Hollie K. will be returning to Osyka in one month.  Thank God for the opportunity she has had in West Africa.  Pray for Hollie as she continues to be used by Him.

Georgia Barnette State Offering

for Missions in Louisiana

The Many Faces

of Louisiana Missions

Two words come to mind when one considers our state, and each of them paints a very graphic picture of Louisiana—diverse and lost.

Louisiana is a very diverse state. Geographically there are plains, hills, river country, the delta, farmland, the coast, the woodlands, and the marshes. Diversity describes our economy as well. Farming, fishing, and hunting are historical sources of income, but so are oil and energy, research and development, medical and military, education and transportation.

Abundance and wealth describe one segment of our population while poverty and hunger describe another. (According to the website www.no-hunger.org, one in four children in Louisiana, ages 0-5, are at risk for hunger.) Yes, diversity is a key word describing geography, economy, and population.

Spiritual lostness, though, is another source of our diversity. Louisiana is a very religious state; churches of all denominations dot the countryside and are seemingly found on every street corner in our cities and communities. However, ours is a state where one out of every two persons is lost or unchurched.

Diverse. Lost. These words describe our state and the nature of our population. They also compel our mission and command the necessity of various methods and ministries used to reach the lost and unchurched persons in Louisiana. Jesus said he had “come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11). He ministered to the sick, the lonely, the lost; He spent time with the wealthy, the uneducated, the poor, and the jailed. He used diverse methods to teach, to encourage, to feed, and to heal.

The work of the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering is making it possible to share the Gospel in such a variety of ways that people of such diverse need hear and have opportunity to respond. Your gift through the Georgia Barnette State Missions Offering helps both mission churches and ministry centers. It builds mission churches and supplements mission pastors. It provides for special mission projects and for mission education. Diverse needs, diverse methods, and diverse tools are part of the many faces of Louisiana missions. They provide our challenge and our mandate.