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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

NOBTS team begins preparatory work for Israeli archaeological dig

By Gary Myers  May 21, 2017 Set-up days are necessary, but not necessarily fun. Hours are spent filling sandbags, raising shade cloth, cutting weeds, running electrical wires, installing safety barriers, and preparing each site for excavation. There are no Indiana Joneses on set-up day, just dusty grunts lugging gear and getting the job done. Today was one of at least two set-up days. Sadly, many of those dusty grunts – missing luggage lost by the airlines – had to work in clothes they had not planned to get dirty. As far as set-up days go, this one was a good one. Much work is left for tomorrow, but much work is complete. If all goes well tomorrow, we could be digging new material in some of our locations by Tuesday. The Whirlwind Something weird happened today. The Old Testament often speaks of whirlwinds – Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind and God’s judgment is said to come like a whirlwind. What is the whirlwind in the Bible? A tornado, tempest, or a water spout – maybe. Could it be one of the whirlwinds that we called a “dust devils” in parts of the United States?  This biblical word picture of a fast-moving whirlwind appearing without warning came to life for us today. Just as we were beginning to … [Read more...]

Disaster Relief teams keeping busy in month of May

By Message Staff WALKER – Responses to flooding and high winds in the state along with delivery of bottled water to Mississippi has made for a busy May for Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief workers. In late April, 60 and 70 homes, as well as First Baptist Church Mamou, flooded in the southern and western parts of the town. This sparked a response from Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams. For nearly three weeks volunteers assessed and completed mud outs of homes, as well as removed pews and cleaned the carpet inside First Baptist Mamou. Joining the North Eunice Baptist Church and Natchitoches and Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association teams, along with churches from other denominations in the community, was a group from Huntsville, Ala. During that time, Acadia Baptist Center in Eunice provided lodging and area churches provided meals for the disaster relief workers. Meanwhile, 15 members of the Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association chainsaw crew spent time in mid-May helping homeowners near Walker clear debris after a powerful storm damaged seven homes near Highway 449 and Courtney Road. The volunteers cut trees that fell in yards and driveways in the clean-up effort. “The homeowners were excited we were there and … [Read more...]

MARTHA BAILEY: I’m number three

By Martha Bailey At the invitation of our senator, Jack Donahue, we drove to Baton Rouge recently for my husband, Waylon Bailey, to pray as the Louisiana Senate convened for their afternoon session.  It was a privilege and an honor to have the opportunity to ask the Lord’s blessing on the work of the Senate for that day. When we first entered the historic capitol bustling with activity, we carefully followed protocol by reporting to the office of Sen. Gerald Long, the Louisiana State Senate President Pro Tempore. Because Waylon had previously prayed at the legislature several times, he had met Senator Long. However, I had not ever met him. Little did I know that our time with him was going to be such a blessing. When we arrived at his office his administrative assistant graciously greeted us, saying she would let Senator Long know we were there. However, he walked out of his inner office about that time. He greeted us warmly, invited us in, and offered us a seat like he would have if we had been in his living room. He was so kind and gentle and genuinely interested in who we were and our ministry. Our hearts were immediately tendered toward him not only because of his way more than cordial greeting, but because … [Read more...]