Bordered on the west by 1,200 miles (the length of the parish) of Toledo Bend Dam shoreline, and with a sparse population scattered throughout its piney woods, Sabine Parish is a paradise for those who enjoy the outdoors.
Editor’s note: The year 2007 marks
the 300th anniversary of Baptist associations in America, and to honor
this milestone the Message plans to take an up-close look at one of
Louisiana’s 48 Baptist associations each week this year, in no
particular order. Watch for your association even as you see how God is
working through the state’s other associations.
SABINE ASSOCIATION – Bordered on the west by 1,200 miles (the length of
the parish) of Toledo Bend Dam shoreline, and with a sparse population
scattered throughout its piney woods, Sabine Parish is a paradise for
those who enjoy the outdoors.
People enjoy canoeing, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, fishing,
boating, r.v.-ing, scuba diving, swimming, flower and bird watching,
golfing, and more. This is what keeps tourists coming back every year
and the more than 23,000 residents sticking around.
Toledo Bend Dam, the largest man-made reservoir in the South and the
fifth-largest in the nation, is one of the state’s jewels, and Sabine
Baptist Association is in the thick of it, using every opportunity to
reach those outdoorsy types for Christ.
Sabine Parish is dissected into two Southern Baptist associations,
North Sabine and Sabine, by Hwy. 6 which runs on a slight diagonal
through the center of the parish.
Below Hwy. 6 is Sabine Association (which also creeps into the northern
part of Vernon Parish) where 25 Southern Baptist churches and two
missions are scattered throughout the woods that also offer one of the
largest employing industries in the area: timber.
Many, the largest town and the seat of Sabine Parish, has almost 3,000
residents, is located on Hwy. 6, and is itself divided between North
Sabine and Sabine Associations.
Organized in 1847, the association consists of churches and missions
that range in total membership from 16 (El Aposento Alto Mission) to
more than 500 (First Baptist Many).
In all, about 4,700 Southern Baptists are on church rolls in the
association. They added more than 250 people to their fellowships last
year through baptisms and other additions.
All together, the churches average around 1,800 in worship attendance,
and giving totaled $3,035,880, more than 12 percent of which was passed
on to various mission and ministry funds including those within the
association; the Cooperative Program; Georgia Barnette, Annie
Armstrong, Lottie Moon and other SBC funds; and other gifts.
Throughout the year, several churches in Sabine Association achieved milestones.
Alford Heights Baptist renovated its sanctuary complete with new carpet and a newly-restored baby grand piano.
Fisher Baptist ordained Randy Parker in March, and in July and
August welcomed 13 new members. With the donation of a used church van
in July, they began a successful van ministry.
The foundation for a fellowship hall was laid at Harmony Cove, while
John Holloway, 16, of Oak Hill Baptist, served as a summer missionary
in Botswana, Africa, through Global Expeditions/Teen Mania.
Plainview Baptist had several new purchases, including more land, a new
piano, and a new sign to replace the one destroyed by Hurricane Rita.
Pleasant Hill sponsored missionaries in the Panama Jungle and at
Cornerstone Children’s Ranch at Eagle Pass, Texas. Cornerstone helps to
provide food and clothing for those in need in the Piedros Negros,
Mexico, area.
Pleasant View opened and dedicated a youth activity room on May 7 and celebrated its 75th anniversary Aug. 20.
Arturo Us, the pastor for El Aposento Alto in Florien, the
association’s Hispanic Mission, spent much of his time in 2006
traveling the area providing Bible studies, discipleship classes,
prayer meetings, shopping trips and help with errands to approximately
115 Hispanics living in the area.
House of Hope Ministry in Many provided food and clothing to more than
13,000 people last year, while Hope Baptist Mission, an off-shoot of
the storefront ministry, averaged 20 in Bible study and 25 in worship
services.
Sabine Association, along with other associations in District Eight,
supports the Toledo Bend Baptist Resort Ministry, the Northwestern
State University Baptist Student Ministry, the Clara Springs Baptist
Encampment, and the District Eight Baptist Convention.
The Toledo Bend Baptist Resort Ministry focuses on sharing the gospel
with visitors and staff at two state parks and three Sabine River
Authority parks.
More than 350 volunteers helped conduct Fun in the Son Clubs at
the resort and, during two weeks of the summer, vacation Bible school.
Director Mary Gore hopes to add recreation ministry to the agenda this
year.
The Baptist Collegiate Ministry at NSU, awaiting to break ground on a
new building next month, has involved students in Bible studies,
intramural sports, prayer walking, fellowships, classroom evangelism,
road trips, witness training, missions fund raising and trips, and
ministry through singing, drama, recreation, and student-led worship.