Annie Armstrong Easter Offering 2026 – Week of Prayer Day 5
The handful of elderly members at Ames Boulevard Baptist Church in Marrero, Louisiana, tried everything. But still, according to longtime member Linda Morrow, “We were probably just a couple of months away from having to close our doors for good.” Maybe that’s why, at first, they didn’t realize when they hired Troy Gause to mow their grass, they’d finally found their way forward.
RAISED FROM THE DEAD
MARRERO, LOUISIANA
Church business meetings are not normally fertile ground for happy accidents.
But Ames Boulevard Baptist Church’s tiny remnant of elderly members unintentionally set a miracle in motion when they voted to hire Troy Gause to mow their grass.
Every year, 7-800 SBC churches cease to exist.
“That’s how I got to know the church,” Troy says. “I started taking care of their property and learned how they’d dwindled down to just a few faithful members. They were probably just a couple months away from closing their doors.”
When longtime Ames members like Linda Morrow realized “Troy Gause, Landscaper” was also “Troy Gause, Church Planting Missionary,” they began to pray.
“He’d just started a church but needed a place to meet,” she says. “When we met, it was so clear God was putting us together to replant something new.”
Now, the sign out front says Cross Community Church, and the name is not the only thing that’s changed. “There’s life back in this building,” Troy says, “Baptisms are happening, salvations are happening, and this church has been raised from the dead.”
NAMB, AAEO, New Orleans, LA
Pray for…
- Humility and understanding as members of Cross Community Church face change.
- The new believers Troy has baptized to grow in their faith.
- Growth and a gospel witness that the surrounding community will see and be drawn to.