By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ORLANDO, Fla. (LBM) - The International Mission Board appointed 63 new missionaries in a sending celebration, including five from Louisiana. Among those were Justin and Meredith Sassard, whose sending church is Harvest Church, New Orleans. The names of three others from Louisiana could not be published because of security concerns. During a time of testimony, the Sassards shared that they met while serving as journeymen with the IMB three years ago. They then moved to New Orleans for Justin Sassard to attend seminary at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and joined Harvest Church in the city. “Our call to missions comes out of biblical preaching and discipleship within the churches we grew up in,” Meredith Sassard said. “Our love for the church grew overseas and while in New Orleans for seminary, our church in New Orleans, Harvest Church, is sending us out, and they are here with us today.” Justin Sassard added: “We desire to go to Spain to plant and strengthen churches in a place where there are so few biblical churches. Please pray for us as we make this transition.” Andrew Hanna, pastor with Harvest Church, expressed his appreciation for the Sassards. … [Read more...]
Dew: NOBTS remains on mission for Christ
By Baptist Message staff ORLANDO, Fla. (LBM) - New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Leavell College students, faculty and staff remain on mission, President Jamie Dew told messengers, June 9, during the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. Dew said that last year, students shared the Gospel more than 20,000 times and recorded more than 2,000 decisions for Christ. He shared that several times a year, students and faculty volunteer in the local community and share the love of Christ on Serve Day. On this day, they will have a chapel service and then disperse into New Orleans to engage in various service projects and evangelism efforts across New Orleans. “We are on mission,” he said. “Morale is high. Our students are flourishing, spiritually speaking. “I’m not suggesting that we’re perfect,” he suggested. “I’m not suggesting that we don’t still face problems from time to time here and there, but our students are people that are leaning in hard, fighting against their sin, trying to walk with Christ and love Him with their whole being and serve Him with all of their life. And that makes for a very joyful, fun place to be.” Dew expressed gratitude for allowing him to serve as president since … [Read more...]
Crossover yields 1,077 decisions for Christ
By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer ORLANDO, Fla. (LBM) – Evangelistic efforts that preceded the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting resulted in 1,077 new believers, topping 2025 Crossover Dallas, where 711 first-time salvation decisions were recorded. It was the first time that Crossover salvation numbers exceeded a thousand since 2018, when 1,015 salvation decisions were documented (another 3,214 salvation decisions were recorded in 2018 during a related Harvest America Crusade by Greg Laurie). CROSSOVER TALLIES 2024 – 185 (Indianapolis) 2023 – 336 (New Orleans) 2022 – 574 (Anaheim) 2021 – 176 (Nashville) 2020 – pandemic 2019 – 364 (Birmingham) LOCAL OUTREACH According to the North American Mission Board, 554 churches participated in 2026 Crossover Orlando, June 1-7, with 3,940 volunteers who shared the Gospel with 19,905 people. Evangelistic efforts included sports tournaments, prison outreaches, student rallies, block parties, door-to-door witnessing, compassion projects and more. LOUISIANA PRESENCE Seventy students and professors from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (including undergraduates with Leavell College), Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary … [Read more...]
Louisiana’s Fountain elected WMU SBC president
By Staff ORLANDO, Florida (WMU SBC, LBM) – Carolyn Fountain, past president of the Louisiana Woman’s Missionary Union, has been elected president of the Woman’s Missionary Union of the Southern Baptist Convention. According to a Facebook post from the WMU SBC, Fountain was elected the 25th president of the organization during its Celebration and Annual Meeting, June 7. A native of Tallulah, Fountain works with the Women’s Learning Center, a ministry of the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services in Monroe, where she tutors women in reading and writing as they strive to achieve their High School Equivalency Test diploma. Fountain and her husband, Leroy, have been married 48 years and are members of the Well of Monroe, a church plant of First Baptist Church, West Monroe. Together they serve churches in Northwest Louisiana by helping pastors of church plants and revitalizations incorporate missions into their strategy for church health. … [Read more...]
