By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ZACHARY, La. (LBM) – More than 40 students from First Baptist Church, Zachary, have embraced God’s call to be missionar­ies in their schools, and subsequently have begun to see a spiritual harvest from their collective outreach efforts, Andrew Forque told the Baptist Message. “We tell students their mission field is their school, but we never have commissioned them to be missionaries there,” said Forque, who is the FBCZ minister to students. “When we commissioned them, there was an excite­ment with them being a missionary to their lost friends at school.” Since the new school year started in August, students have been com­missioned by the church to go into their schools and share the Gospel with their friends who do not know Christ. Since then, dozens of classmates have visited the church, including one teen who accepted Jesus and was baptized. During the school year, Life Group members will team up with the student missionaries to coach and encourage them as they continue to shine the light of Christ. The church is part of a larger effort among Loui­siana Baptist churches to implement the student missionary evangelism strategy. The effort, launched in early … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer NEW ORLEANS (LBM) – Faith-based arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby has donated a historic church building to the members of the NOLA Baptist Church. The donation, which took place in late-Decem­ber, allows the congre­gation to move forward with plans to renovate the building and relocate from a leased warehouse space. “We trusted that He would provide all that we needed if He wanted us to steward this property,” Pastor Kyle Jagers told the Baptist Message. “God far exceeded our expecta­tions.” BACKGROUND NOLA Baptist Church began in 2013 as a church plant of Norris Ferry Com­munity Church, Shreveport. The church relocated a few times, including in 2017 to its current location on Tchoupi­toulas Street. Through conversations with New Orleans Baptist Association leaders, the church learned Valence Street Baptist Church (who donated the property to the association after they closed in 2016) was for sale. NOBA and NOLA Baptist Church then signed a pur­chase agreement. However, Hobby Lobby learned of the situation and in November 2022 purchased the facility for $275,000, with the end goal of one day donating the property to the church. Since then, NOLA Bap­tist … [Read more...]

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Baptist Message provides churches an opportunity to share with other Louisiana Baptists an upcoming revival, homecoming, new pastor, new staff member, a commu­nity outreach, or a concert in Louisiana Notables. To place your event in the pa­per, send your information (who, what, where, when, time) to philip@baptist­message.com or call 318.449.4345. Please submit your information four weeks prior to the event to insure place­ment in the Message. ON THE MOVE Richard Methvin is retiring as pastor of Bisteneau Baptist Church. HOMECOMING Emanuel Hispanic Baptist Church, De­Ridder: 18th Anniversary Celebra­tion, January 27, 4 p.m. Pastor: Ruben Us. REVIVAL Gulf Coast Baptist Church, Gold­en Meadow: Revival, January 12-17, 6:30 p.m. nightly. Friday, speaker Joe Arnold; Saturday, youth emphasis, Dylan Johnson: Sunday morning, Cameron Shoemaker; Sunday evening, Tony Thibodeaux; Monday, Shane Terrebonne and Wednesday, Titus Terrebonne. Pastor: Shane Ter­rebonne. First Baptist Church, Haynesville: Revival, January 14-17, Evangelist: Sam Moore. Pastor: Rob Burns. Fort Necessity Baptist Church, Co­lumbia: Revival, January 28 – Febru­ary. Evangelist: Sam Moore. Pastor: John Bradley New Chapel Hill … [Read more...]