Occupy One Baptist Church in Pitkin, which was establishd in 1832 by Joseph Willis.
Some say Willis was the first Baptist preacher west of the Mississippi River.
But since Hurricane Rita, the area also has experienced a sense of newness with a lot of rebuilding, Hunt said.
Some ministries of the association include the student ministry, which, under Michael Lanham in 2006, hosted Real Encounter, an evangelistic group of motorcycle free-stylists, musicians and actors at the biggest youth evangelism event in the association’s history.
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and First Baptist DeRidder, among others, were instrumental in organizing the event, Lanham said.
“The event was hosted at Pinewood Elementary and the parish fair grounds … with school assemblies at the high schools and junior high schools in Beauregard Parish,” Lanham reported to the association at its annual meeting. “We had about 2,500 people in attendance on harvest night, May 3. That night 125 people gave their lives to Christ.”
Another ministry of the association is the Beauregard Christian Women’s Job Corps (CWJC), directed by Mary Koehn. CWJC, a ministry project developed by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Woman’s Missionary Union and put into action by local groups, provides a “Christian context in which women in need are equipped with life and job skills and a missions context in which women help women” Koehn reported to the association last year.
CWJC offers classes in math, English, health and nutrition, keyboarding, computer skills, office procedures, career planning, financial management, parenting and Bible study and assigns mentors to each participant, Koehn said.
WMU members are very active in the association, helping to support several missions and ministries, including HOPE Center, God’s Food Box, Toledo Bend Ministry, and two ministries to Honduras.
In addition, the women give scholarships for children to attend Dry Creek Baptist camps, as well as offering volunteer and financial support to CWJC.
The women also help purchase items for children who are removed from their homes by the local Louisiana Office of Community Services.
The association also helps to support a Granberry Counseling Center, Dry Creek Baptist Camp and the McNeese Baptist Collegiate Ministry.
“I say again how proud I am of our heritage and people in Beauregard Association who not only talk about reaching out but actually do it,” Hunt said.