Baptist Collegiate Ministry director, Tim Lafleur, was disturbed a few years ago when he noticed only a few athletes and black students were involved in the Christian organizations at Nicholls.
Realizing something needed to be done to solve the dilemma, Lafleur met with Joshua Higgins, former campus pastor of the Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship organization, to discuss ways to improve the situation.
The duo worked to establish the Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at Nicholls in 1998, and it was left under the direction of Higgins and Chi Alpha. Meanwhile, Lafleur continued to search for ways to reach the black students.
After meeting and learning of the fervent Christian faith of former Nicholls Police Chief Alfred Carter, who had transferred from the Delgado Community College Police Department, Lafleur asked him to lead a few Bible studies for black students at the BCM building.
“We saw a need, and I just began to pray and ask God what we could do to help reach the people that weren’t being reached,” Lafleur said. “When I met Al Carter, I knew right away that he was the guy that God would use to make it happen.”
Carter agreed to lead the Bible studies, and within weeks the meetings became a regular event on Wednesday nights. Each week the attendance continued to grow, impressing Lafleur. Carter was then invited to share a message at a revival service at University Baptist Church in Thibodaux during one weekend.
His preaching style and personality also impressed the Rev. Jim Duck, University Baptist pastor. As the attendance of the Wednesday meetings continued to grow, Lafleur suggested to Carter and Duck that the trio start a mission church. They wasted little time coming up with a plan to make it happen.
Duck and University Baptist agreed to support the new church financially, Carter agreed to become the pastor, and Lafleur agreed to serve as the church’s host by allowing them to meet regularly at the BCM building.
Then on March 3, 2002, it became a reality. Twenty-two students, along with a few community citizens, met for the first worship service of Living Waters Southern Baptist Mission Church.
Recognized by the Louisiana Southern Baptist Convention in Alexandria as an official mission church without its own funding source, Living Waters receives money from the Southern Baptist Mission Board, along with monthly contributions from University Baptist.
Nearly two years after its first service, and still meeting at the BCM building, Living Waters has reached as many as 75 attendees for a Sunday morning service and averages about 50 weekly. Carter said many of those are now community members, not only students.
And while it is still a church where many black students attend regularly, the church has diversified into a church including members of many races.
“This ministry has been amazing,” Carter said. “This is not about race, religion or denomination, but a place where people who are hungry for the Word of God and want acceptance can come.”
Impressed with Living Waters’ rapid growth, Carter hopes the church will become a fully established church on its own within the next couple years. Carter, Duck and Lafleur are searching for a vacant building near the Nicholls campus for Living Waters to move into when that time comes.
“Our people have been really good with the giving of their tithes and offerings,” Carter said. “We are on a fast track to getting close to having enough funds to support ourselves.”
Although the church continues to grow in membership, Carter said Living Waters is not concerned about numbers, but reaching out to the campus and community. Living Waters has hosted several outreaches in Thibodaux during the past 21 months.
“I believe the Christian church’s main role is more than just having a worship service on Sundays,” Carter said. “Our role is to step in and help people in need and share the love of Jesus with them.”
During a Mardi Gras parade this year, Living Waters joined Thibodaux First Baptist Church for an outreach on Canal Boulevard in Thibodaux. The group played Christian music and handed out more than 1,000 Bible tracts. “We didn’t hear one negative comment all day,” Carter said.
Living Waters regularly provides working helpers for social services groups such as Habitat for Humanity and The Haven. Carter said the church values helping out those kinds of groups and invites others to seek assistance from Living Waters.
While Carter enjoys the experience of leading a church and reaching out to students and community citizens alike, he’s not a full-time pastor. At least, he’s technically not one.
When Carter is not dealing with church issues, spending time with his wife Pearlette and his two boys and little girl, he’s helping criminals gain a second chance.
Carter, also the assistant director for the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office Work Release Center in Raceland, helps convicted criminals find jobs two to three months before their jail sentences are complete. The program is designed to help provide the criminals with finances so they can support themselves when placed back in society, Carter said.
“It goes hand in hand with the ministry because we are taking people who have made mistakes and giving them a chance at redemption,” Carter said. “They have that extra chance, the same kind of chance Christ gave us when he gave his life for us.”
Carter also finds himself with many opportunities to act as a pastor on the job. Often times, those seeking employment help from the Work Release Center go directly to Carter for advice when personal problems arise.
Through those relationships he’s built with the former criminals, as he calls them, Carter has had many opportunities to invite and bring some of them to Living Waters on Sunday mornings. Between five and 15 attend the Sunday morning service weekly.
“Of all the things God has allowed me to do and all the things the church is able to do,” Carter said, “our top goal as Christians in the community is to bring the living waters of Christ to the souls and lands that are dry and barren.” This article was previously published in The Courier on December 5, 2003.