By Mickey Noah, Baptist Press [img_assist|nid=6090|title=North American Mission Board missionaries Jim and Myrtle Ballard serve in Idaho assisting new churches|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=67|height=100]BLACKFOOT, Idaho – North American Mission Board missionary Jim Ballard – all 243 lbs. of him – lay sprawled in agonizing pain on a snow-covered dirt trail high in the mountains of the Salmon National Forest in eastern Idaho. Four of his ribs and a vertebra were fractured, and his sternum was cracked.  His lung punctured, Ballard was spitting up pink, foamy blood, which dotted his full salt-and-pepper beard. Ballard prayed to God and thought of Myrtle, his new wife, who was back at their RV campsite some 10 miles away.  The nearest main road was a mile or two away.  Panic was creeping in like the big black crow that perched only 10 feet away, cawing and waiting for what it thought would be its inevitable Ballard “buffet.” “You’re not getting my eyeballs just yet,” Ballard yelled at the crow while whipping out his .45/.410 revolver and two boxes of shells.  At least neither the crows nor the wolves would get ‘ol Jim that day without a fight. Several hours earlier that day – Oct. 17, 2008 – Ballard’s final day of … [Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – March 4 is the deadline for the LBC evangelism department to turn in its order to the printer for localized materials for Sharing the Peace of Jesus in Louisiana. This means the deadline for churches to submit their requests is even earlier: Tuesday, March 1, for red door hangers that say, “This home has been prayed over,” and the Sharing the Peace of Jesus witnessing piece. “This is an unprecedented opportunity for us to build on the good name established by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams over the last five years,” said Wayne Jenkins, director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Evangelism and Church Growth team. “With all the problems facing people in America now, there is an openness for the Gospel. “Sharing the Peace of Jesus is Louisiana Baptists praying for the people who live in their neighborhoods and leaving a door knob hanger,” Jenkins continued. “Then, coming back a week later and leaving a witnessing piece and an invitation to Easter Sunday.  It’s as simple as that.” A $115,000 statewide media campaign is to take place during the same time frame that church members are out praying in their neighborhoods and inviting people to church on Easter Sunday. This includes television ads … [Read more...]