2. HOW WE GOT HERE...
MISSION HISTORY AND GOD'S CALLING ON OUR FAMILY
This mission work began almost seventy years ago. The first missionary to come to our bayou was brother Cross. He and his wife lived on a boat, and brother Cross used to preach from the deck of his boat, using his wife's old foot peddle sewing machine cabinet as a pulpit. When persecution began as a result of brother Cross' preaching, he said fair-well to the small group of Christian converts, and he and his wife took their boat to another bayou.
The next missionary to come to our bayou was brother AD Martin. He had been a Methodist, but wanted to get baptized like people did in the Bible, so he joined a Baptist church. With a great concern for the French-speaking people of south Louisiana, brother Martin soon moved to Bayou DuLarge. The
Women's Missionary Union groups of several churches in northern Louisiana helped to support brother Martin in his missionary work.
With the help of teachers (young ladies) trained at the New Orleans Baptist Bible Institute, brother Martin was able to open a school for the native bayou children, most of whom spoke French instead of
English. The native american (Houmas Indians) children were not allowed to go to the public school up the bayou.
In the 1950's and 60's a missionary named Charles Krause lived and ministered on Bayou DuLarge. He and his faithful wife endeared themselves to the bayou people. During these years the Bayou DuLarge congregation functioned as a church with its own leaders, Sunday School teachers, and so forth. The church even began two missions of its own during this time. There were many who came and invested their lives to see the bayou people come to know Christ Jesus.
In 1983 God led our family to come to Bayou DuLarge and continue the evangelistic work that had been going on for so many years already. From that time the Lord has enlarged the church and mission work on the bayou. Now there are over one hundred and twenty-five people in the congregation, and the church is busy with various ministries. God has richly blessed, yet there is much to be done.
Please pray for the Christians of the Bayou DuLarge Baptist Mission Church that they may be strong to witness about Jesus to their family members. Many of their brothers and sisters, their own wives and husbands, and even their moms and dads, do not know or follow Jesus Christ.
For your convenience, here is the Table of Contents of the VBS pages.