By Message Staff
BATON ROUGE – Though heartbroken from Sunday’s deadly attack on Baton Rouge law enforcement, the community has hope for the future through Christ, said one pastor whose church was near the scene of the incident.
“In the midst of our sorrow there is hope that God will redeem even this for His good purpose,” said Jeff Ginn, pastor of Istrouma Baptist Church. “What Satan intends to destroy and divide, God will use to unite.”
The church, whose entrance was just feet away from a police barricade placed on Airline Highway on Sunday morning, was about to start its first morning service when Ginn learned a shooter had ambushed officers responding to a call. They quickly changed the order of service, focusing on a time of prayer for the situation.
Though they decided to hold both worship services as planned, Ginn said the atmosphere was very different than most Sundays.
“There was an air of heaviness over the services,” he said. “One of the points I made in my message was Jesus had joy in spite of the sorrow he experienced. So we pressed on, remembering those who were suffering.”
The church staff is meeting to plan their response. Possible ministry opportunities may include hosting a blood drive, offering their facilities for the funerals and placing messages of hope on their electronic billboard that is seen by motorists traveling on Interstate 12.
Ginn said if the church doesn’t offer hope in this situation, he does not know who would.
“Hope rests in the Lord,” Ginn said. The church is the one who speaks His word to the watching world. We have to be His voice in this moment.”
More than 24 hours has passed since the gunman, identified as Gavin Long of Kansas City, Mo., shot six law enforcement officers, killing three of them shortly before 9 am on Sunday near Airline and Old Hammond highways.
The deceased officers are Brad Garafola, 45, of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, Montrell Jackson, 32, and Matthew Gerald, 41, of the Baton Rouge Police Department.
Jackson’s child was attending the daycare at Florida Boulevard Baptist Church in Baton Rouge.
“Our hearts are heavy as we learn the loss of one of our daycare families. Our prayers and thoughts go out to their families and all involved,” according to a Facebook post by the church daycare.
The church is opening its worship center doors this week from noon to 12:45 pm for anyone wishing to pray for comfort, healing and peace. They will be joined by other churches hosting prayer gatherings throughout the week.
Thomas Shepard, pastor of the Church at Addis, and members of his congregation also spent Sunday afternoon ministering to the family of Gerald, who was the uncle of some children who had attended Vacation Bible School recently at the church.
“I prayed with the sister-in-law,” Shepard said Sunday afternoon. “We let her know we could meet with her sister (whose husband was one of the officers killed today), or their children to provide grief counseling and whatever else they might need.”
Earlier in the day, he urged church members to pray for local law enforcement.
“After this morning’s unfortunate events I would like to call our people to prayer,” Shepard said. “The officers affected in this tragedy are a lot closer to home than we expected. Some of our member officers were on the scene when several suspects were picked up in Addis for questioning in connection with the shooting.”
Pastor Jay Avance of First Baptist Church Baker posted on his Facebook page Sunday morning, “This is such a tragedy that has befallen our city. Please pray for the fallen officer’s families, pray for our officers serving right now, and the pray for our officer’s families because this is very hard on them as well.
“Pray for our community, pray the Spirit of God will bring His peace over our city today,” he continued. “Thank you Boys in Blue, may we Back the Badge and lift each on up in prayer, and thank you all for what you do for our community by keeping us safe, God Bless!”
SO MANY EMOTIONS
Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Director David Hankins said the country is seeing events like this shooting far too often.
“Jesus reminds us that the thief, Satan himself, comes to steal, kill and destroy. Tragically we’re seeing this play out before our eyes in ways we’ve never imagined,” Hankins said. “However, Jesus concludes His response by stating He comes to give life.
“In addition to showing compassion to those who are grieving and our unwavering support for those who serve us through law enforcement, we must be resolute in sharing the One who brings life and changes hearts.
“I call on all Louisiana Baptists to join me in crying out to God for the victims and their families and sharing the life-giving message of Jesus. Our culture is looking for hope. Let’s tell them where they can find it,” Hankins said.
LBC President Gevan Spinney said he is “flooded with emotions” as he thinks about the families of the fallen officers whose lives are forever changed.
“However, I sense an overwhelming peace when I think about Psalm 29:10 “The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood. And the Lord sits as King forever,” said Spinney, pastor of First Baptist Church in Haughton. “Then threaded through all of my emotions is a constant hope that God the Father will send a soul-stirring revival through His church as we fall to our knees and cry out to Him. My prayer is that through this chaos we will experience an awakening in this country. In all of our emotions let us not be confused, Jesus is our hope.”
DESPERATELY NEEDING PRAYER
First Baptist Covington has scheduled a prayer service at 7 p.m. tonight, July 18, inside its worship center. Associate Pastor Jay Johnston, who also serves as chair of the Louisiana Governor’s Prayer Breakfast task force and the state coordinator for Louisiana National Day of Prayer, is calling upon churches across the state to hold similar gatherings.
“The Bible reveals to us that God created us with a need for others,” Johnston said. “Jesus modeled this with his followers to reveal the truth that we need each other (in) John 17:20-23; Acts 2:42-47. Our state and cities are hurting and the recent shootings and killings in Baton Rouge have accelerated the hurt and brokenness of our community.”
Johnston recently challenged the people of First Baptist Covington to read 1 Corinthians 13 every day for 45 days to learn what love is and to practice it. He also encouraged them to tear up their record book of wrongs and appealed to those without a relationship with Christ to invite Jesus into their hearts.
“I hope you will take the challenge to call people to pray, to love God and each other,” he said.
Lee Wesley, pastor of the predominantly African-American congregation of Community Bible Church in Baton Rouge, urged people to come together and find a way to break down racial barriers.
Wesley has made his church available for counseling for those who may have experienced any trauma from the recent events in Baton Rouge. He is also planning a future prayer vigil involving all races in the hopes of unifying the city and community.
“Our goal is to move forward to a spirit of oneness and unity,” Wesley said. “We have a common enemy and that enemy is Satan who wants to tear us apart. We want the world to see us standing together on the word of God and come together across racial barriers. We want to say all lives matter. Black lives matter, white lives matter, the life of an individual citizen matters, the life of a police officer matters.”
