By Mark H. Hunter, Special to the Message   BATON ROUGE – The melody of the hymn drifting out the open windows of Parkview Baptist’s “old sanctuary” sounded familiar but the words were completely foreign.[img_assist|nid=7278|title=Worship|desc=Joseph Ki (left) and his wife Aye Myint, holding baby Li Hleih Ki, sing the hymn, “Have Thine Own Way, Lord,” during a recent service of the Myanmar Christian Fellowship meeting at Parkview Baptist Church.|link=none|align=right|width=100|height=68]   “Count your many blessings, see what God has done,” was being sung in the Kachin language by Burmese refugees who fled their Southeast Asia home of Myanmar because of religious persecution.   About two dozen men, women, teenaged boys and girls have been meeting at Parkview Baptist each Sunday afternoon since late January to worship in their own language. Not all the group’s members are Baptists, explained Nhkum Lama, one of the leaders, so they named their group the Myanmar Christian Fellowship.   “We are very glad we have a place to worship God and so we can have our children in Sunday School,” Lama said. “We are very thankful to Parkview Baptist.”   When Lama, 36, was seven years old he … [Read more...]

By Mark H. Hunter, Special to the Message   The Kachin people moved down from the Tibetan Plateau into northern Myanmar in the 10th Century. They worshiped animal spirits but also a Creator God of Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence. There are about a million Kachin, according to officials.   [img_assist|nid=7279|title=Burmese Christian|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=64]The first several American missionaries to the Kachin people died of malaria but William H. Roberts in 1879 opened a primary school. He baptized several Kachin in 1882. In the following years more missionaries translated the Bible into Kachin language and opened dozens of health clinics and schools that were all closed in 1963 when a Socialist government took over.   Military dictatorships have continued to oppress the Kachin as well as the Karen tribes up to the current rule of Gen. Than Shwe.   Myanmar Baptist Convention   The Myanmar Baptist Convention is the result of the early work of American Baptist missionaries Adoniram and Anne Judson, who went to Yangon, Burma, in 1813. Judson is credited for being one of America’s first missionaries of any denomination and he inspired many other … [Read more...]

By Karen L. Willoughby, Managing Editor   [img_assist|nid=7284|title=And they are off!|desc=Participants line both sides of the road at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center in Woodworth to watch the RA’s Pinewood Derby Races. Nearly 200 RA Lads and Crusaders participated in this year’s RA Congress, along with 144 counselors. In all, 21 churches were represented.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=480]WOODWORTH – Bows and arrows, bb guns, and sling shots resonate with young boys. So do competitions, such as being the first to disassemble and reassemble a flashlight, being the first to get water hot enough to boil over a campfire, being the first to get to the top of a rope ladder without falling off, soap box derbies, pinewood derbies and more.   Royal Ambassadors leaders know this. That’s why they bring these or other “boy-friendly” activities to the annual RA Congress for boys in the first through sixth grades, which this year took place April 8-9 at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center.   Physical activities gave way to Bible study, testimonies by missionaries, and this year, a demonstration by the COMBAT Team of Tulsa, Okla.   “The thing that stood out to me was the 34 boys … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   MERRYVILLE – Members of the Women on Mission group at Calvary Baptist Church in Merryville have been meeting once a month to provide missions support for this summer’s Honduras Medical and Dental Mission trip that leaves from Deridder.   As of April 14, 95 reversible sun dresses and 97 witnessing dolls had been completed.   A total of 24 people had hands-on contributions to this effort and others donated caps, beanie babies, marbles, balls, fabrics, garage sale clothing and put together 43 health kits.   “We sent up a special prayer for a safe and productive trip for the growth of the Lord’s Kingdom,” reported Janet Nichols.   Contributions of cotton fabrics or funds to purchase supplies for next  year’s mission trip would be appreciated, Nichols added. “Yard goods of 3/4 yard or more are needed.” … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   LAFAYETTE – Since 1983, 28 years ago, the least that East Bayou Baptist Church has been in debt is $411,000, according to church records.   With a growing conviction that such indebtedness takes away from God-honoring missions and ministries, Pastor Mike Walker began leading the congregation a year ago to eliminate the debt that had grown to $8 million several years ago with construction.   “This is an amazing story,” Walker said. “This is an incredible event that is being authored by God through His faithful flock. Wow!”   He was speaking of worship services April 17 at the church’s six venues, which had been heralded as one of the intermittant “Celebration” Sundays over the last year, in which the entire offering is given for debt reduction.   At that service, $268,000 was given, and it’s been typical that more comes in over the next few weeks as a result of people being out of town or not ready to give on the designated date, the pastor explained.   “This means we are approximately $162,000 away from being completely mortgage-free,” Walker exclaimed. “We are about to punch this thing across the goal line and score. ... Yes, we will pay … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   COMINGS & GOINGS   Alan Pittman, now full-time pastor, was part-time, at The Life Journey Bossier City, a mission of Eastwood Bossier City, where Pittman had been mission director. Scott Teutsch is pastor of Eastwood.   Dennis (wife Sarah) Ellzey, new as minister to students at First Ponchatoula. Pastor: David Crawford.   Needed/Giving   St. Landry Baptist: Pastor needed. Send resumes to Pulpit Committee, St. Landry Baptist Church, PO Box 88, St. Landry LA 71367.   Newton Baptist Church: Bi-vocational pastor needed. Send resumes to Newton Baptist Church, P.O. Box 236, Delhia, LA 71232.   Common Ground Mission Bossier City needs puppets to begin a puppet ministry. Call Pastor Jessie Colston at 318.780.9066.   Western Hills Shreveport has a 3 manual Allen Organ available. Rebuilt in 2000. Will need to pick up. Call 318.636.2408.   Revivals, Anniversaries   Ferry Lake Oil City: Revival April 29-May 1. Evangelist: Joe Aulds. Pastor: Heath Hickman.   Midway Jena: Revival May 1-4.  Speaker 11 a.m. Sunday: Jonathon Murdock, a missionary serving in Mexico City. Speaker 6 p.m. Sunday … [Read more...]

By Mark Kelly, Baptist Press   BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) – Georgia pastor Bryant Wright will be nominated for a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Alabama pastor David Platt announced March 11.   Wright, senior pastor of the Atlanta-area Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, will be nominated by David Platt, senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala.   The SBC annual meeting will be June 14-15 in Phoenix.   Platt praised Wright for providing “Kingdom-minded, Christ-exalting servant leadership” for the Southern Baptist Convention this past year.   “I have known Bryant for many years and have great respect for him both personally and pastorally,” Platt said in a statement to Baptist Press. “Bryant possesses a deep love for the local church he leads and for the convention of churches of which he is a part. Over this past year as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, he has graciously and faithfully served Southern Baptist churches, encouraging us to work together for the advancement of the Gospel in North America and to all nations.   “Bryant pastors a church full of people who are passionate about spreading the … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press   PHOENIX (BP) – SBC President Bryant Wright has named the members of the Resolutions Committee who will serve during the June 14-15 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Phoenix.   Wright, pastor of the Atlanta-area Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, appointed the committee in keeping with the provision in SBC Bylaw 20 that its members be named 75 days prior to the start of the annual meeting.   Wright named Paul Jimenez of South Carolina as committee chairman. Jimenez is pastor of Taylors First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C.   The other committee members, in alphabetical order, are:   n Allan Blume, senior pastor, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Boone, N.C.   n Linda Clark, member, Graceland Baptist Church, New Albany, Ind.   n Stephen Farish, senior pastor, Crossroads Church, Grayslake, Ill.   n Mark Howell, senior pastor, Houston Northwest Church, Houston, Texas.   n Tim McCoy, senior pastor, Ingleside Baptist Church, Macon, Ga.   n Russell Moore, dean of the School of Theology and senior vice president for academic administration at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and … [Read more...]

By Erin Roach, Baptist Press   NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – The King James Version of the Bible, first published 400 years ago on May 5, 1611, is the Bible God used to give believers many of the riches of the Puritan movement, and it was the Bible at the heart of the Great Awakenings of the 18th century and the modern missionary movement, an expert noted.[img_assist|nid=7295|title=King James Bible|desc=The King James Version of the Bible was “the Bible” for English-speaking Christians, as professor Michael Haykin describes it, from the date it was published 400 years ago – on May 5, 1611 – into the 1950s.|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640]   “Until the 1950s, the King James Bible was ‘the Bible.’ It’s the version that English-speaking Christians used,” Michael Haykin, professor of church history and biblical spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Baptist Press.   “People like John Wesley and George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards would all have used this version in their preaching. When the modern missionary movement begins with people like William Carey and Hudson Taylor and David Livingstone, this again is the Bible that’s used through the 19th century,” Haykin said. “It’s … [Read more...]