The ladies from my home church made these aprons for our cooking team to give away to the women we worked with during our ministry in Brazil. Each is embroidered with Psalm 34:8a in Portuguese: “Taste and know that the Lord is good.” We served gumbo meals to reach influential members of each of the communities – people who were lost and resisted going to church but who were enticed by a dinner invitation to enjoy “a Louisiana specialty cooked by Americans.” June Charrier Washington Baptist Church Opelousas, Louisiana … [Read more...]

Sunday, July 17, our street evangelism team worked with a local homeless ministry in Belo Horizonte. During our ministry outreach, we shared the Gospel with a homeless couple and they accepted Christ. Later, we found out the pastor in charge of this ministry was able to find a home for them in another city so their baby no longer had to sleep on the streets. I’ll never forget this particular Sunday morning – worshiping untraditionally among homeless people while we shared the love of Christ! Glory to God!! Debbie Planchard New Zion Baptist Church Folsom, Louisiana … [Read more...]

A man with severely bowed legs had suffered his whole life from the extreme curvature of his bones. Painfully making his way to a local store, he passed through a plaza where the street evangelism team had set up speakers to share the Gospel with shoppers. Just listening with mild curiosity as he walked by, he suddenly felt complete relief from the constant aching he had always experienced. So he stopped to pay serious attention as the group repeated their message. Afterward, he came forward to share with the Americans through an interpreter how he had been healed, and how he wanted to know more about this Jesus they had been describing, and subsequently he gave his heart to Christ. Trying to explain through the interpreter what Jesus meant to him, he said “Jesus is a drugstore” who healed his body and his soul. Eddie Spry Jerusalem Baptist Church Mocksville, North Carolina … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Editor BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (LBM) – Louisiana Baptists returning from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, are sharing testimonies of widespread revival in churches, communities, prisons and schools, following an 8-day schedule of crusades, medical ministries and other outreach efforts in this South American country. Wayne Jenkins, director of evangelism and church growth for the Louisiana Baptist Convention, said there were a recorded 3,202 salvation decisions resulting from events conducted July 10-17, bookended by overnight flights between the two continents, July 8-9 and 18-19. “God did exceedingly above all that we could think or ask,” Jenkins said. “Even working for the first time with this Brazilian association, the way was smooth in constructing three church buildings in five business days and reaching the number of people who came to know Christ, especially in some difficult areas. “Moreover, the Gospel was received by every age group and social class,” he added. “On top of that,” Jenkins offered, “it is remarkable to think that Burl Cain was given favor, in such a short amount of time, in lining up the three entities in the country needed to get permission to replicate in a Brazilian federal … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Message Edit0r BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil (LBM) – Burl Cain is thankful for how God is directing his path. Cain, who recently retired after serving 21 years as warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, told the Baptist Message a plan is unfolding for his life that he did not anticipate when he left his career in state corrections – especially after returning from his visit to Brazil. “Wayne Jenkins asked me whether I had the passion to duplicate in Brazil what we were able to do at Angola with the seminary program we established there through New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary,” Cain said. “I went with a lot of uncertainty about what I might accomplish with only a few contacts and just a little bit of time to be in the country,” he said. “I was astonished how fast things developed after I arrived.” Cain said he was overwhelmed how God arranged for him to meet with the key authorities needed to move forward with a proposal to establish a four-year degree program in a Brazilian federal prison. He said he was able to make a presentation to the director general of prisons, the warden of the correctional facility, the director of education programs for prisons and leaders of the Brazilian … [Read more...]