g_assist|nid=8020|title=Upward Soccer|desc=Upward coaches make sure no child sits on the bench and everyone gets equal playing time while teaching the basics of the sport.|link=none|align=left|width=480|height=640]By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer   PINEVILLE – Springtime usually means its time to play ball: baseball.   From central Louisiana throughout the country, parents are busy outfitting children of all ages for the approaching ball season.   These would-be “stars of the future” don their brand new uniforms, squeeze their feet into a pair of year-old cleats, search their rooms for their gloves and bats and head to the backyard to hone their skills with mom and dad before the summer leagues kick off.   Yet, there is always an exception to every rule and at Kingsville Baptist Church, 323 youngsters between the  ages of 5 to 12, are going through their final prep for the start of the church’s Upward soccer program on March 31.   That’s right, SOCCER.   Now in its seventh year, the highly-successful Kingsville program, which is one of only seven in the state and one of just two in central Louisiana, is coming off a record-setting year in 2011 when more than … [Read more...]

By Philip Timothy, Message Staff Writer   [img_assist|nid=8023|title=Jeff Woodrich|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=79|height=100]STATEWIDE – The fact that Jeff Woodrich, Mission Builder and Campers on Mission Strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention, bought a new truck five months ago isn’t news.   The fact he’s put over 30,000 miles – an average of 6,000 miles a month – during that time is.   Because of the amount of jobs (18 presently under way) statewide, Woodrich finds himself in the middle of the road a lot these days as he travels to oversee the different projects.   “From Calumet to Chauvin – from Breaux Bridge to Bernice – from Bastrop to Tall Timbers in Woodworth – from Walker to Denham Springs – it seems I have every type of project taking place in every corner of the state,” Woodrich said.   “It is truly unbelievable (the number of jobs) going on right now, especially with the way the economy has been of late, but God is raining down His blessings, which is allowing these different churches and missions to proceed with their projects,” Woodrich said.   And His blessings have never been more evident than in the project at Victory Baptist Church, a … [Read more...]

By Diane Chandler, Regional Reporter   LACOMBE – Randy Poole knows compassion. He got an up-close lesson when he helped his sister-in-law Debbie get back on her feet after she served a seven-year prison term.   He and his wife Cindy bought her a car, found her Section 8 housing, gave her cash and even vouched to get her a job as a hairdresser at a friend’s salon. But Debbie blew it all, choosing instead to quit her job within months by simply not reporting to work for two weeks, instead moving to another state to be with her friends.   Poole’s hard-learned lesson: the poor have a value system that puts friends above economic stability, one of several facts churches must realize to effectively minister to the impoverished.   Poole shared his advice at an educational meeting for churches interested in CompassionNet, a new North Shore Baptist Association network equipping churches to meet the needs of the lost and suffering.   The recent meeting at First Baptist Church Lacombe focused on effective ministry to the impoverished at the meeting which drew 25 of the 90 churches in the NSBA.   CompassionNet is designed to help individual churches discover distinctive needs … [Read more...]

By Adam Miller, Baptist Press   [img_assist|nid=8027|title=Crossover Love|desc=New Orleans’ culture – unique across the entire United States – is not the only thing that will draw Southern Baptists to the Crescent City in mid-June. Countless thousands of Baptists helped the devastated city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which keelhauled the region in the late summer of 2005. Many of those will return to see how the city they came to love is faring, six years later. In response, a recent study commissioned by the Louisiana Baptist Convention indicates New Orleans residents prefer Southern Baptists.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]NEW ORLEANS (BP) – In addition to jazz, beignets and the French Quarter, there’s an added reason Southern Baptists may enjoy visiting New Orleans for Crossover 2012 – the love they may sense from Crescent City residents.   Hundreds of volunteers – from Louisiana and across the nation – will join together for the June 15-16 outreach prior to the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting.   Southern Baptists have poured heart, soul and sweat into New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.   “We all have our Katrina stories,” said Jack Hunter, … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   DERIDDER – Oxen are nothing more than steers trained as draft animals that are more than 4 years old.   More than 500 people from Beauregard Parish learned about oxen and their power March 17, when they were given the opportunity to ride in a pioneers-type wagon pulled by two oxen owned by Walter Coleman’s R+ Oxen Ministry.   This was one of several activities that took place in Beauregard Parish’s indoor arena by Beauregard Memorial Baptist Church near Longville, where Mark Norwood is pastor. About 125 attend services.   The Lisemby Family and The Wide World Crusaders strength team also were on hand, as were the Coleman Bucking Bulls, Teen Challenge of Ruston, and the Baptist Collegiate Ministries leadership team from McNeese State University.   A bake sale and a silent auction helped recoup some of the $6,000 cost of the day-long event designed as a way to minister to the community, Pastor Norwood said.   “We want to provide resources for the community to help them have better families,” the pastor said. “Better families make better communities.”   This wasn’t specifically designed as an event for the statewide GPS – God’s … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES   Perry Sanders died March 26 in Colorado Springs, Colo. He was 84, and pastor at First Baptist Lafayette for 47 years when he retired in 2006. Services were March 28 in Lafayette.   Jimmie Tupper, new as pastor of First Kinder.   Russell Hinson, resigned as pastor of Beech Ridge Walker.   Danny Mann, new as youth minister at Hebron Denham Springs. Pastor: Joe Alain.   J. Russell DeVore, resigned as pastor of Glade Branch Cravens.   Henry (wife Hazel) Laird, new as pastor of Glade Branch Cravens.   Jeff (wife Noel) Brown, new as youth minister at New River St. Amant. Pastor: Wayne Talley.   Ben Clark, new as youth minister at Koran Haughton. Pastor: Mike Reichard.       Needed/Giving/Available   Russell Hinson: available for pastor, supply and interim. 225.567.5217; 225.806.5163.       Homecomings, Anniversaries, Revivals   Calvary Forest Hill: Revival March 30-April 1. Evangelist: Ryan Perry; Pastor: Joel McMickin.   First Hornbeck: Revival April 1-4. Evangelist: David Crain. Pastor: Jack … [Read more...]

By Joe Conway, Baptist Press   [img_assist|nid=8031|title=Church Plant|desc=Church planter Derek Osburn talks with Amy Johnson, a member of The Vine Community Church in Clovis, N.M. The church plant – already with more than 200 in Sunday services – currently meets at a local Christian school until its new building is ready later in 2012.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=471]EDITOR’S NOTE: Southern Baptist churches are engaged in the annual Week of Prayer for North American Missions, March 4-11, in conjunction with the 2012 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. With a goal of $70 million, AAEO gifts help pay the salaries and ministry support for missionaries serving in North America with the SBC’s North American Mission Board. For more information, visit www.      anniearmstrong.com.   CLOVIS, N.M. (BP) – Derek Osburn never set out to be a poster child for missional church staff members but, as a youth minister in New Mexico, God broadened his horizons.   The pivotal decision point for Osburn came at a state evangelism conference where Ed Stetzer challenged the audience. Stetzer, a longtime church planter and church planting advocate, is vice president of research and ministry development for … [Read more...]

By John Kyle, LBC Communications Director   [img_assist|nid=8034|title=Wave of Prayer continues|desc=Inclement weather forced the Rapides’ Awaken Wave of Prayer event inside the Louisiana Baptist Convention Building instead of it being held at the Rapides Parish Courthouse. People are gathering on the steps of courthouses across the state as part of Louisiana Southern Baptists’ ‘Wave of Prayer’ seeking a spiritual awakening in the state. The wave will conclude on April 29 at a bi-centennial celebration on the Capitol steps in Baton Rouge.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=476]ALEXANDRIA – Three weeks and twenty-three parishes later, the Awaken Wave of Prayer has made its presence felt as it rolls across Louisiana to an April 29 bi-centennial celebration on the Capitol steps in Baton Rouge. The April 29 date coincides with the 200th Anniversary of Louisiana’s statehood and 200 years of Baptist ministry in the state.   “We’ve definitely seen God begin to move in the hearts of His people,” said David Hankins, Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.  “We’re hearing testimonies from directors of missions, pastors and church members regarding the impact of the initial launch of the 21 Days of … [Read more...]

By Ginger Culpepper, Special to the Message   [img_assist|nid=8035|title=MJAM Lafayette|desc=Worship was as much a part of M-Jam as were the other parts of the annual event: learning about missions, meeting missionaries, making new friends and thinking of ways to be a missionary even before becoming a teenager.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427]LAFAYETTE – “I’m excited and fired up about what God is going to do in your lives and communities,” Children/Youth Mission Education Strategist Kimberly Aguillard told the girls and boys at M-Jam.   “There may be a day when God calls you to go to a different state or country. Wherever He calls you, you need to be obedient. But you don’t have to be an adult to be on mission.”   That sentiment was relayed again and again by each of the conference speakers at the Missions Jamboree, held two consecutive weekends in March at First Baptist Lafayette and Ridge Avenue Baptist in West Monroe.   M-Jam is an annual event sponsored by the Women’s Missions and Ministry team for Girls in Action and Children in Action groups from around the state.   Almost 700 children – counting both events – were inspired to get “Fired Up” for missions. Both … [Read more...]

By Laura Fielding, IMB Communications   [img_assist|nid=8037|title=Praying for missionaries|desc=Family and friends gather around the International Mission Board’s newest missionaries to pray for them during a special service March 21 at Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles where 61 new missionaries were appointed.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427]LAKE CHARLES (BP) – He was a rebellious punk rock skateboarder who openly renounced his family’s faith, telling his parents that “God was a joke.”   But God had a plan for Charles Drake*. [* indicates name changed for security reasons.] During college, he met a friend who also listened to punk rock but didn’t act like a punk rocker. He was loving, kind and compassionate – and he invited Drake to join a men’s Bible study group.   “[I] started reading the New Testament and was blown away by Jesus – His power to raise the dead, to calm storms … His compassion to forgive sins, to die on a cross for my sins,” Drake said. “He saved me.”   Charles and Renee* Drake, who now have two children – they plan to live among an East Asian people group – were among 61 newly-appointed missionaries honored March 21 during a service at Trinity Baptist … [Read more...]