FERRIDAY—“God will provide!” When Pastor Wayne Gray speaks those words, many listen and learn to trust God. Gray’s faith was born out of his own crisis of belief in 1999, he said. “Genesis 22:14 became my life verse: ‘And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”’” Gray spoke those words to a young father who had lost everything after Hurricane Katrina. The man, who had no money (even his bank was destroyed), arrived at the Delta storefront mission desperately searching for baby formula for his daughter who had a serious heart condition and needed a certain kind. The father, whom Gray could tell was used to providing well for his family, was forced to ask others for help, and, much worse, was still falling short of what his loved ones needed. “God is really good at providing things,” Gray told the man who, at Gray’s request, wrote down the name of the formula. Sticking the slip of paper in his pocket, Gray prayed with the man and assured him that God would take care of him and his daughter. The next day, Gray went to Istrouma Baptist Church in an 18-wheeler for supplies to help provide for the many evacuees in his town. After loading up, Gray … [Read more...]
Pastorless church feeds hundreds
Pleaseant View Baptist Church, a small country church if ever there was one, had an attendance of 50 on a good Sunday, was looking for a pastor, and was housing 30 Katrina evacuees when God sent them 208 more evacuees to house as a result of Hurricane Rita. PLEASANT VIEW – Pleasant View Baptist Church, a small country church if ever there was one, had an attendance of 50 on a good Sunday, was looking for a pastor, and was housing 30 Katrina evacuees when God sent them 208 more evacuees to house as a result of Hurricane Rita. “There was no way you could have gotten that many people together in one accord unless God was in it,” said Delores Hopkins, the woman who brought the first 15 Katrina evacuees to Pleasant View after rescuing them off the side of the road. On her way home from work right after Katrina, Hopkins passed some cars that seemed stranded on the side of the road. Initially she kept going, but having just spent the day watching fights erupt and people steal gas at the convenience store where she worked, and knowing that none of the surrounding motels and hotels had any room, she prayed for the Lord to use her. She felt compelled to stop a couple of miles down the road, turn her … [Read more...]
11 inmates baptized after Katrina
Five missionaries trained by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary were trapped at Rayburn Correctional Center, then named Washington Correctional Institute, during Katrina. ANGIE – Five missionaries trained by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary were trapped at Rayburn Correctional Center, then named Washington Correctional Institute, during Katrina. The storm, whose eye passed within ten miles of the prison, brought un-precedented opportunities for these men to share their faith. All five are incarcerated for life. They received their theological education while at Angola and relocated to RCC as part of the “Farm’s” missionary inmate chaplain program. They work with Wayne Cook, chaplain at RCC and senior pastor at Pine First Baptist Church, and multiply his ministry at the prison exponentially, the pastor said. These men recognize that God can bring good from the worst this world has to offer, Cook said, and the inmate missionaries agree. “God uses prison to transform lives. I don’t know if I would have ended up in the ministry if I hadn’t been in a place where He could get my undivided attention,” Inmate Chaplain John Sheehan said. When Katrina blew through, the … [Read more...]
Istrouma opens its arms
"It's so fresh I can't deal with the possibility of going through it again. I can't even bear to watch the hurricane forecast on the news yet." BATON ROUGE – “It’s so fresh I can’t deal with the possibility of going through it again. I can’t even bear to watch the hurricane forecast on the news yet.” Robin Cook’s words echo with memories of being on the front lines of ministry last fall. She worked at the front desk of a makeshift emergency shelter at Istrouma Baptist Church for the entire nine weeks Istrouma opened its doors to people streaming from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. “Here in Louisiana we’ve had the weather version of the atomic bomb go off,” said Pat Hand, mission pastor of Istrouma, where 1,600 people attend Sunday morning worship; Stuart Rothberg recently resigned as senior pastor. “It has been a profound privilege for our church to be the hands and heart and feet of the Lord Jesus, to help needy families.” Istrouma became the third largest shelter in the state in the aftermath of Katrina, housing more than 1,500 evacuees in all, and as many as 700 at any one time, with a total over the nine weeks of its existence of 150 volunteers and more than $430,000 in … [Read more...]
LSU BCM earns accolades
Imagine your terror as floodwaters lap around your ankles while you huddle, trapped in your attic with your spouse, your toddler son, and your mother-in-law. BATON ROUGE – Imagine your terror as floodwaters lap around your ankles while you huddle, trapped in your attic with your spouse, your toddler son, and your mother-in-law. Imagine, now, your relief as a rescue helicopter, its propellor beating the air outside your destroyed home, arrives and rescuers send down a rope that dangles, finally, within your reach. Imagine, now, the heart-rending decision you must make. The helicopter can take only two people. Lindsay Masters, an LSU freshman the fall semester when Hurricane Katrina hit, comforted that toddler in her arms as his father looked on, desperate to find the wife and mother-in-law he’d had to leave behind in order to save his son. “Only two could go, so the mom and the dad wanted the baby and [his grandmother] to go,” said Steve Masters, BCM director at LSU. “The helicopter rescuer said it had to be a parent if a child was involved, so the mom had the dad go with the boy so she could stay with her mother.” Masters and his two daughters, both BCM members at LSU at the … [Read more...]
Giving thanks for Katrina and Rita
Louisiana coordinator for NAMB's Mission Service Corps volunteers, Blackwell reminisces on lessons learned in the wake of 2005's hurricane season. Editor’s note: Mrs. Blackwell is coordinator in Louisiana for NAMB’s Mission Service Corps volunteers and wannabe volunteers. MSC volunteers are people commissioned by their church and endorsed by the SBC’s NAMB, who raise their own support to do mission work in North America. Mrs. Blackwell also coordinated the Southern Baptist support for First Responders at Williams Boulevard Baptist in Kenner; that ministry started even before Katrina hit. Just days before Katrina made landfall, God gave me 1 Thessalonians 5:16-28. We had just completed about 2,000 volunteer hours working alongside the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation and with the coordinators of the AAU Junior Olympics. It was an awesome experience as 30,000-plus athletes and coaches came together in New Orleans. Giving God thanks for everything was not difficult at all as we praised Him for so many miracles during those weeks. Sharing the stories of open doors and of a young man who gave his life to Christ in his downtown hotel room just flowed each time someone would … [Read more...]
Search my heart
I remember a year ago being glued to the television along with thousands of Louisiana citizens as we watched the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I remember a year ago being glued to the television along with thousands of Louisiana citizens as we watched the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Since I lived in the northeast portion of the state, the impact of the storm was negligible. It was as if we were watching a disaster somewhere else, rather than our neighbors a few miles to the south. Several months ago I began to wonder, what did I really do to help with this catastrophe? Yes, I donated some food along with my church members for some of the evacuees in shelters in my small town of Columbia. Then when Hurricane Rita struck, I did allow a young mother and her two small children to stay in my home when my husband and I went out of town. However, this was only after my sister personally vouched for her character. I remember my daughter telling me of a woman who came into the grocery store where she worked. The woman noticed a button that my daughter had pinned to her smock. The pin said “I luv New Orleans!” The woman began to cry because she no longer had a … [Read more...]
Dear Readers
This is the last issue in a series of three commemorative issues of the Louisiana Baptist Message. All three issues have reflected on different aspects of the 2005 hurricane season. This issue of the Louisiana Baptist Message is the last in a series of three commemorative issues of the paper, all of which reflect on different aspects of the 2005 hurricane season. It has been an honor and a great joy to develop these issues that together tell the story of how selflessly Louisiana Southern Baptists responded in a variety of ways to the needs of others in our state. We truly have worked together as the body of Christ – one church doing this; another group doing that: For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body – so also is Christ. [I Cor.. 12:12 HSB] A few extra copies of the previous issues are available. … [Read more...]
First Lafayette tends to infants
Imagine fleeing a hurricane with an infant or newborn and being herded into the Cajun Dome along with thousands of others. LAFAYETTE – Imagine fleeing a hurricane with an infant or newborn and being herded into the Cajun Dome along with thousands of others. Envision the fears that surface as you hear coughs, sneezes, and sniffles in the crowded facility, knowing that your child has not had time to develop immunities. Now picture the relief when a kindly volunteer kneels beside you and offers to take you and your vulnerable child out of the germ trap. The kneeling volunteer is from Lafayette First Baptist Church, where mission-minded Marty Melancon spearheaded the establishment of a shelter to minister to mothers with infants – and their families. The church responded to the opportunity, giving both time and money. “The beautiful thing was watching God work,” Melancon said. “It was a learning and growing experience for us. It helped us recognize that the church is not a building; it’s a people. We’re all a part of the same family.” The branch of God’s family that worships at Lafayette First Baptist ministered to extended spiritual family members they had never met, but also to … [Read more...]
Pastor’s wife’s ministry starts at home
Martha Bailey prefers not to be called the pastor's wife. COVINGTON – Martha Bailey prefers not to be called the pastor’s wife. Rather, she’d prefer to be known as just plain ‘Martha,’ said her husband, Waylon Bailey, pastor of First Covington. Not that there’s anything plain about a woman beautiful inside and out, Bailey said. “She doesn’t play a role,” Pastor Bailey said. “Her name is Martha, and that’s the way she lives. She doesn’t need a title.” A highly organized person, Martha, with the help of several other members of First Covington, designed a systematic distribution center at First Covington the day after Katrina – which in the weeks that followed served about 5,000 families with groceries, baby supplies and personal hygiene items. The church, situated on 40 acres just north of I-10, became the first staging area for post-Katrina disaster relief. Word spread quickly of the help being given by the church, and cars dashed to be in line while there was still something to be given out. “They didn’t realize because of the support of Louisiana Baptists and other Southern Baptists all across the country, we weren’t going to run out,” Martha Bailey said. But to … [Read more...]
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