Terror struck the hearts of New Orleans residents once again as early morning tornados touched down Feb. 13 in areas still recovering from the flood-waters of Katrina.         NEW ORLEANS – Terror struck the hearts of New Orleans residents once again as early morning tornados touched down Feb. 13 in areas still recovering from the flood-waters of Katrina.   Tornadoes came dangerously close to two Southern Baptist churches, Westwego Baptist and Gentilly Baptist.   Southern Baptists were on the scene immediately, as volunteers and residents trained in disaster relief went into action.   "We woke up to a ‘train’ coming through," said Jay Adkins, Westwego pastor. "Brian Scholl, my youth pastor, and I grabbed our disaster relief credentials and went to work."   In a 7:30 a.m. call to the Baptist Message, Adkins reported that by 3:30 a.m., 30 minutes after the tornado struck, he already could see Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers at a nearby expressway. Jackie and Linda James, project managers for the Arkansas Baptist Builders, woke to a rocking trailer about 3:15 a.m. as hail and rain pelted the trailer that is their home while on their volunteer assignment in New Orleans.   The … [Read more...]

Saturday, Feb. 17 – Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief, the American Red Cross and Calvary Baptist Church, New Orleans have teamed up once again to serve hot meals during a crisis.         NEW ORLEANS, Saturday, Feb. 17 – Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief, the American Red Cross and Calvary Baptist Church, New Orleans have teamed up once again to serve hot meals during a crisis. After a tornado struck neighborhoods on both the east and west sides of the Mississippi River, the New Orleans area was reeling from the devastating effects of another natural disaster. Louisiana Baptists answered the call to minister in the affected areas. A kitchen unit was dispatched from Pearl River, Louisiana. Lonnie Lindsey and three other men came from Keithville, near Shreveport, prepared to cook 1,000 meals per day. In addition, Calvary Baptist Church provided housing for the cooking team and the use of their facilities to send meals via the Red Cross to the shelters and neighborhoods that were recovering from the devastation.   Dishall Davis and her nine-month-old daughter, Ashonte, have been eating the meals cooked by the Keithville team. She and her daughter were asleep in their first-floor hotel room when the … [Read more...]

The people of New Orleans are traumatized this morning as we hear accounts of last night’s tornadoes that killed one person and injured a dozen. Dear friends,   The people of New Orleans are traumatized this morning as we hear accounts of last night’s tornadoes that killed one person and injured a dozen.   The tornado damage itself is bad enough. Dozens of homes have been severely damaged or destroyed. Many schools are closed.   I write this email from my home this morning, as I did for months after Hurricane Katrina, and I am suffering from deja vu. Thousands of people are without electrical power. The church facility has no electrical service, so we are all working at home just as we did for much of the first year post-Katrina.   Beyond the immediate problems is the mental, emotional, and spiritual trauma of seeing our homes and schools dark once again and our neighborhoods strewn with fresh storm debris. We had too few schools in the area to begin with. Now some schools that were operating are damaged again.   It’s like the picture you see of a severely beaten man who is on his knees, bleeding, and then he takes another blow. You wonder if this is the point where the poor fellow will just fall over and lie … [Read more...]

At one time in his life, Guy Farnsworth believed going to a Baptist church was tantamount to sacrilege.         KENNER—At one time in his life, Guy Farnsworth believed going to a Baptist church was tantamount to sacrilege.   But at 15, Farnsworth moved from New York to Riverside, Calif., with his family. Reared in the Jewish faith by his mother, the five Farnsworth children were nevertheless made to attend a Baptist church by their gentile father.   Both parents thought their children needed an opportunity to make friends in their new neighborhood and that they "would meet the right kind of people at church," he explained. Neither parent expected them to meet Jesus.   "Within a three-week period all five us came to know Christ," Farnsworth said. "Mom forbade us to tell our grandparents."   Nevertheless, Farnsworth’s faith began to flourish.   "I haven’t lived a perfect life since then," he said. "But as long as I’ve kept my eyes on God, no matter what happens, He’s been able to pull me through a lot of things.   "Now I’m a completed Jew," he continued. "Jews are looking for the Messiah. I found the Messiah."   Farnsworth, a long-time member of First Baptist Kenner, moved to the area with … [Read more...]

Scheduled to exchange a kidney the next day, Bonnie and Jerry Grant stood surrounded by their church family bathing them in prayer on Dec. 17. ZWOLLE – Scheduled to exchange a kidney the next day, Bonnie and Jerry Grant stood surrounded by their church family bathing them in prayer on Dec. 17. Jerry Grant, a deacon at Aimwell Baptist in Zwolle, had suffered kidney failure more than six years previously and after more than three and half years of dialysis, was facing death without a kidney donor, Bonnie Grant said. "He was giving up," she explained. "He didn’t know if he could go on with dialysis; it had gotten so hard. He didn’t know if he wanted to live the rest of his life that way." But Bonnie Grant, insisting that doctors test her to see if she could be her husband’s donor, refused to let him give up. Doctors remained skeptical but performed the test. Jerry Grant, 47, first fell ill at work with flu-like symptoms and nausea in 1999. By the time his wife arrived to pick him up, his condition had worsened to heart attack-like symptoms, so the two rushed to the hospital in Shreveport, where doctors discovered his kidneys had failed, she said. In intensive care for four days, doctors doubted Grant would survive. Then, people … [Read more...]

Louisiana College receives $51,000 grant, computer labs   The Louisiana College Division of Nursing was awarded a $51,000 grant from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, Inc. The grant money will be used for nursing scholarships during the 2007-2008 academic year.   Dr. Alex Ferry, Chairman of the LC Division of Nursing said, "It is an honor to receive a grant from this foundation. We have consistently received grant money from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation for student scholarships." Ferry continues, "Although this year we are pleased that the foundation increased the amount of our grant from last year."   The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation is a charity dedicated to the support of women in nine southeastern states. The foundation devotes most of its resources to Lettie Pate Whitehead scholarship program, which provides scholarship grants to schools and colleges for deserving female students. The Foundation also supports selected nursing homes and hospices in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia serving the needs of elderly women.   Also, the LC Nursing and Science divisions are utilizing two new computer labs and computers made possible by generous donations given by CHRISTUS St. Frances … [Read more...]

Vernon DOM requests correction From E.J. Bradshaw, director of missions in Vernon Baptist Association: In your story [in the Feb. 8 issue] entitled "Post-Abortion Trauma Lingers," paragraph 5 states "Bolgiano is director of the Vernon Baptist Association’s pregnancy center." The Resource Center began as a ministry of Vernon Baptist Association’s Helping Hands. In an effort to enlarge its scope of services and support, it is now an independent corporation with an independent board of directors made up of members of various churches in the community. It does receive monthly monetary and other support from Vernon Baptist Association. The Message regrets the error. 0 … [Read more...]

Staff changes David "Eddy" Shoemaker has accepted the position of interim pastor at Ouachita Baptist West Monroe.  He begins this service in addition to his full-time position as staff chaplain at St. Francis Medical Center. John Long is the new Associate Pastor/Youth Minister at Calvary Slidell. Charles Starnes is pastor. Seeking staff Full-time pastor needed: Send resume to First Baptist Church, Attn: Pastor Search Committee, PO Box 205, Castor LA 71016. Organist needed at Calvary Slidell.  Please call 985-643-6957. Charles Starnes is pastor. Part-time minister of music needed; small church: Indian Mound Baptist Church, PO Box 275, Greenwell Springs, La. 70739;Contact: imbcinformer@gmail.com or 225-261-8271. Jim Effersonis pastor. First Baptist Church, Farmerville, is accepting resumes for pastor.  Video tape messages are welcomed.  Send to First Baptist Church, Mrs. Una George, Chairman, Pastor Search Committee, PO Box 296, Farmerville LA 71241. Director of Education, part-time to full-time. Broadmoor Baptist, Shreveport. John Goodwin, pastor. Part-time youh minister needed at Grace Baptist, Jonesville. Deaths Virgil Groves, a pastor in Louisiana for at least 50 years, died Feb. 14 in Minden. He was 80. … [Read more...]

The scientist whose group took part in groundbreaking embryonic stem cell research in 1998 says cures using embryonic stem cells are likely decades away. Embryonic stem cell pioneer says cures likely decades away   LAKE DELTON, Wis. (BP) – The scientist whose group took part in groundbreaking embryonic stem cell research in 1998 says cures using embryonic stem cells are likely decades away.   University of Wisconsin scientist James Thomson made the comments during a speech Feb. 8 in Lake Delton, Wis., to the Wisconsin Newspaper Association’s annual convention, the Associated Press reported. In 1998, Thomson’s team became the first group to grow human embryonic stem cells in culture, sparking a controversy over the use of embryos in stem cell research that continues to this day.   Although some supporters of embryonic stem cell research have implied cures are just around the corner, Thomson cautioned that cures probably are decades away, AP said. While Thomson believes researchers will learn how to grow embryonic stem cells into various forms of body tissue and organs within a decade, he also thinks safety concerns will delay cures for humans, AP reported.   "I don’t want to sound too pessimistic … [Read more...]

New initiatives launched recently by the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary combine pastoral experience and academic scholarship to answer common questions like "What does it mean to be a Baptist?" and "Why be a Baptist?" NEW ORLEANS (BP) – New initiatives launched recently by the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary combine pastoral experience and academic scholarship to answer common questions like "What does it mean to be a Baptist?" and "Why be a Baptist?"   The initiatives include a download of the week -- free MP3s and podcasts of presentations by Baptist speakers -- and a blog for conversations regarding the identity and direction of Southern Baptists.   The "Baptist Center Blog," which provides conversational exchanges with Southern Baptist leaders, coupled with the academic presentations of Baptist theology available on the center’s website, www.baptistcenter.com, is intended to give every Baptist the opportunity to examine why being a Baptist is a sound biblical choice.   "Probably at no other time has there been more confusion about what it means to be a Baptist," Steve Lemke, the center’s acting director, said. … [Read more...]