By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Baptism for several years seemed like it would remain just a dream for Belarusian teen Anna Atrohkina. Although Atrohkina accepted Jesus as Savior in 2015, she had not been able to attend the annual baptism services at her church in Mogilev, Belarus in either 2016 or 2017. The church does not have a baptistery and, because of extreme weather conditions in the winter, only baptizes once a year in a nearby river. So when the opportunity was presented August 5 at Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria, she jumped at the chance to be baptized. Surrounded by a few friends and several hundred others inside the worship center, Atrohkina stepped into the water for her long-awaited moment. “In my understanding, baptism for me is immersion in the death of Jesus Christ and renewal to a new life,” Atrohkina said in an e-mail to the Baptist Message. “The past is behind. Jesus gave me the chance to write a new book of my life.” Wayne Taylor, who is executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation, and his wife, Joanna, served as the host home during her Louisiana visit. They both beamed with excitement as Atrohkina stepped into the baptistery. “While in … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer JENA (LBM)--The Jena High School football and men’s basketball teams scored a win of a different kind when 38 players, combined, came forward to humble their hearts before Christ during the Tomorrow’s Hope GO TELL Crusade in late September. Nine football players declared Jesus as Lord of their lives, and 24 football and five basketball players repented to restore fellowship with Christ at Jena High’s gymnasium. Among those was Cameron Jackson, a junior cornerback and wide receiver who turned to Christ during the opening night of the crusade. “Though I was nervous, I knew this was what God wanted me to do,” said Jackson, whose father, Anthony, is principal of Jena High. “Now I’m excited about praying and reading my Bible, and I hope to influence others on my team and at school for Christ.” Jackson said his newfound faith helped him persevere through the aftermath of an injury sustained during a game against Alexandria Senior High the following Friday evening. He expects to recover from the injury before the state playoffs begin in November. Terry Townsend, youth and recreation minister at the First Baptist Church in Jena, said he was overcome with emotion as he watched many … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – Louisiana Baptist state missions staff updated Executive Board members on progress made to reach the next generation with the Gospel by 2020. “It’s axiomatic that if you do not reach the next generation that you won’t have another generation of the church,” Louisiana Baptists Executive Director David Hankins said during the September 25 Executive Board meeting at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center in Woodworth. “We know the Lord has promised that won’t happen because the gates of death will never be strong against the church on the earth. There will always be another church. But we have a duty to give ourselves to that.” The next generation is one of two groups identified as a target audience in the President’s 2020 Commission Report. Adopted by messengers at the 2013 Louisiana Baptist Convention annual meeting, the 2020 initiative seeks to reach every generation and every people group in Louisiana with the Gospel by the year 2020 through the avenues of congregational revitalization, church planting, communications and collaboration. “We are asking God to give us favor as we concentrate on this last facet in these last months of the 2020 effort to do some things … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – Louisiana Baptists will be operating in 2019 with a leaner Cooperative Program budget. During a September 25 meeting at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center in Woodworth, the Executive Board approved the Business and Finance Committee’s 2019 financial plan based on Cooperative Program contributions of $18,813,818, a decrease of $693,587. Cooperative Program projections are based on actual receipts from August 2017 through July 2018. The allocation formula for distributing Cooperative Program gifts between the Southern Baptist Convention and Louisiana Baptist causes remains unchanged, with 63.26 percent supporting ministries in the state and 36.74 percent forwarded to fund national entities. This equates to $11,901,622 in Cooperative Program funds for Louisiana Baptist missions, a decrease of $438,579 from 2018. “According to a recent news story, unemployment in Louisiana has increased over the last several months, in spite of a stronger economy nationally,” Louisiana Baptists Business and Information Services Director Dale Lingenfelter told the Baptist Message. “The 2019 budget reflects this reality. “However, we know God is faithful, and so are His … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WOODWORTH – Louisiana College President Rick Brewer beamed with excitement as he shared with Executive Board members how God provided funds to renovate Guinn Auditorium, a facility that reopened August 23 after construction work forced its closure for the last two years. “To God be the glory for what He has done,” Brewer said during the Executive Board meeting September 25 at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center. “We’re going to enjoy this building for many, many years to come.” The 1,661-seat facility, which is used for chapel services, commencement exercises and other large gatherings, received new lights, sound system, HVAC, roof, ceiling, walls, floor and seats. Guinn Auditorium is one of 18 buildings on campus that received interior and exterior improvements after GuideOne Insurance approved a claim for $18 million of projects that stem from an April 2015 hail storm. The school contacted GuideOne to request an inspection, which revealed the refurbishment would be rather costly but the insurer agreed to cover all the repairs. Brewer invited Executive Board members to attend a re-dedication celebration of Guinn Auditorium September 30. Special guests were to include … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Momentum is building for what could be one of the largest multi-denominational evangelistic outreaches ever in Central Louisiana. The Hope4U GO TELL Crusade will be held Oct. 14-17 at the Rapides Parish Coliseum, and has support from at least 50 churches in the CenLa Baptist Association as well as congregations from other denominations. Rick Gage, founder of GO TELL Crusades in Duluth, Georgia, team evangelist Ken Freeman, founder of Ken Freeman Ministries in Martindale, Texas, and Scott Camp, founder of Discover Joy Ministries in Fort Worth, Texas, will bring Gospel messages. Meanwhile, award-winning Christian bands Rush of Fools and NewSong will be joined by an area-wide mass choir as well as the GO TELL worship team to share about Christ through music. “When the body of Christ comes together, works together, prays together, and fasts together, it builds unity and builds a synergy where the body of Christ can have a huge spiritual impact in a community,” Gage said. “The key to a successful outreach event in addition to the leadership and preparation it builds unity, as one, for the purpose of reaching the lost. That’s one of the byproducts of these events that it … [Read more...]

By Kirbi Cochran, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE (LBM) – Louisiana College professor Wade Warren wants to provide Louisiana’s science teachers with the necessary stepping stones to begin teaching a more complete curriculum on evolutionary biology. So he is writing a book, “Education Standards and Evolution.” Warren, who holds a doctorate in zoology with an emphasis in neuroscience, specializes in anatomy, physiology and teaches a master’s degree course on the significance of teaching. “The teachers don’t know their rights – what they can and cannot do. So, my book is a launching pad for them to be informed,” he told the Baptist Message. Warren’s book will provide teachers with a simple framework for lessons that will allow them to teach evolution from a perspective that includes contradicting information. He said many teachers in Louisiana are not aware of the large gaps in evolutionary theory, and that they also are unaware of the freedom, guaranteed by law, to expose these gaps to their students by presenting opposing research. In June 2008, Louisiana enacted the Louisiana Science Education Act, which allows teachers to use supplemental information that presents an opposing view to information provided in … [Read more...]

WASHINGTON - Congressmen Ralph Abraham, M.D., R-Alto, and Brian Babin, R-Texas, have created a bipartisan I-14 Caucus with the goal of expanding Interstate 14 through Central Louisiana. This news follows the announcement this summer of legislation, HR 6111, the I-14 Expansion and Improvement Act of 2018, to designate existing roads into the congressionally designated I-14 corridor to include communities from Midland, Texas, to Laurel, Mississippi within a strategic corridor effectively connecting military bases from El Paso, Texas, to Charleston, South Carolina, with strategic ports where military equipment can be shipped in support of  our armed forces deployed around the world. In Louisiana, portions of LA 8, LA 28 and US 84 would be included in the I-14 corridor, giving Fort Polk and Camp Beauregard quicker access to the deployment port in Beaumont, Texas. Other state and federal highways near Goodfellow Air Force Base near San Angelo, Texas, and north of the Beaumont would also be added into the I-14 corridor. But the interstate will extend through Mississippi and Alabama and continue to Augusta, Georgia, where it would connect, presumably, with Interstate 20 which connects with Interstate 26 to the Atlantic … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – A long-time Louisiana Baptist pastor who moved out of state in 1996 has returned as the new director of missions for the Big Creek and the CENLA Baptist associations. Daryl Stagg, who is a native of Tioga, has served in the Midwest for the last two decades, but he said the allure of coming back to Louisiana proved too enticing to ignore. “I got to a point where I was tired of the heat and moved to a colder climate,” quipped Stagg. “Now being older you get tired of shoveling snow and battling ice on the streets. Coming home and seeing the pine trees and having a lot longer climate is a blessing. I look forward to being around my family, my children and grandchildren.” He began his work as director of missions on Sept. 1. CALL TO MINISTRY Stagg repented for salvation and was baptized at the First Baptist Church in Pineville when he was nine years old. Eleven years later, he accepted a call to vocational ministry when he was a summer missionary in Bangladesh. During the years that followed, Stagg served as pastor of the Bayou des Glaises Baptist Church in Moreauville, Fellowship Baptist Church in Converse, First Baptist Church in Calhoun, and Fellowship … [Read more...]