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By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer DRY CREEK, La. (LBM) - The winds still were howling as Hurricane Laura blew through Dry Creek Baptist Camp Thursday morning, Aug. 27,  when Camp Director Todd Burnaman fielded a welcomed phone call from Horeb Baptist Church in Gretna asking how they could lend assistance. Horeb Baptist, a Hispanic congregation that stayed at the camp 33 days when they evacuated during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was excited about the chance to repay them for their kindness. The group of more than 30, along with staff from a camp operated by Florida College in Tampa, Florida, helped clear trees and other debris on the property during Labor Day weekend. “We’ve remained good friends with Horeb Baptist 15 years later and they have been a part of the Dry Creek family since,” Burnaman told the Baptist Message. “When Pastor David Rodriguez was on the line the Thursday of the storm asking if they could come I didn’t hesitate to tell him to come on.” Emilio Lora, pastor of Horeb’s Chalmette campus, said the members were honored to return. “It was such a blessing to have the opportunity to serve the Lord and the Dry Creek people,” he said. “What a great time we had being with them again.” More than … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer KOLIN, La. (LBM) – Evan Amsden of Anna, Ohio, originally hoped to raise enough money to purchase 128 cases of much-needed bottled water for delivery to Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief teams, but by the end of the weekend God had nearly tripled his goal, providing enough funds to buy 383 cases, and a donation of 10,000 Gospel tracts. Seventy-six of these cases were the result of another unexpected donation during a weekend stay in Magnolia, Miss. Amsden, who left Anna Saturday morning, Aug. 30, and arrived in Kolin the following afternoon after staying the night with a family in Mississippi, told the Baptist Message he prays the Gospel tracts that will accompany distribution of the water will lead to someone trusting Jesus Christ as their Savior. “I want all these people who are hurting from this disaster to not only get physical water, but 'The Living Water,'” he said. “Ultimately, if they don’t hear about Jesus Christ then giving them a bottled water doesn’t do a lot in the long run. Physical relief is temporary, but if they don’t receive eternal relief, they have gained the world but lost their soul.” Amsden, a member of the non-denominational church In Christ Alone of West … [Read more...]