When Nathan Sims was called to serve as pastor of Riverview Baptist Church, Buras, La., in March 2004, he thought it would be just another great chapter in his life.
Little did Sims know in the coming months he would see tremendous growth — then be sent back home to Alabama by a storm that changed everything.
“My life is a testament to God’s faithfulness,” the Dothan native said. Now serving as pastor of Holland Creek Baptist Church, Phenix City, in Russell Baptist Association, Sims said he can look back and see visible examples of that fact.
At the start of his ministry at Riverview Baptist, the congregation consisted of nine members — including him. The church had been strong in previous decades, at one time holding two Sunday morning services and keeping up a strong radio ministry.
A great number of congregants moved on and the church struggled. When Sims arrived, there was talk of closing the church because of the financial strain. Church members, however, felt that God was not yet finished with Riverview.
Enter Russell Association.
Sims’ best friend Mike Grimes, pastor of Cottonton Baptist Church in Russell Association, proposed the idea of taking his church members on a missions trip to Riverview.
In July 2005, Grimes and four Cottonton Baptist members traveled to Buras and conducted Riverview’s first Vacation Bible School (VBS) in five years. This event offered the opportunity for members in the community to become acquainted with Riverview and its new pastor.
The VBS attendance grew each day, from 11 the first night to 67 on the final night. Six teenagers and one adult gave their life to Christ. In Sims’ time there, the church’s congregation doubled in size to average 20 in attendance each Sunday.
In the meantime, he finished his degree at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary — the thing that had drawn him to Louisiana in the first place. God had done great things — and kept on doing them. Sims is quick to point that out.
A month after the missions trip, Hurricane Katrina hit and devastated the Gulf Coast area. Located only 18 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and seated on the Mississippi River, Buras was virtually destroyed. The Riverview church building was completely ruined.
Water came over the levee’s edge with such force that it went through the building. The church pastorium was washed off its foundation and completely flooded.
And though residents of the area are trickling back in today along with the arrival of Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers, Riverview will not be among those rebuilding. Former members are now scattered throughout Louisiana and Mississippi. Most have no plans to return.
Sims also left, returning to his home church, Memphis Baptist, Dothan, in Columbia Baptist Association. His friends in ministry helped him emotionally and financially with clothes, books and furniture. “God’s already replenished everything I lost,” he said.
In the fall of 2005, Grimes recommended Sims to the director of missions for the Russell Association and subsequently Holland Creek Baptist was contacted. “I thought he’d be a great fit,” Grimes said. “He’s a wonderful preacher with all the talent and qualifications to be a pastor.”
“I’ve had a good life,” Sims said. “God is faithful to meet all our needs, and my life is a testimony to that.”
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