Southern Baptists in La., despite their own damages, modeled Christ in the midst of the storm. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA – Rita was the second hurricane to hit this section of the state last September. Churches responded eagerly early in the month with the opportunity to help the hundreds of thousands of people who poured out of Greater New Orleans in advance of and after Katrina. That’s another story, however, to be told in the Oct. 19 issue of the Message. Rita raced ashore just east of Sabine Pass, Texas, about midnight on Sept. 24, 2005. Some people report sustained winds of more than 100 mph that lasted six hours – throughout a night darkened even more by the lack of electricity. Like Katrina’s breached levees, Rita also sent an aftershot: Tidal surges that exceeded 20 feet in some places across a 150-mile stretch of Southwest Louisiana, devastating many communities and churches and affecting the region as far north as northern Sabine Parish, which is north of Alexandria, even. See the center spread for photos. In this issue we’ll look at some of the stories. Not all. Dozens of churches and thousands of people were affected by Rita. This issue is a representative look at what Southern … [Read more...]

He knows us fully, with all our faults, even the ones we hide from ourselves, and He still chooses to love us. HORNBECK--The day after Hurricane Rita hit our small town, my husband and I decided to wait out the coming days without electricity at my parents’ house with a whole host of other relatives, where we could cook, eat, and clean communally. By day two without electricity, the pleasant gusts of wind the storm had left behind had disappeared, leaving humidity, heat, and mosquitoes in their wake. We were hot, sweaty, dirty, and temperamental. On more than one occasion I found myself snapping at someone or saying something downright mean.  I was shocked at my behavior.  Was my Christian life so precarious that it rested on my personal comfort? As a family we struggled to find enough ice – and gasoline to go get ice – to get us through. Personally, I struggled with selfishness and a tendency to blame others, including my loved ones, for all our troubles, little though they were compared to the plight of many who were much less fortunate. Time alone to pray, meditate, read Scripture and get my mind wrapped around my circumstances seemed out of the question.  Everyone needed … [Read more...]

One of six churches along the Gulf Coast in Cameron Parish, First Cameron struggles to rebuild so that it can become a center for serving its community. First Baptist Church of Cameron is one of six Baptist churches along the Gulf Coast in Cameron Parish. One, Johnson Bayou Baptist, has been repaired. Oak Grove Baptist is nearly done. First Baptist Grand Chenier is totally gone and may not be rebuilt. Ebenezer and Macedonia Baptist churches are washed away. No other churches in lower Cameron Parish are operating at this time. First Baptist Cameron, located in the parish seat, hoped to be functional early in the recovery in order to be a center for relief efforts and a beacon of hope for those who have lost so much. In this we have partially succeeded, in that we have been having a worship service each Sunday since April.  However, the hope of being able to be a center for meeting people’s needs has not materialized, since we do not have a finished space or the manpower to accomplish this alone.  We can get furniture for those in need, but with remodeling about to begin, it would not be prudent to do this at this time. There are many unchurched people living here … [Read more...]

Washed away after Hurricane Rita, 83-year-old Oak Grove Baptist Church is determined to rebuild. Again. OAK GROVE – Washed away after Rita hit last year, 83 year-old Oak Grove Baptist Church is determined to rebuild. Again. In June, 1957, Hurricane Audrey claimed the lives of 10 church members, as well as the parsonage and the church building. Judy Rutherford, member at Oak Grove, lived through that storm. After Audrey, the church chose to rebuild, a path they chose again last February. Because of access restrictions, until January they hadn’t seen the way it looked: as if the hurricane had eaten into the church and its metal fellowship hall. “The roof over the fellowship hall was intact, and that’s what allowed them to [get around new regulations and] rebuild,” said Judy’s mother-in-law Olive Rutherford. The worship center was razed and a fellowship hall built in its place; the fellowship hall was rebuilt into the worship center. The worst part of the hurricane is that her younger son isn’t moving home; he’s decided to stay in Lake Charles. “He gets hurt when he comes and sees nothing left,” she said. God has taught her patience through the hurricanes she’s endured, the church matron said. “When I … [Read more...]

Despite Rita winds vicious enough to drive rain through the brick walls at Dry Creek Baptist Church, pastor Don Hunt chose to ride the storm out with evacuees. DRY CREEK – When Hurricane Rita threatened his community in late September 2005, Don Hunt had planned to evacuate to Pineville. But when evacuees asked him to open Dry Creek Baptist Church, then-pastor Hunt knew his only option was to ride out the storm with them in the building. About 35 evacuees joined him. “It was pretty scary riding out the storm that night, especially when the walls began vibrating and rain began seeping through the lower walls of the section of the building that the hurricane damaged,” said Hunt, who became Beauregard Baptist Association director of missions last November. “Thankfully, we were able to move the evacuees to shelters in Pineville, Alexandria and other locations the next day. This was an experience I’ll never forget.” The metal canopy over Dry Creek Baptist’s drive-through blew off in the wind and the rain was blowing in sideways hard enough to come through the church’s brick walls. “I was sleeping on a mat in my office, rolled over and my arm was in water,” Hunt said. “We … [Read more...]

The Bargeman Memorial Church of God in Christ, a predominantly African American Church of Cameron, La., began worshipping in the fellowship hall at Maplewood First Baptist, a predominantly white church in Sulphur, after Hurricane Rita destroyed the Bargeman Memorial building last year. SULPHUR – The Bargeman Memorial Church of God in Christ, a predominantly African American Church of Cameron, La., began worshipping in the fellowship hall at Maplewood First Baptist, a predominantly white church in Sulphur, after Hurricane Rita destroyed the Bargeman Memorial building last year. “This church family has been a spiritual blessing and an inspiration to my ministry,” said Charles Porter, pastor of Bargeman Memorial, which has relocated to Sulphur permanently and is in the process of locating property here to purchase. “As long as they’re here, we want them to use the property as their own,” said Ronnie Burke, pastor of Maplewood First. On Sunday mornings, Maplewood First meets in the auditorium while Bargeman meets in the fellowship hall.  Bargeman members also meet on Tuesdays and Fridays for their weekly programs. “Our programs are running side by side. But there are times when they need the … [Read more...]

In a town that’s 97 percent Catholic, Pastor Jesse Owen leads his church in rushing toward opportunities to minister in the surrounding communities devastated by Hurricane Rita last year. GUEYDAN – Bonds formed at a community-wide 9/11 memorial service in 2001 strengthened after Hurricane Lilly in 2002 lobbed trees like jousting sticks all over this southwestern Louisiana town, and by the time Katrina sent hundreds of evacuees into the town, first-time Pastor Jesse Owen was a recognized figure. “I’m not here just for my church, but for the town,” Owen said. In a town that’s 97 percent Catholic, he’s been invited over the last five years to perform nine weddings – each with three sessions of pre-marital counseling. “It’s the Catholics who don’t go to church who approach me for different things,” Owen said. “They invite me to drink coffee with them, but say something like, ‘I’m a non-practicing Catholic but I’m still a Catholic so don’t try to change me.’” He doesn’t. He’s made it his business instead to learn about Catholicism so he can better visit with people in his quadrant of the state. Even more than Hurricane Lilly, four years ago, and Audrey in 1957, last September’s Rita ripped … [Read more...]

After housing 437 evacuees from Katrina in area hotels, mostly those rescued from the civic center, Superdome, and Convention Center in New Orleans, this small town 26 six miles west of Lake Charles, La., and seven miles east of Orange, Texas, took the eye of Hurricane Rita as it blasted through here a year ago. VINTON – After housing 437 evacuees from Katrina in area hotels, mostly those rescued from the civic center, Superdome, and Convention Center in New Orleans, this small town 26 six miles west of Lake Charles, La., and seven miles east of Orange, Texas, took the eye of Hurricane Rita as it blasted through here a year ago. After hitting Cameron and Holly Beach, the storm moved north through Hackberry and straight into downtown Vinton, whose population is only about 3,000, not counting Katrina evacuees. “There wasn’t a home or a business here that wasn’t damaged,” said Bill Holifield, pastor at First Vinton, who, along with his wife, was one of the last to leave Vinton after the mandatory evacuation before the storm hit at midnight. “It took us nine hours to get to Baton Rouge,” Holifield said, describing interstates and highways clogged with vehicles from Southwest Louisiana and … [Read more...]

Southern Baptist happenings around the state. Potpourri EUNICE – First church:  Joe Aguillard, guest speaker; Oct. 8, 10:15 a.m.; Dwayne Smith, associate pastor. LONGVILLE – First church:  Adam Paul Williams in concert; Oct. 15, 10:45 a.m.; Stuart Graves, pastor. BATON ROUGE – Broadmoor church:  “Mozart on Mission” concert featuring the sanctuary choir and Donna Toney, Christine Lein, Bernadette FitzPatrick and Lynda Poston-Smith; Oct. 15, 6 p.m.; childcare provided; Paul Henderson, music minister; John W. Goodwin, pastor. ALEXANDRIA – Parkview church:  John Hebert, guest speaker; Oct. 8, 10:45 a.m.; David L. Shaw, pastor. CLAYTON – Faith church:  The Southern Plainsmen in concert; Oct. 14, 6 p.m.; everyone invited; Hershel Clanton, pastor. EUNICE – Acadian camp:  Acadian Academy reunion; Oct. 13, 6 p.m. – Oct. 15, 10 a.m.; main program/alumni business meeting Oct 14, 9 a.m. with meal and fellowship to follow; Wallace Primeaux, guest speaker; Zack Young, music. To register or for information, call 337-457-9047; James Newsom, camp manager. HOUMA – Mulberry church:  The Jeremiah People to perform; Oct. 9, 6 p.m.; free admission; Steve Graves, … [Read more...]

For 33 days after Katrina, Dry Creek Baptist Camp served as an evacuation center for more than 400 folks from the New Orleans area. Amid the tension, uncertainty and helplessness of the evacuees, the camp became a DRY CREEK – For 33 days after Katrina, Dry Creek Baptist Camp served as an evacuation center for more than 400 folks from the New Orleans area. This was our third time in recent years to serve as a center. However, all of the previous times had been for 2- or 3-day periods. When the levees were breached and everyone realized they were not going home soon, if ever, it created a great time of tension among the evacuees.  This uncertainty and helplessness created extreme stress.  Nonetheless, it also opened a wonderful door of opportunity to aid these new friends who were now our long-term guests. During that first week, our evacuation center received its official name: “The City of Hope.” We were so proud of what the name symbolized. These folks, from every walk of life, race, culture, and background, came to a rural camp in Beauregard Parish and found hope, comfort, and the love of Jesus. Our evacuation center officially closed the week after Hurricane Rita, through which most of the New Orleans … [Read more...]