By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
MOUREAUVILLE – The oppressive summertime humidity was no match for a group of Kingdom Builders who, in early June, helped the first Louisiana Baptist church in Moreauville build a new multi-purpose facility to help expand the Gospel in the community.
A team of 57 people from 31 Louisiana Baptist churches, June 3-7, installed framing, sheetrock, wiring and plumbing inside the 2,880-square-foot Moreauville Community Church facility that will house a worship center and food pantry.
Once Kingdom Builders (mostly Baptists but who minister to all denominations) is done, Baptist Builders (Louisiana Baptist sponsored and Baptist focused), will finish any remaining work.
“We worked at a snail’s pace the first day and went through a week’s worth of Gatorade and water in the first day,” Kingdom Builders President Randy Ray told the Baptist Message. “It’s hot out here but we are all staying hydrated as we carry on this important task.
“To me this is a picture of what a New Testament church is,” he said. “It’s a picture of cooperation when we have all these people from all these churches together to accomplish this kingdom purpose.”
Moreauville Community Church joins three other church plants established since 2010 in an Avoyelles Parish community that previously had no Louisiana Baptist congregation. The others are Life Point Community Church in Mansura, Point of Life Community Church in Plaucheville and Bayou Life Community Church in Cottonport.
Moreauville Community Church has received a church planting grant and a first unit building grant through the Louisiana Baptist missions and ministry team. These grants are possible thanks to the generosity of Louisiana Baptist Churches in giving to the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering and Cooperative Program.
“Brent Nations (pastor of the church) has done a great job and shown incredible resilience,” Louisiana Baptist church planting strategist Lane Corley said. “We’re very proud of his work and ex-cited about what God is doing through Moreauville Community Church.”
This is the second project Kingdom Builders has completed this year, and the fourth such effort for them in Avoyelles Parish. In March, they installed framing for a new worship center at Liberty Baptist Church in Calhoun, whose facility was rebuilt after a tornado destroyed it in the spring of 2018.
According to its website, Kingdom Builders is a construction mission group established in 1998. The ministry’s first official action was build ing a church in Mandaree, North Dakota.
Linda Butler, secretary for Kingdom Builders, said the effort is a visible reminder that Christ followers always are on mission for Him.
“You are a missionary forever,” Butler said. “We are out here to help build for Avoyelles Parish this new church, which will give them an opportunity to have a facility to hand out clothes and build a chance to share the Gospel too.”
Nations said this church planting effort has been three years in the making. The core group, which now is 25 strong, began meeting in homes in January 2016, and in August 2018 purchased a large piece of property that included a small building where they currently worship.
Nations hopes they can hold their first worship service in the new building sometime in the fall.
“This is a true miracle,” Nations said. “We’ve wanted this type of facility for so long and are grateful for those who came out to help us build it. This will allow us to have a ministry to serve and help this community as we meet their needs physically and spiritually.”
