By Joe Dupree, Message Staff Writer EUNICE - Three years ago, the leaders at Acadian Baptist Camp set a goal, actually two goals. The first was to raise $1.4 million to complete much needed renovations to the cafeteria and dorms as well as some much needed maintenance around the Baptist encampment in south Louisiana. The second was to raise that goal to over $2 million. Within a few months of its start, through God’s blessing, the money began to flow into the campaign. It not only surpassed its original goal of $1.4 million but quickly went over the new goal of $2,030,000. As of today for the second campaign, ABC has collected $2.2 million in cash and pledges. The 40-year-old camp is supported by six associations, 80 churches, numerous individuals and companies “Before we got started, we hired a company to interview a hundred of our constituents, board members, campers, local pastors, and supporters to determine what kind of response we might get,” said James Newsome, director of Acadian Baptist Center. “The results showed there was a lot of love for ABC and the ministries we have here. A lot of kids have been saved here at the camp over the years. “So, we decided to look to the future and began a capital … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer Two Monday night training sessions resulted in 31 more members of Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief mud-out team members. Twenty-two people attended a training session at Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport while nine were present at Alford Heights Baptist Church in Many. They join other disaster relief volunteers who are serving in areas impacted by the recent flooding of the Red River. Ricky Woodard is among those who already have benefited from the ministry of disaster relief volunteers. Woodard, whose Shreveport property is less than 100 yards from the Red River, estimates work done by the mudout team from Zoar Baptist Church saved him nearly a month’s worth of clean-up. “They’re like a bunch of ants coming together and getting things done almost instantly,” Woodard said, with his two grandchildren standing nearby. “I’m so appreciative.” The team worked all day, removing mud and debris inside homes in the neighborhood heavily damaged by the river’s recent floodwaters. Loren Warren, a member of the team from Zoar Baptist Church, said that despite the temperatures that reached the upper 90s, the humidity was a small inconvenience compared to the blessings the … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer SHREVEPORT - Less than a football field away from the Red River, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief teams are working on homes heavily damaged by the river's recent floodwaters. Teams arrived earlier in the week to begin work on homes throughout the Shreveport/Bossier area. The teams that are on site are the incident command, chaplains, assessors, feeding, laundry, childcare, medical professionals and the in the trenches mud-out recovery teams. A childcare team will arrive Saturday to give comfort and games to kids of those families seeking help from volunteer agencies of VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) as well as a variety of government agencies. Additionally, a Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief medical team that includes a medical professional on call for physician level will be assisting in the recovery effort as well. The wheeled units on site this week are from Bellaire Baptist, First Baptist Blanchard, Zoar Baptist, Rolling Hills Ministry, and Eastern Louisiana Baptist Association Some of these same units will join up with other units coming in next Monday. Operations will be from Eastwood Baptist Church in Haughton to Summer Grove Baptist Church … [Read more...]

By David Roach, Baptist Press EDITOR'S NOTE: Father's Day is Sunday. NASHVILLE (BP) -- When Fred Luter had a son, he wanted to give him a biblical name. So he decided on "Chip." As in, "chip off the old block" -- a reference to the oft neglected biblical principle that children's lives are shaped by the spiritual, intellectual and emotional leadership of their fathers. "When I started living for God and then I got married and God blessed me with a son, one of my prayers to God was, 'Let me be the spiritual man in my son's life that I didn't have in my home growing up,'" said Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. "And God honored that." Today Fred "Chip" Luter III is campus pastor at Idlewild Baptist Church's Sulpher Springs campus in Tampa, Fla. Fred Luter Jr., a former Southern Baptist Convention president, is among the Baptist leaders seeking to teach men practically what it means to be the leaders of their homes. "Men are supposed to be, according to Scripture, the provider, the protector and the priest of their family," the elder Luter told Baptist Press. As providers, men are responsible to meet their families' needs financially "no matter how much their wife makes," Luter said. … [Read more...]

By Norm Miller, Special to the Message PINEVILLE – Diagnosed with autism at age 12, Paul Griffin conquered every challenge toward the education that medical and behavioral specialists predicted would be impossible. The child who was told he’d never read nor write earned a degree in sociology from the University of California. Louisiana College’s summer TEACH program is bringing Griffin to its Pineville campus June 25. “I heard Paul speak at Stanford University, and he received a standing ovation,” said Cathy Eschete, LC’s assistant professor of education and director of field experience. “Our community has an incredible opportunity to hear Paul’s moving story.” Griffin states on his website that he “refused to let my diagnosis keep me from achieving my dreams.” He adds that he can help others “have success on the Autism spectrum.” Success typifies Griffin’s presentations, as indicated by comments posted on his site: “Although I’ve known Paul since he was a young boy, I never dreamed he would become the concise and engaging speaker he has become today. He effectively demystifies the autistic syndrome and presents his material, which he in fact has lived, in a powerful biographical presentation that mesmerized … [Read more...]