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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Agricultural Missions Fellowship seeking harvest of new members

WEST MONROE – Jeff Palmer, executive director of Baptist Global Response, a non-profit Southern Baptist organization that provides hunger and disaster relief and assists in development projects worldwide, will headline the 2018 Louisiana Baptist Agricultural Missions Fellowship annual meeting. Scheduled to kick off 9:30 a.m., Jan. 27, at Bethel Baptist Church, West Monroe, the meeting also will include a discussion by Guilherme Prezotti, a program officer for Heifer International in Little Rock, Ark. Other planned activities include worship and a luncheon. The Agricultural Development Foundation will hold its winter meeting that afternoon. The fellowship is the parent organization of the Louisiana Baptist Agricultural Missions Fellowship. “We are looking forward to gathering with other agriculturally mission-minded colleagues and friends for this annual event,” David Morrison, president of the Louisiana Baptist Agricultural Missions Fellowship, said in a statement via email to the Baptist Message. “The two excellent speakers we are blessed to have will enhance everyone’s interest in helping those who are chronically poor and hungry. The highlight of every annual meeting is being able to consider project proposals … [Read more...]

ABRAHAM: Abortion is a national tragedy that we must end

By Ralph Abraham, U.S. Rep. WASHINGTON (LBM) – Thousands of Americans across the country will band together in solidarity in the coming days to protest abortion. The pro-life movement is one that I’m proud to support, and one with Central Louisiana roots. This year’s March for Life events will be the first since the death of pro-life advocate Norma McCorvey, who was born in Simmesport in Avoyelles Parish. You might know her better as Jane Roe, as in the Roe of Roe v. Wade. Norma wasn’t always on our side. She sued the state of Texas for abortion rights and, unfortunately, the Supreme Court ruled in her favor, granting abortion protections nationwide. But the effects of that decision changed Norma as she eventually came to see what we already know: Abortion violates the sanctity of life and has damaging effects on the women involved in the procedure. While speaking in Alexandria in 2003, Norma described her experience working in an abortion clinic as “horrible” and said, “I saw the looks in the eyes of those girls. They weren’t the same as when they first came in. There was no life in those eyes. They were angry, but didn’t know why. They were angry with themselves.” Since the Roe v. Wade ruling, more than 59 million … [Read more...]

IMB: more money, more losses

By Will Hall, Message Editor RICHMOND, Va. (LBM) – Donations through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for the first quarter of the new fiscal year, Oct.-Dec. 2017, were $600,027 ahead of receipts for the same time period last year, a 4.1 percent increase, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention reported Jan. 16 via press release. Meanwhile, the overseas missionary force declined in 2017, dropping from 3,596 to 3,562, according to data collected from the IMB website Fast Facts page and a limited release Field Personnel Count summary. MIXED RESULTS The IMB reported a total of $15,221,629 had been collected from all sources “so far for the 2017-2018 campaign,” which runs October through September. Previous campaigns were based on a June through May calendar. IMB also reported it has received $23,304,153 in Cooperative Program funding for the 2017-18 fiscal year, which likewise started Oct. 1. This amount is $225,349 ahead of last year at this time, about one percent more. The combined increases total $825,376 more for the work of the IMB. In contrast to the financial blessings it is receiving, the IMB continues to lose more missionaries than it appoints annually. The net loss of 34 … [Read more...]

Attorney General Jeff Landry, Louis Charrier to speak at Life March South

By Message Staff BATON ROUGE – Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Louisiana Baptist church planter Louis Charrier will be among the speakers at the Louisiana Life March South in Baton Rouge Saturday, Jan. 20. The Life March South is the first of three similar events being held across Louisiana on three consecutive weekends. The event includes a pro-life march from the State Capitol to the Levee Green on River Road, where a program of prayers, speakers and music will be held at the Levee Stage. The Life March will begin at 10 a.m. Participants will gather a few minutes before 10 in the grassy area in front of the State Capitol, then proceed on Fourth Street to North Boulevard and then toward the riverfront. A life ministry mobilization area at the Levee Green will be manned by area pregnancy centers and organizations, and participants can visit the tables before or after the program. The program will also feature personal testimonies from other pro-life advocates, along with music. … [Read more...]