By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
WOODWORTH – Volunteers are needed to assist with setting large trusses at the Georgia Barnette Conference Center.
A construction company is donating the use of a crane and workers for the project, with a targeted start date of Aug. 24, but additional volunteers are needed to assist those workers.
The 8,400-square-foot center on the grounds of Tall Timbers Conference Center in Woodworth will have six small group rooms and a large auditorium that can be arranged for up to 580 participants. Also included will be a state-of-the-art sound system and lighting.
With the exception of professional contractors who poured the concrete slab on June 29, construction of the project has been comprised entirely of volunteers.
Nearly 50 Kingdom Builders from Louisiana and Texas helped with framing work on July 13. After that, a group from Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria, two men from Texas and a husband-wife team from Arkansas has volunteered their time.
The center is named after Georgia Barnette, the first elected and paid Woman’s Missionary Union executive director/treasurer in Louisiana. Every year Louisiana Baptists collect the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering.
Since early 2013, the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s missions and ministry team led by John Hebert has raised money for the new center, making hundreds of presentations in a combination of churches, Woman’s Missionary Union groups, individuals, missions education groups, associational groups and annual meetings of associations.
Robert Woods, missions builder strategist for Louisiana Baptists, anticipates a completion date of late March. But he stresses that is dependent upon favorable weather conditions and enough volunteers to help build the center.
“So far, we are on track,” Woods said. “If it was in the fall or winter, we would be able to work more hours a day but right now because of the heat we can only work until 2:00.”
Once the construction company is finished, volunteers will be needed to help with electrical work, hanging of sheetrock, laying of flooring and shingling the roof, among other projects.
Interested volunteers should contact project coordinator Bill Temple at 318.368.5129 or email bjtemple71241@aol.com. Meals and lodging are provided.
“Basically it’s all all-expense paid mission project, with the only cost is providing your own way here,” Woods said. “All volunteers need is a willing heart. Even if you aren’t a skilled carpenter or electrician, we will show you what to do once you get here. Whether you can come just a day or a couple of months we can use you to help finish this important project important to our history of state missions.”
