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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

New River renewed after floodwaters, spiritual drought

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer SAINT AMANT – Jacob Watkins was in bondage to a life of alcoholism, drug abuse and depression in Febru-ary when he accepted an invitation to attend New River Baptist Church in Saint Amant. One month later, Watkins was set free from the chains holding him back from a relationship with Christ when he turned to Jesus. “I have been clean of alcohol and drugs and haven’t suffered from de-pression because I have been shown that you just give all of your problems to God,” Watkins told the Baptist Mes-sage. Watkins is one of 17 new convert baptized since July 2018. Pastor Adam Beach celebrated Watkins’ salvation and his obedience by baptizing him March 10. Beach said Watkins’ story is representative of how God has moved through the congregation since August 2016, when its worship center and gymnasium were deluged under 4 feet of water during the record flood in that region of Louisiana. After the waters receded, the congregation went through a nearly two-year drought where no one was baptized. But since last summer the congregation has witnessed the wave of baptisms plus 13 other additions, growing by 30 new members, combined. “Once our members got back into the building and saw … [Read more...]

A $5 million facelift: LC’s oldest residence halls to be refurbished

By Norm Miller, LC News PINEVILLE (LCNews) - Louisiana College will refurbish its oldest residence halls with a multi-phase plan over 17-months through a $5 million tax-exempt bond. M.D. Descant, LLC, will complete the first phase of renovations, which include Tudor Hall and English Village. “This is an answer to prayer and the result of hard work to significantly upgrade facilities that have seen no major improvements in decades,” said Rick Brewer, president of Louisiana College. “With curb appeal ranking as the third most important consideration of a college by prospective students, these improvements will significantly improve our recruiting efforts and enhance our ability to retain students already enrolled.” Board of Trustee Chairman Ken Schroeder praised Brewer’s leadership, citing the “dramatic changes” the president has made “to the school’s overall culture.” “There’s a buzz around campus among the student body, the faculty, the administration, and the board,” Schroeder said. “LC’s enrollment continues to increase at a steady pace. However, one aspect of our school that hinders the growth in enrollment is the condition of our dorms. We believe that by improving this aspect of campus life, LC will be in … [Read more...]

SBC annual meeting notes

By Staff CROSSOVER Ahead of the Annual Meeting and Pastors Conference, Southern Baptists are set to gather for Crossover in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday, June 8, to blitz the city with the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the goal of visiting 20,000 homes. The metropolitan population is 1 million people, with 2 million living within 30 minutes of the city. A hub church in each of seven associations in and around Birmingham will serve as a base of operations, according toSammy Gilbreath, Alabama Baptists' state director of evangelism. He told the Alabama Baptist it will be an opportunity to present the Gospel to an area that is very unchurched. "While we have a lot of churches -- 3,280 in Alabama Baptist life -- there are a lot of people, a huge population in metro Birmingham, that are not connected to any church," he explained. "Not only are we getting the opportunity to knock on 20,000 doors, it's giving us an event that provides an opportunity to train our own people in the state of Alabama to do this in their own communities." But Crossover is an opportunity for other Southern Baptists to learn and do evangelism as well. Preston Nix, professor of evangelism and evangelistic preaching atthe New Orleans Baptist Theological … [Read more...]