By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA (LBM) -- Pastor Jeff Ginn stood before Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge in March and challenged every member to pray for and share Christ with one person in 2019. His congregation wholeheartedly responded to and embraced the “Who’s Your One?” evangelistic strategy and, by the end of the year, saw many come to a relationship with Christ, including more than 90 who were baptized, an all-time single-year high for the 100-year-old congregation that averages around 2,000 in Sunday morning worship attendance. Ginn hopes to equip others with resources to carry out the initiative when Istrouma Baptist hosts the Who’s Your One Tour and evangelism training, Jan. 26-27. The training precedes the annual Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference (ECON), Jan. 27-28, which will be held at the First Baptist Church in Lafayette. “We are so excited about hosting this event,” Ginn told the Baptist Message. “I know that God will challenge us all to be more intentional in praying for others and sharing the Good News with them. We implemented the ‘Who’s Your One’ strategy at Istrouma and, to my knowledge, we baptized more people in 2019 than in any other year of our … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer TERRYTOWN (LBM) – A sense of anxiety overcame Pastor Dennis Watson as he stepped into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on June 19, 2019, to offer words of forgiveness to Todd Williams, who three days earlier had driven his vehicle into an embankment of the Westbank Expressway and subsequently caused the death of Claude Williams, a beloved pastor of the Celebration Church Westbank campus. The two Williamses are not related. Miraculously, Todd Williams received forgiveness during the meeting with Watson, lead pastor of Celebration Church with 10 campuses in the New Orleans area and the Northshore, on behalf of the congregation and Claude Williams’s wife, Twila; and, he also gave his life to Christ. “He wept as I prayed for him and then told me that he needed God in his life,” Watson told the Baptist Message. “That’s when I led him to pray for salvation. “In the months that followed, I kept up with what was happening with Todd Williams in prison, and visited with him again,” he continued. “He shared with me that he feels as though his life has really changed, and now he’s telling others in prison about how the Lord can forgive people and free them from their struggles … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer WEST MONROE (LBM) —The First Baptist Church in West Monroe witnessed more than 90 people make some type of decision for Christ during its 2019 Christmas show, and also raised enough revenue from ticket sales and donations to pay off $3.5 million in medical bills for hundreds of residents in Ouachita Parish. The congregation’s annual Northeast Louisiana Christmas Celebration consisted of three 90-minute performances attended by 4,500 people from Dec. 20-22. “This was a great opportunity to show the community we care about them,” Michael Wood, pastor of First West, told the Baptist Message. “The people who will have their medical debt taken care of will experience the blessing of not having bondage to debt. But more importantly, they will see that they also can have freedom from their sins through a relationship with Christ.” Church members will follow-up on each decision made during the performances -- preparing new converts for baptism and connecting everyone who made any decision with discipleship classes to further their spiritual growth. “This is greater than one weekend,” Worship Pastor Brad Jett said. “It will benefit our area for years to come. What’s validating is … [Read more...]

By Craig Franklin, Special to the Message JENA (LBM) -- When L&A Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Jimmy Ray Young moved back to Jena from Detroit, Michigan, in 2007, he found his hometown preoccupied in what would become known as the Jena Six case, which involved six black high school students who severely beat a white classmate. The “L&A” in the name is a tribute to the Louisiana and Arkansas Railway that donated the land for the site of the church’s building. “I was not the pastor of L&A when I first moved back but I was concerned about what was going on,” said Young, who is African American. “I started attending meetings and other events to see how I could help and during that time I met some lifelong friends from the white community.” Prior to a massive event on September 20, 2007, where thousands of out-of-town protestors flocked to the town in LaSalle Parish, area pastors organized a community prayer event at First Baptist Church in Jena (a predominately white congregation but includes members of multiple races). “During the prayer service, we were divided up into smaller groups to pray,” Young said. “It was in that small prayer group I first met Pastor Jimmy Keene.” Keene, the White pastor … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PELICAN POINT, East Grand Bahamas (LBM) -- In early December, Louisiana Baptists began a mission to rebuild the 128-year-old St. Matthew Baptist Church that was destroyed by Hurricane Dorian Sept. 2, 2019, and the ongoing effort is expected to continue for at least six more months. According to Gibbie McMillan, Louisiana Baptists’ disaster relief strategist, a team of 13 people from the Louisiana and Mississippi Baptist state conventions worked from Dec. 4-10, 2019, to establish a base camp for future teams that will rebuild the church in Pelican Point on the East Grand Bahamas Island. The team built a portable shower and bathroom facilities; constructed a floor for a tent used for lodging; installed electrical lines that provide power from a generator (lent by Philadelphia Louisiana Baptist; and, set up a washing machine, refrigerator, stove, freezer and griddle other teams will use at the base camp. The crew also brought 60 cots and 80 blankets that were donated by the American Red Cross. “We are providing a place of worship for the first church established on the Grand Bahama Island,” McMillan told the Baptist Message. “We are taking part in building back the oldest church in … [Read more...]

By Message Staff RUSTON, La. (LBM)--Rolling Hills Ministries started off 2020 by adding a new, fully-equipped feeding trailer. The 8 x 32-ft. trailer was donated by the American Red Cross chapter in Houston, Texas, and can feed up to 10,000 people a day on the field, according to John Cowling, director of ministries for Rolling Hills Ministries in Ruston. Cowling said they are fortunate to have received one of five trailers the Red Cross was willing to donate. The trailer is equipped with air conditioning, dump skillets, convection ovens, a generator and other equipment necessary to feed others in the event of a disaster. In 2019, Rolling Hills Ministries, using limited equipment, served more than 6,000 meals to first responders, volunteers and individuals impacted by a devastating EF3 tornado that touched down in Ruston. With the new feeding unit Cowling is confident the ministry will be ready to respond even better when the next disaster strikes. “We consider ourselves extremely blessed to have been gifted a tremendous asset that will help us respond quickly in disasters,” Cowling told the Baptist Message. “A special thank you goes to Gibbie McMillan for putting RHM’s Executive Director, David Abernathy, in … [Read more...]

By Holly Jo Linzay, Regional Reporter DUBACH, La. (LBM)--Mike Brown believes his footsteps into a life of glorifying the Lord through music were ordered by God at an early age, pointing to a path that began in the fifth grade with drum lessons that led to a full-time ministry of leading worship at the same church for the last 40 years. The First Baptist Church of Dubach recently honored Brown and Lynda, his wife, with an anniversary ceremony celebrating his four decades of service at the church. “They gave us quite an outpouring of love,” Brown said. “This has been our home. We’ve raised our children in this church, and this church is our family. They have been an answer to prayer.” Cory Bruce, pastor of First Dubach, said the church wanted to recognize this milestone in Brown’s life to honor his legacy in the church and in the community. “Mike has been a testament to me and an inspiration. He’s been faithful to the call of the Lord. Mike is a great example of the kind of faithfulness you need in the ministry,” Bruce said. During the anniversary celebration, Bruce said several people who served with Brown through the years offered stories and memories about him. “Anytime we want to do outreach or evangelism, … [Read more...]