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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

Four CWJC graduates awarded scholarships to help with next steps

By Grace Thornton, SBC WMU BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (SBC WMU) – Marie Beam says she’s always liked working on cars. She found out early on that she didn’t like being stranded — she’d rather be able to do something about it when her car had problems. “I started learning how to do it myself,” she said. Then she started helping the women in her apartment complex who frequently had car trouble. “It’s something I love to do,” Beam said. “So I started thinking maybe I could do it as a career too.” Through Christian Women’s Job Corps of Tyler, Texas, she’s had the support to enroll in college and start making that happen. “I’ve got six classes left,” she said. And thanks to the Faye Dove Scholarship, a gift provided by the WMU Foundation to help a CWJC graduate further her education, Beam now has money to buy the tools to finish her associate’s degree in automotive mechanics at Northeast Texas Community College. The scholarship will also help her continue to provide support for her four children, who range in age from 2 to 12. “Everything I learn, I get out there and show my kids what I learn,” she said. “Hopefully it’s the gift that keeps on giving.” Beam was one of two recipients of the Faye Dove Scholarship this … [Read more...]

LCU invites public to town hall meetings

By Elizabeth Clarke, LCU News PINEVILLE, La. (LCU News) - Louisiana Christian University will hold a series of town hall meetings around the state to welcome input from all those interested in the search for the next president and in the direction of the school moving forward. Those interested can attend meetings on the following dates: Aug. 6, 6:30 p.m. - 8617 Glen Haven Dr., Shreveport; Aug. 8, 6:30 p.m. - 1140 College Drive, LCU Granberry Conference Room, Pineville; Aug. 20, 6:30 p.m. - 201 Riggs Street, Edgewood Building, West Monroe; and Aug. 27, 6:30 p.m. - 2222 Lakeshore Dr., New Orleans Baptist Association building, New Orleans Other town hall meetings may be planned for other cities and dates and will be announced.  LCU is currently doing a nationwide search for the 10th president of the nearly 120-year-old institution, according to Tommy Kiker, who serves on the university’s Board of Trustees and is search committee chair. “As we continue this process, the committee and I need your prayers and ask for your input,” said Kiker, lead pastor with East Leesville Baptist Church, Leesville. “We are accepting applications and recommendations and have spent the summer praying, receiving input from … [Read more...]

Holy boldness

In exile in the wilderness, King David prayed, “O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:1–3 NLT). … [Read more...]

LBCH’s Legacy Room highlights 125 years of ministry

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer MONROE, La. (LBM) - The Louisiana Baptist Children's Home & Family Ministries gathered on July 16 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the Legacy Room. The room celebrates 125 years of sharing Christ's love with children, their mothers and countless others around the state. The Legacy Room inside the Rucker-Austin Center on the Monroe campus features a chronological timeline of events covering all four walls and artifacts from its history. The LBCHFM was birthed in 1899 when William Cooksey, pastor of Pine Grove Baptist Church, Bernice, had a vision to start an orphanage. Since then, the entity relocated from Lake Charles to Monroe and expanded its ministry to see thousands of families impacted by the Gospel through foster care and adoption; compassion ministry; job training for women; ministry to homeless women and their children; counseling services; and a ministerial care residential program. "We're celebrating what God has done for 125 years here at the Louisiana Baptist Children's Home," LBCHFM President and CEO Perry Hancock told the crowd during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. "From its beginnings as the Louisiana Baptist Orphanage to the multifaceted … [Read more...]

Louisiana’s Bowlin, Tippit inducted into SBC Evangelists Hall of Faith

By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer INDIANAPOLIS (LBM) – Gary Bowlin and Sammy Tippit, two evangelists with ties to Louisiana, were recently elected to the Southern Baptist Evan­gelists Hall of Faith. Bowlin is a past presi­dent of the Louisiana Conference of South­ern Baptist Evangelists and Sammy Tippit is an evangelist who accepted Christ at Istrouma Baptist Church, Baton Rouge. Bowlin, who now re­sides in Summit, Miss., and Tippit, who now lives in San Antonio, Texas, told the Baptist Message they are humbled that their names are included in the display hosted in the Southern Baptist Building in Nashville, Tennessee, alongside the names of so many others they have come to know during their respective evangelistic ministries. “It’s just beyond my wildest expectations to have my name listed among them,” Bowlin said after the June 10 ceremony in Indianapolis, Indiana. “I’ve tried to be faithful to the calling God has placed on my life, and this was a way for Him just to bless me. My peers voted me in and that means a lot.” Tippit echoed the thought. “When I was inducted into the SBC Evangelists Hall of Faith in June, it was a marker for me of God’s grace and faithfulness to me over six … [Read more...]