Wednesday morning, on my way to First Baptist-LaPlace for our weekly ministers’ gathering, I found myself wondering if anyone would show up. I missed last Wednesday, in Jackson for our friend’s funeral. And last week, we cut the meetings to two hours, from 10 to noon. So, perhaps the interest is dwindling. As always, I sent up a brief reminder to the Father that “This is yours; it’s not about me; let this weekly meeting continue as long as it meets the needs of even one person.”
It may have been our best meeting ever. Some fifty people were there, including several for the first time.
We were thrilled to welcome home Rev. and Mrs. Johnny Jones, pastor of the ill-fated Free Mission Church in the Lower 9th Ward, and now living in the Fort Knox, Kentucky, area where their son is a chaplain. “We had a meeting last Sunday of about 25 members,” Brother Johnny said, “in front of our building.” They’re meeting again tonight (Wednesday) at Shoney’s on the West Bank. Both the church and the Joneses’ home have been gutted out and await restoration. Since they are in the tragic Lower 9th, no one knows to this day what the city is going to allow or require for rebuilding. My guess is everyone is waiting for Saturday’s mayoral election, and then for the new mayor to make this call.
James “Boogie” Melerine, pastor of the Delacroix-Hope church, now meeting in a carport in the community of St. Bernard, reported, “We had 77 for church Sunday.” They were running 25 before Katrina. “We’ve had eight adults saved recently.” The Presbyterian church in that community may be for sale, and they’re in conversations with the half-dozen members there about buying it. “To their credit,” he said, “they’re spending their insurance money to restore the church before discussing with us about purchasing it.” Someone asked what they planned to name the “new” church. A nearby bayou is one possibility, but he said, “Some want to name it ‘Katrina.'” The laughter that provoked made me wonder if he was serious. He seemed to be.
That’s the way with Christians, isn’t it. Taking the worst flung at them and turning it into a badge of honor. Like the cross. Like Good Friday. Like Paul reading his resume’ in II Corinthians 11:23-28 where he lists as his credentials the suffering he endured for Jesus’ sake.
Pastor and Mrs. Hong Fu Liu of the First Chinese Baptist Church of New Orleans added a great deal of enthusiasm to the meeting. He reported that 23 of their church friends came to know Christ during the recent Billy Graham meeting, and next Sunday, he plans to baptize 15 of them. Even though they lost 40% of their church members who were displaced to other cities, the church offerings are down 30%, and they are hurting for teachers and Vacation Bible School workers, they are excited about what God is accomplishing and thrilled about the future.
David Crosby of FBC-New Orleans reported on the foundations being installed for the “Baptist Crossroads” homes being built in partnership with Habitat for Humanity on Alvar Street in the Upper 9th Ward. “Disaster pastor” Travis Scruggs is doing fine from his recent illness and Baptist Campus Minister Keith Cating is at home in Lake Charles, recovering from a hospital stay. Dr. Asa Sphar of the seminary faculty is serving as their church counselor and is available.
Philip Vandercook of the Global Maritime Ministry, an outreach to port workers and seamen, reported that their new ministry center is edging closer to completion. “What we need is a brick mason,” he said. Someone asked what the expected completion date for the building was. “Sometime last year,” he laughed. Recently, we reported here that the second floor of the new center will be left unfinished due to the lack of funds, a shame since that was to be the area where volunteers would be housed. Philip reported that the Arkansas Baptist Convention has ridden to the rescue. They have bought sheetrock and sent groups to install it. “They’re hanging it right now,” he said. He can use volunteers to paint and install tile on the floor. “If you’d like to spend more time on your knees,” he said, “come on over to Tchoupitoulas Street!”
The recent block party which Global Maritime hosted for the FEMA village in the McDonoghville section of New Orleans was a special blessing. “We’re grateful for the 75 people from Calvary in Shreveport who came down and did all the work to put this party on,” Philip said. They gave away 250 Jesus videos and 200 Bibles and had three professions of faith. In the end, it turned out they reached as many people from the surrounding neighborhoods as from the FEMA trailers.
David Crosby said, “Speaking of Jesus videos, we have ordered thousands of them and they’ll be at our church in a day or two. If you’d like to take them to the people in your neighborhood, we’ll furnish them.”
Tom Mosley is the minister of worship and music at the great First Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, which has welcomed a large portion of Fred Luter’s Franklin Avenue Baptist Church and shared services with them. “At first,” Tom said, “We thought we would minister to them by opening our facilities to them. We quickly found that we are the blessed ones. The friendships that have been formed are so wonderful.” Tom said, “I sat here listening to what the Missouri Baptists are doing down here, what the Arkansas Baptists are doing, and so on, and wondered, ‘What are Texas Baptists doing?'” I piped up, “For one thing, they’re paying my salary!” That got a laugh, but it’s true. In fact, both the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention have been extremely generous to us.
Tom has been visiting New Orleans with two of his colleagues, David Taylor and Jerry Ford, seeing the devastation, meeting with leaders, and trying to determine what their church might do to assist our churches. He said, “The First Baptist Church (of Houston) is passionate for God, passionate for His people, and passionate about reaching those who do not know Him.”
David Crosby asked everyone to calendar a couple of important dates. Saturday, May 6, from 10 to noon, is a preparation meeting (at FBC-NO) for the Anne Graham Lotz event scheduled for August 26.
One week later, May 13, a “Family Conference” will be held at Victory Fellowship on Airline Drive, led by Crawford Loritts. It’s interdenominational and is being promoted by our Celebration Church, Dennis Watson, pastor.
We announced to our ministers that Guidestone, the former “Annuity Board of the SBC” which manages our retirement investments, will be providing a conference for everyone on Friday morning, May 12 at the First Baptist Church of N.O., from 8 to 10, breakfast provided. I’ve promised them and the Guidestone folks to do all I can to get our ministers there. Few things are as crucial to ministers in providing for their future as encouraging the churches to set aside a percentage of their salary for their retirement. And the earlier they start, the better.
Being 66 years old, I can recall when we expected that a retirement income of a hundred dollars a week would be sufficient. Times have changed in a big way. Thankfully, we don’t have to convince most church leaders of the necessity of looking out for the pastors’ retirement. Faithful businessmen and women know how crucial this is.
I’ve done a poor job of reflecting the joy in our meeting today. As a rule, I take few notes and count on my memory when sitting down in the afternoon to recreate and report what occurred that morning. Rereading what I have written, it looks rather dry and sterile. The session was anything but that. It was pure joy from beginning to end. We had prayer times and lots of laughter and some hugging. We had so many attending that we actually ran out of food. Which is a nice problem, if you ask me.
I began today’s meeting reporting on the last few days of my brother’s life (told here a couple of days ago). I pointed out that I had prayed faithfully for him for years, and that by all appearances God answered those prayers. (I was not implying that I was the only one praying for him by any means.) I tried to stress the importance of not quitting our intercession for family members who need the Lord. Afterward, one of our guests said that was a word from the Lord for him today. He and another brother, both living for the Lord, share a concern about their third brother who is a professor and oblivious to his need of Christ. “Before she died,” he said, “our mother asked me to promise to take care of the younger brother.” He added, “You have reminded me to keep praying for him.”
A line from Isaiah 62:6 urges us to “take no rest for yourselves,” but to continue “reminding the Lord”.
Dr. Ken Weathersby of the North American Mission Board was among our guests Wednesday. He reminded us of the daily care and intense concern of the NAMB people who are committed to standing with us to the conclusion of our task in New Orleans.
Some of us know something about that commitment. In 1813, when the Baptists of the USA began to get organized to support missions, New Orleans was on their heart. This was only 10 years after the Louisiana Purchase. Then, in 1845, when the Southern Baptists split from the Northern Baptists, it was not just over slavery. New Orleans played a part in that, too. The Southerners were sending their mission money to Philadelphia, but missionaries were not being sent back down south, particularly into New Orleans, a mission field then and ever since. So, the concern for this city goes back to the very formation of our denomination. Then, in 1917, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to establish a seminary here for the express purpose of reaching this city for Christ. Of our six seminaries, I understand that NOBTS is the only one formed by a vote of the convention.
It would be hard for us to feel neglected. All around us, every day, all over the city, God’s people come to labor, gutting out homes, clearing out debris, knocking on doors with gifts of supplies and toiletries, offering friendship and hope. We are truly blessed.
Don’t think we don’t know it.