By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
PATTERSON, La. (LBM) – Ronnie Mabile moved to Michigan from St. Mary Parish in 2018, never dreaming he would return just two years later to the same area for a Gospel harvest.
Since then, he has seen first-hand God’s provision and expansion of the Kingdom through Redeemed Life Fellowship, Patterson.
“It took a long time for people to understand who we are, what we there for and basically that we just want to be a part of the community and be the hands and the feet of Jesus,” Mabile told the Baptist Message. “And by doing that, we have now become a church where if anything in the community needs to be done, they call us first.
“Rural church planning is not for the faint of heart,” he added. “But if you are committed to building those relationships, people will look to you like you have been here forever.”
Mabile, who pastored a church located 40 miles from Patterson (St. Mary Parish) before moving to Michigan in 2018, felt called back to Louisiana after passing by a vacant church building in the community when he returned for a visit in the summer.
He learned that Gulf Coast Baptist Association planned to sell the property that formerly housed Calumet Baptist Church, a congregation that closed in 2015. But leaders were open to Mabile planting a church there instead and after three days of prayer he felt God was calling him to replant the church.
A core group of seven members held the church’s first meeting inside Mabile’s house, Dec. 3, 2020, and two years later they moved into the worship center that was remodeled by various groups who either sent volunteers or contributed financially.
In state groups included: Bayou Vista Baptist Church, Morgan City; First Baptist Church, Plaquemine; Live Oak Baptist Church, Denham Springs; One Life Church, Denham Springs (it has since closed); Little Pass Baptist Church, Charenton; and Gulf Coast Baptist Association.
Out of state groups included: Bay Area Baptist Association in Michigan; Cimarron Baptist Association in Oklahoma; Sunrise Baptist Church; Midland, Michigan; and Church of Burch Run, Birch Run, Michigan.
Additionally, the Georgia Barnette Louisiana Missions Offering provided funding to help with the renovations. The result of all this help was that the church moved into their remodeled worship center debt free.
“The faithfulness of Louisiana Baptists through the Georgia Barnette Offering gave us a monthly stipend to be able to truly excel and support what we needed to do,” he said. “It would be hard for us to be here without the help of Louisiana Baptists and the offering. I don’t know how we would have been able to get where we are today.”
The church, which averages 55 for Sunday morning worship and 35 for Sunday school, is a mainstay in the community. Their ministry efforts have included providing 300-400 meals once a week as part of a city-wide community outreach to seniors and disabled individuals; mission trips to Arkansas, New Orleans and Kenya; Vacation Bible School; and distributing Bibles and providing snow cones and bounce houses for a soccer camp for St. Mary Parish residents.
Their outreach efforts resulted in six souls turning to Christ and being baptized in 2023. Another three have stirred the baptistery waters this year, with another two likely taking that step soon.
“Our church is made up probably of 75 to 80 percent of people who either were lost, or, not going to any church,” Mabile said. “So, we have very little transitional growth from one church to the other. And I think that’s such a blessing because truly the unchurched is who we’re reaching.”
STATEWIDE GBO IMPACT
Redeemed Life Fellowship is one of many recipients of Gospel-focused funding from the Louisiana Missions Offering.
Named after Georgia Barnette, the state’s first executive director and treasurer of the Woman’s Missionary Union, the annual offering funds church planting; compassion ministries; prison outreach; ministry to victims of sex trafficking; disaster relief efforts; Louisiana Baptists’ multi-media outreach strategy, “Here for You”; and WMU scholarships to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Louisiana Christian University.
Sept. 8-15 has been set aside as the Week of Prayer for state missions and ministries. Resources, including videos demonstrating the scope and impact of the Georgia Barnette Offering, have been mailed to churches across the state. This year’s offering goal is $1.75 million, and churches are urged to begin promoting the Georgia Barnette Louisiana Missions Offering now. Online promotional pieces can be accessed at GeorgiaBarnette.org.
