By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALBANY – Jase Shawley had just wrapped up a sermon to 350 evacuees from the historic flooding in southern Louisiana when he was approached by a church member who passed along a request from Cindy, a nearly-blind woman and an avowed atheist. “She really wants to speak with you about her salvation,” the Bethlehem Baptist Church student minister was told. Later that Aug. 14 afternoon, Shawley shared with her the basic plan of salvation and afterward Cindy had reason not only to celebrate having survived the storm, but also being rescued by Christ. “Cindy told me she didn’t know what had happened but it was something like she had never felt before,” Shawley said. “She told me she had grown up being taught God didn’t exist. But now her heart was telling her He was real. “Watching somebody who literally had nothing to do with any form of church or praying until that morning and then watching her say ‘Lord I need you’ just hours later was beautiful.” But Cindy’s salvation is not the only miracle God has performed at Bethlehem Baptist Church as a result of the storm. Floodwaters rapidly rose in the church parking Aug. 12, until Shawley asked God to intervene. Afterward, the … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ZACHARY – Since the launching of Cross Creek Cowboy Church in 2013, Pastor Josh Morris has talked to his congregation about being Jesus’ hands and feet. In mid-August, they got that chance when many in the congregation stepped up and helped serve 600 hot meals, rescued horses and cleaned out the inside of homes heavily damaged from what has been called the 1,000-year flood. All this happened despite the church getting 2 1/2 feet of water in its own building. Fortunately, the water quickly receded and repairs already have been completed, Morris said, and he offered that many churches in the southern part of the state were not in as favorable a position. But he said regardless of the situation facing a congregation, God can use the devastation caused by the flood for good. “A lot of people have questions,” Morris said. “Where do they turn first? Church. This is where they come for encouragement when bad things happen. It gives us an opportunity to reach those who normally don’t go to church.” “The love of Christ is what we are showing,” he continued. “What they need right now is for us to minister to them and get their needs met first. Then we can start sharing the … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message Louisiana Baptists have announced an initiative to partner healthy churches with churches impacted by the mid-August flooding in southern Louisiana. In some cases, multiple congregations will be connected with the same church due to the size of the recovery and rebuilding projects, said Wayne Jenkins, director of evangelism for Louisiana Baptists. Already, 34 churches have stepped up, he said. But 50-60 more partners are needed to care for up to another 40 or so churches still seeking financial and manpower assistance. Jenkins used as an example Amite Baptist Church in Denham Springs – home to 625 worshipers on a typical Sunday – which was flooded with up to 4 feet of water Aug. 13 and experienced about $1.3 million in damages. Unfortunately, the congregation did not have flood insurance to deal with the devastation caused by the 1000-year rainfall, he explained. “I just believe there are plenty of churches that are willing and are able to do something to assist flood-impacted churches like Amite,” Jenkins said. For information on how to partner with a flood-impacted church, call 318.446.3242. … [Read more...]

By Message Staff BALL - Understanding the urgency to reach the culture with the Gospel, organizers of this year’s Pastor's Conference are hoping to equip participants with tools needed to assist in this spiritual battle. Scheduled Nov. 13-14 at Kingsville Baptist Church, the annual gathering’s theme is “Urgency,” based on Romans 13:11. “With the state of affairs in our nation, now more than ever, we need a sense of urgency as it relates to personal evangelism, the preaching of the gospel, and equipping the saints,” said Pastors Conference President Nathan Davis. “We are really looking forward to what God is going to do this year. “I believe we have an all-star lineup with great preaching and singing,” said Davis, pastor of First Baptist Church in Coushatta. “Be praying for the conference and encourage people to come with a sense of ‘urgency.’ Please make plans to attend because this is your Pastors Conference. We are expecting God to do amazing things this year. Don’t miss out.” The conference will begin at 6:00 p.m. on Nov. 13 with music led by Todd DuBose, Minister of Music at First Baptist Church in Minden, with area choirs participating. Among those scheduled to preach are David Allen, Dean of the School of … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Message Managing Editor ALEXANDRIA – With a revised estimate of 155,000 damaged homes now being reported by the governor’s office, Louisiana Baptist leaders are asking for more volunteers to meet the overwhelming demand for assistance in mud-out and related services caused by historic floods across the southern part of the state in August. The new number, issued by Mike Steele, communications director for the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, more than doubles the previously reported figure of about 61,000 flooded houses. But, Steele stressed the numbers may continue to fluctuate because calculations include direct reports from parishes combined with information gleaned from imaging technology. Meanwhile, Louisiana Baptist leaders are calling for an even greater mobilization of volunteers. Gevan Spinney, pastor of First Baptist Church, Haughton, and president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, thanked Southern Baptists for their response so far and lauded the North American Mission Board for the great work it does with disaster relief. “Those yellow shirts are a reminder throughout our state that we are not alone in this,” he said. But he also urged more … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALBANY – The water was rising to the door of the church parsonage and Pastor David Collins knew he had to make a difficult decision – placing his trust in complete strangers in an airboat to rescue his family. With the water waste deep and Blood River Baptist Church just a few hundred yards away, Collins reassured his two young boys they would be okay. Moments later, Collins joined his children as the three breathed a sigh of relief, for they had found refuge inside the church building. And in the midst of the situation, the Lord reminded Collins of a sermon he preached a few Sundays before on trusting in the Lord wholeheartedly for everything. Collins had to apply the message at that very moment. “It’s crazy how some folks think that it’s easy to put our trust in someone with an airboat, that we’ve never met, and put our little boys and belongings, on the boat,” Collins said. “I’ve never seen these people in my life. They came to rescue us without asking for anything in return. They came into my house to help me pack, grabbed my boys, dogs, and some essential belongings up and unselfishly placed them on their airboat. They asked me what else I needed and I had to say just … [Read more...]

By Message Staff BATON ROUGE – The college spirit is coming to Baton Rouge this weekend, but not for a tailgate party near a football stadium. Four hundred college students from five southern states and 18 different Baptist Collegiate Ministry and church collegiate groups are coming together in the city, for one purpose – to help rebuild homes impacted by mid-August flooding. The groups will begin arriving on Friday and the last ones remaining will return to their campuses Monday. They will stay are area churches and come together on Saturday evening for a worship service at Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. Steve Masters, Baptist Collegiate Ministry director at Louisiana State University, is one of the organizers of the event. He expects the student groups will complete between 70 and 100 homes. “I’m proud of these college students for being to help other people,” said Steve Master’s, BCM minister at LSU. “It’s so timely these college students would come. The sooner we can get Sheetock out of the homes, the better.” If a BCM is interested in assisting with recovery efforts, call Masters at 225.964.0830 or e-mail lsubcm@eatel.net. … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ROBERT – Talk about adding insult to injury. First, their worship center flooded with 12 inches of water Aug. 12. Now, Crossgate Church of Robert is dealing with another problem – theft of a fork attachment used to load items for those affected by the flooding. Pastor Louis Husser noticed the equipment was stolen Aug. 18, when some members and volunteers were preparing to load the supplies for delivery. The green 521 Loader was worth $2,500. “We have 10,000 houses that flooded in Tangipahoa Parish and this piece of equipment was needed to help them,” Husser said. “But we will roll on.” When word got out during a pastor’s meeting Crossgate Church was in need of a new loader, a fellow Northshore Baptist Association church responded. After hearing of the situation, Carl Richardson, chairman of the deacons at Lee Valley Baptist Church in Loranger who also works for a company that sells tractor supplies and equipment, contacted his pastor to see if they could provide funding for a new loader. The congregation obliged, agreeing to turn what could have been a trying situation into a good ending. Richardson sees the gesture as a way to pay forward what others have done for … [Read more...]

By Message Staff As Louisiana prepares for thousands of volunteers this Labor Day weekend, Louisiana Baptist disaster relief officials are reminding everyone assistance will be needed long past the upcoming holiday weekend. "It looks like we will switch from disaster relief to disaster rebuild and we will need volunteer groups from all over Louisiana and the country to help us," said John Hebert, missions and ministry director for Louisiana Baptists. Individuals and church teams can visit the Volunteer Guest Services page and sign-up for dates listed. Once the form is complete, an area coordinator will contact volunteers about potential opportunities. Through Aug. 29, the seven incident command centers in the state reported that: 18,000 meals per day are being prepped by Oklahoma Baptists at Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. 7,000 meals per day are being prepped by Missouri Baptists at Walker Baptist Church. Another 10,000 meals are being prepared by Mississippi Baptists at Woodland Park Baptist Church in Hammond and Texas Baptists in Lafayette. Over 251,000 meals have been prepared to date. 955 projects have been assessed and more than 400 jobs have been completed. Mud-out teams are still … [Read more...]

Louisiana Campers on Mission has issued a call for anyone interested in assisting them with completing a variety of projects during their annual work week Sept. 4-9. Scheduled at Camp Harris in Minden, the organization has assignments for workers of all skills, including carpentry, general cleaning, landscaping, painting and sewing. The camp has accommodations for anyone staying there overnight. To sign-up to help or for more information on the annual work week, contact Charlie Lechner by e-mailing mail@harrisbaptist.com or by calling 318-927-3706. The organization's president Keith Brown may be contacted at 225.620.4265. … [Read more...]