By Message Staff Violent storms rolled through the state for the second weekend in a row, this time packing high winds and damaging homes in the cities of Leesville and Mandeville as well as Natchitoches Parish on Sunday, April 19. Vernon Parish Sheriff Sam Craft told KPLC-TV that property damage was substantial and numerous power lines were knocked down on the northern edge of Leesville along Highway 171. He reported that there were no injuries in his area that were associated with the storm. A team from the National Weather Service was en route to Leesville Monday to survey damage and determine if a tornado had touched down. East Leesville Baptist Church reported a couple of downed trees and some siding blown off the back of its worship center. Pastor Tommy Kiker wrote on the church’s Facebook page that members of the church were serving others impacted by the storm, and they would continue the response throughout the week. “Thankfully it seems only property damage and no major injuries that we have heard of so far,” Kiker wrote. “Continue to pray for one another and as always as we serve may it be obvious we love God, Love people, Seek the Lost, and Make Disciples!” The Mandeville Police Department reported … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer DEQUINCY, La. (LBM) – Kristie Singley came to New Hope Baptist Church in Dequincy searching for a Bible study class to attend on Sunday morning, March 29, and in the process discovered her need for a Savior. Singley arrived on campus only to learn that her age group class met online prior to the Facebook Live worship service. But in the one-on-one conversation that ensued with Associate Pastor Tracy Smith, part of the skeleton crew that helps produce the livestreamed Sunday service, she turned to Christ. The following week, she was baptized in a portable deep basin at the April 5 drive in-service conducted by New Hope. “When I asked Jesus in my life I felt all my sins go away and felt like a new person and a new beginning in my life,” Singley told the Baptist Message. “The day I got baptized was a celebration of the new beginning in my life, a declaration that I give my worries, concerns and everything I have to the Lord so He can guide me and shape me into the person I’m supposed to be.” The baptism came while Singley was still recovering from the pain of losing a child only 30 minutes after his premature birth. She credited her church family for helping her cope with the … [Read more...]

By Message Staff MONROE, La. (LBM)–Louisiana Baptists have continued to help homeowners whose homes were damaged by a tornado that touched down in Monroe-West Monroe Sunday, April 12. Disaster relief teams from Rolling Hills Ministries in Ruston and Cedar Crest Baptist Church in West Monroe, as well as volunteers from First Baptist Church in West Monroe and Temple Baptist Church and Calvary Baptist Church in Ruston have cleared debris from 12 homes in the area through Wednesday, April 15. Two other groups also are assisting: Minutemen Disaster Response, a non-profit response team in McKinney, Texas; and, Samaritan’s Purse, a non-denominational humanitarian aid organization founded by evangelist Franklin Graham. Volunteers also prayed with the homeowners at each site. According to Brandon Rodgers, media and communications director for First Baptist Church in West Monroe, spent much of Wednesday helped remove debris from the Lazarre Park area of West Monroe and also in areas of south Monroe, two of the hardest hit sections from the tornado. Nearly 300 homes were hit in Monroe and Ouachita Parish, and the Monroe Regional Airport received an estimated $30 million in damage. Michael Wood, lead pastor at First West, … [Read more...]

By Message Staff BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) - Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge recently gave gifts to medical personnel at area hospitals, providing fuel for the body and soul for each recipient. Members distributed 400 snack packs throughout the week of April 13-17 to workers at Women’s Hospital, Our Lady of the Lake and two locations of Baton Rouge General Hospital. Included in each kit were healthy snacks and spiritually-encouraging notes and cards created by adults and children at Istrouma. Terry Bracey, director of missions at Istrouma, said the response was uplifting. “We received replies through text and Facebook messages,” Bracey told the Baptist Message. “We may never truly know just how we touched and encouraged those who received the gifts.“ The effort is one of many ways Istrouma, which averaged around 2,000 in early March at its Baton Rouge and Prairieville, has helped minister to the community. Last week, members filled up a truckload of food for delivery this week to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank and to needy families of school children – and they plan to make this an ongoing ministry. “I love how our church thinks outside the box, using creative ideas to minister to and stay connected with … [Read more...]

By Norm Miller, LCNews PINEVILLE, La. (LCNews)—Louisiana College is ready for its Preview Day on April 17. But the commute has changed from a drive to the Pineville campus to a reach for the phone. Virtual Preview Day begins at noon with technology effortlessly transporting interested students and parents to the information needed for exploring the award-winning campus, hearing from professors and students, and gathering financial aid information. “Our virtual Preview Day is one among many adjustments we have made in response to the pandemic,” said Louisiana College President Dr. Rick Brewer. “I am grateful for the technology that will enable me to engage with new people and talk about what makes us unique among peer institutions.” Visitors may engage in a live Q and A session via web chat, as well as experience a virtual tour of the campus, gain details about classes and degree majors from professors, and view videos of current students sharing why they chose Louisiana College for their undergraduate degree. “Our students consistently say how much they value personal attention from their professors and the sense of a close-knit family,” Brewer said. “Parents also appreciate our commitment to traditional family … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – The Louisiana State University Baptist Collegiate Ministry has implemented a “Meals to Go” program that provides international students with rice, noodles, cans of vegetables, cans of canned meat, peanut butter, jelly and snacks, to help them during the COVID-19 ordeal. “There are over a million international students attending colleges and universities in the US, including 1,500 at LSU, and many were unable to go home, are stuck in their apartments and are facing financial hardships,” BCM Director Steve Masters told the Baptist Message. “We feel like we should try to help them and are asking other people to join us. We are providing them with food.” The effort began when an international student texted Masters with a plea for help. While the BCM did not have funding to assist individual students, Masters found money to place in an envelope that was picked up eight minutes later outside the BCM building. Masters, his wife, Pam, Associate Director Haley Spell and Baptist Association of Greater Baton Rouge Director of Missions Tommy Middleton then came up with a plan. Since the effort began on April 7, the feedback has been overwhelmingly … [Read more...]

By Norm Miller, LCNews PINEVILLE, La. (LCNews)--Responding to pandemic-induced financial strains, Louisiana College will offer free tuition to eligible, incoming freshmen through its newly established Governor Jimmie Davis Scholarship. Louisiana College’s President Dr. Rick Brewer made the announcement on KALB-TV’s Good Day Cenla morning program, April 13. “We recognize the Coronavirus impact has curtailed and even stopped certain activities in our state,” Brewer said in an interview prior to the show. “But we do not intend to stop offering the quality liberal arts education that has typified the College since 1906.” Travel restrictions and social distancing advisories prompted Louisiana College to shift its curricula to online, remote learning on March 30 – a move facilitated by a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Brewer told Good Day Cenla host Mark Hamblen the pandemic accentuates the need “to make a college education accessible and affordable” for families especially in these challenging times. Named in honor of two-time governor of Louisiana, the Governor Jimmie Davis Scholarship honors “our emblematic, most famous alum,” Brewer said. Davis completed his undergraduate degree at … [Read more...]