Volume Two, Issue 15

July 11, 2022

We desire to see everyone living in a healthy relationship with the Lord.

Joanna Snow Ministries is located in Downtown Mobile, and we love it!

Explore the Core

from Cossondra

While a pair of brothers accomplished the founding of Mobile, Biloxi, and New Orleans, we have talked more extensively of one of them, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, than the other. Directly across from our office is Bienville Square, so maybe I have been a little distracted by him. Nevertheless, today we will talk more about his partner in explorations, Pierre Le Moyne D'Iberville.

In 1697, King Louis XIV appointed D'Iberville to establish several forts charged with protecting France's territories along the Gulf Coast. Late the next year, D'Iberville left France accompanied by his 18-year-old brother Jean-Baptiste (Le Moyne de Bienville). 

That year, the Le Moyne brothers and their crews initiated the construction of Fort Maurepas at what is now Ocean Springs, Mississippi. In 1702, Iberville relocated the settlement near the site of present-day Mobile, calling it Fort Louis after the king who sent them here. The fort and the surrounding settlement made up the French territory's first capital, which would come to be Louisiana. What a mark they left here on the Gulf Coast! The results of their explorations reached way beyond their lives.

Here in Mobile, there is a statue of D’Iberville in Cooper Riverside Park, and at the northwest corner of Bienville Square is a plaque placed in 1937 by the Committee of French-Americans. (I tried to find out more about them, but none of my leads played out.)

The marker is written in French, but the English translation reads:

To the glory of

Pierre Le Moyne D'Iberville,

the hero of Hudson Bay,

of Newfoundland and of Nevís,

who founded in 1702

Mobile

first city of French Louisiana.

————

Born in Montréal in 1661

Died in Havana in 1706.

Through actions brave and brilliant, and probably cruel and crafty, D'Iberville made a mark not only on our land but in places far from here. There are statues of D'Iberville not only in Mobile but also in places like Biloxi and Ocean Springs, Mississippi; New Orleans, Louisiana; Quebec City, Ottawa, and Montreal in Canada; and in Havana, Cuba, where he died from yellow fever.

D’Iberville’s statue in Cooper Riverside Park with Downtown Mobile in the background.

D'Iberville connected Mobile not only to other cities along the Gulf Coast but to Canada (New France then) and Spanish-speaking Cuba. We have a lot of differences with them. Our languages are different, our foods, our governments. But we do have something in common, and not just statues of a long-dead explorer. We are people who, I do not hesitate to say, want the best for our families, our friends, and our neighbors. Sometimes I think we forget that. We take so much time focusing on disparities or disagreements that we neglect to connect with people on common ground, whether that ground is immediately known to us or not. 

This week, I encourage you to be an explorer. You don't need a commission from a king. You already have one. Jesus connected with the people he met, whether they were poor workers, rich tax-collectors, healthy, sick, or demon-possessed. There were even Pharisees who took the time to listen and understand scriptures with him. Paul tells us that we should try our best to live peaceably with everyone (Romans 12:18). Does that mean we have to agree completely with someone? No. But we may have to try a little harder. We may need to ask about people’s stories, beliefs, and reasons. We may need to get past the bluster and explore the core. And that exploration? It may have good results way beyond our lives.

Do you want to help people grow in their relationships both with people and with God? You can do just that by helping Joanna Snow Ministries Inc grow! If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to our ministry, you can do that online by going to our donations page.