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...]