Even when it comes to bangs-testing cattle, the 28 churches of this association are willing to minister, said Herb Dickerson, director of missions here for almost 11 years. BIG CREEK BAPTIST ASSOCIATION – Even when it comes to bangs-testing cattle, the 28 churches of this association are willing to minister, said Herb Dickerson, director of missions here for almost 11 years. Bangs disease, an infectious disease in domestic animals that causes spontaneous abortions and is transmittable to humans, can immobilize a cattle farmer. Even the testing, required by the government, can put a burden on cattle farmers. “It’s a big mess to get all your cows up, hold them down, get the blood, and give it to the vet,” Dickerson said. Once an outbreak occurs, farmers in an infection zone each need three clear tests consecutively over a period of three months before they can sell their cows again. “I’ve been in churches where the number one ministry is bangs-testing the cow’s,” Dickerson added. “That’s the way a rural country setting is.” Aside from bangs testing, the churches in this association minister in a number of ways, including disaster relief in New Orleans, the Sandblast Islands, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, the … [Read more...]

When his mother was involved in a car accident that left her crippled for life when he was five years old, Herb Dickerson, director of missions for the Big Creek Baptist Association, faced a life of uncertainty. ALEXANDRIA — When his mother was involved in a car accident that left her crippled for life when he was five years old, Herb Dickerson, director of missions for the Big Creek Baptist Association, faced a life of uncertainty. Without a father nearby, Dickerson and his 6-month-old brother lived with various relatives as his mother recuperated. It was in Orange, Texas that he came to know the Lord. “I felt very vulnerable and scared,” Dickerson said about his mother’s health and about what would happen to him, circumstances that ultimately led him to place his trust in Jesus Christ. He began walking to the church across the street from where he was living. “I worried and worried,” he said. “Then, sometime after my seventh birthday, I joined the church on my own, made a profession of faith and was baptized.” When his mother recuperated to the point of being able to walk again, the family reunited in Burkeville, Texas, Dickerson said. “I took care of my mother, as much as a child could,” Dickerson said. “She was … [Read more...]

Peanut Butter and Jelly don’t shy away from delivering a well-deserved swat to human traditions when it gets in the way of reaching people for God. LEESVILLE – Peanut Butter and Jelly don’t shy away from delivering a well-deserved swat to human traditions when it gets in the way of reaching people for God. A comedy team of two, best friends Michelle Self and Pam Nunn, both members at First Baptist here, PB and J got its start about 12 years ago when the duo was asked to put on a skit for a Valentine banquet at church, Self said. “We try to get people to think out of the box, to not worry or be fearful of doing a mission,” she continued. “The Lord wants us to spread the gospel throughout the world. We all just need to do our own thing and try to spread it.” And that’s what PB and J does, both as a team and individually. At a recent WMU meeting in Anacoco, for example, the team performed a song called “We’ve Never Done It That Way Before” all the while switching hats, from baseball caps, to frilly “church” hats. The point: maybe someone in the audience would recognize her own “hat” and realize that it’s okay to go beyond tradition, especially if it means reaching people for Christ. As individuals, the two are … [Read more...]

They tell similar jokes about kids, body image and the difference between men and women. SHREVEPORT – They tell similar jokes about kids, body image and the difference between men and women. Amidst  the laughter, you might not even know what was different about Jinny Henson’s five-minute guest spot at The Funny Bone Comedy Club. It was clean. No words inappropriate for a family newspaper. Subject matter that wouldn’t require  “The Talk” with your kids. Just funny observations about life. Henson bills herself as a Christian comedienne as well  as “preacher’s wife, nutty blonde, soccer mom.” Wearing trendy, flowy skirts and multi-layered tops, the native Texan moves  easily between serious discussions of faith and laughing at the human part of church. She last year moved to Shreveport  with her husband, John, associate pastor for emerging ministries at First Baptist Church in Shreveport, and their two children, and is hoping to share her gift with northwest Louisiana. “We all need a good laugh,” she said. “We live  in a tumultuous time with war and terror and the price of gasoline.” Her comedy career began in middle school when she started doing impersonations. Eventually, she became a regular at the annual … [Read more...]

Schoolteacher Cheryl Ruth Turner participated in the 2006 writer’s conference sponsored by the Baptist Message, and caught a vision for ministry to women. EUNICE – Schoolteacher Cheryl Ruth Turner participated in the 2006 writer’s conference sponsored by the Baptist Message, and caught a vision for ministry to women. Turner is a storyteller of the people and events in her life. Adept with words – read her website for riveting tales – she draws you in and engages you with tears and laughter as you relate her story to your life, and feel the better for the encounter. The ‘comedy’ in Turner’s ministry is more “I can relate” storytelling than it is slapstick humor. … [Read more...]

Insightful Bible studies and comedic timing are a perfect combo in this ministry. NEW ORLEANS – This entire page could not do justice to the talent and ministry skills of Rebecca Hughes – womanontheedge.org – and her sidekick Kathy Frady – thecreativedramatist.com. These women did for pastors’ wives at a recent BAGNO associational event what a team of therapists couldn’t have done in a year. Hughes brings insightful Bible studies and Frady has perfect comedic timing. Together they minister to wives of pastors. DOMs: book ‘em!   … [Read more...]

Southern Baptist doctors Judy Williams and Bruce Roach used to have a friendly competition at Jibla Baptist Hospital in Yemen: Who would work the longest “shift” without walking out the front gate? RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – Southern Baptist doctors Judy Williams and Bruce Roach used to have a friendly competition at Jibla Baptist Hospital in Yemen: Who would work the longest “shift” without walking out the front gate? “I think the longest for me was three months,” recalls Williams, a surgeon who arrived in the isolated Arab nation in 1999. “People would bring me food, and we had a commissary on the compound. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a workaholic, and my work was in the operating room. That’s where my friendships with Yemenis were made.” Williams was one of the last in a long line of Southern Baptist workers who gave their skills, their hearts – and in the case of three missionaries slain on the job, their lives – to the hundreds of thousands of Yemenis who came to the hospital for care. When Williams and several co-workers walked out the gate of the hospital compound for the last time this spring, their departure marked the end of four decades of fulltime Southern Baptist presence at the hospital, which was begun … [Read more...]

Any hardships encountered by this Louisiana couple in the Dakotas are minor in comparison to their former Muslim ministry. MINOT, ND – Serving as missionaries with the SBC’s IMB  in Yemen from 1997 to 2002, Bruce Roach, along with his wife Beth and two sons, Caleb, now 13, and Michael, now 6, faced hardships and danger, yet also witnessed God’s activity, Beth said. She shared her family’s story at a recent WMU event in Vernon Baptist Association. The Roaches are from Louisiana. Stationed at the Southern Baptist Hospital in Jibla, Yemen, which at the time was funded by the International Mission Board, Bruce was chief of the medical staff while Beth homeschooled Caleb, cared for Michael, and spent time in her favorite activity: visiting with Yemeni women, she said. “Arabs originally migrated from the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, which is where Yemen is located,” Beth said. A very poor country about the size of Nebraska, Yemen has the highest percentage of Muslims in the world – 99.98 percent. The other .02 percent are Jews, a total of about 268 people. “We could discuss matters of faith, witness, or give someone a Bible only if we were asked specifically by a Yemeni,” Beth said. The Yemeni government did not … [Read more...]

In the city of Tiberius, on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee on a December evening in 1998, Bill Bailey listened as a friend shared his testimony about being called to witness for the Lord. BOSSIER CITY – In the city of Tiberius, on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee on a December evening in 1998, Bill Bailey listened as a friend shared his testimony about being called to witness for the Lord. At that moment, Bailey felt the Holy Spirit convicting him in a similar way, he said later. “I thought that if Jesus could change [my friend] so much he could change me too,” Bailey wrote in his book You Will Never Run Out of Jesus. “I prayed for a long time that night. I told Jesus that I knew I was His child … but not a true servant. I asked Jesus to let His will be mine. I wanted to surrender my life and services to him – whatever that would be.” Over the next year, Bailey’s life was changed forever, said the doctor, who is a member at Airline Baptist Church in Bossier City. By February of 1999, Bailey was doing short-term international mission trips. By September, he had retired from full-time medical practice to devote himself fully to short-term mission trips. “There comes a time in life when you reach the … [Read more...]

How does God grow a church? ALEXANDRIA – How does God grow a church? Healthy, growing churches seem to share eight quality characteristics, according to Christian Schwarz, founder and president of the Institute for Natural Church Development (NCD) in Germany. “[Schwarz] got to noticing that there was a connection along several points on churches he was studying across Europe,” said Randy Tompkins, president of Cornerstone Consultants here and a provider for NCD surveys. “After years of work and study, [Schwarz discovered] these eight characteristics.” The characteristics are: “empowering leadership; gift-oriented ministry; passionate spirituality; functional structures; inspiring worship service; holistic small groups; need-oriented evangelism; and loving relationships,” according to Natural Church Development, a book by Schwarz. Through NCD, churches can measure their effectiveness in all of these areas and thus “discover and develop [their] God-given, unique nature,” Schwarz wrote. Tompkins – former state Sunday school director and Stewardship and Cooperative Program director at the Louisiana Baptist Convention – can lead a Louisiana church through a NCD survey which is designed to measure the perception of … [Read more...]