My journal entry for Oct. 12th:
Yesterday I got baptized in a river in Nepal! And so did my teammate Steph Lang and Hannah Richardson from Darcy’s team. Our first day of ministry this month our whole squad hiked up a mountain to a Hindu temple so we could pray for that area to be re-claimed by God for His glory. On the way to the temple, it started raining and I felt like God was showering His love on us. Hannah later told me that she felt like while it was raining, God told her that He was crying happy tears as we walked past the place where we would later be baptized.
On the walk back, we saw a group of seven Nepali people getting baptized in the river at the bottom of the valley! So we stopped and joined them on the other river bank. They started singing worship music in Nepali as people got baptized, and after they got done, we started singing worship music in English and a few of my squadmates played their travel guitars. There were smiles all around as Bre Steele called out to them, “Welcome our new brothers and sisters in Christ! We are Christians too!”
One American man was with the Nepali people and called out to us, “Anyone else?” Even though he meant it as a joke, I had a strong feeling like I should get baptized, but I kept resisting it because I didn’t want to get baptized in a language I didn’t understand with people I didn’t know.
Our group was about to leave when someone said, “Wait! Steph and Hannah are getting baptized!!” The Nepali group started to leave and our squad waded in the river to the other bank where their baptisms had taken place. I felt a stronger and stronger conviction that I should be baptized too, but I wasn’t ready to speak up about it yet. They were going to have their team leaders batize them, so now the excuse of being baptized with people we don’t know in a language we don’t understand was no longer valid. We prayed for Steph before she was about to be baptized, and all of a sudden there were tears running down my face and I knew that there was no point in resisting it and I was meant to be baptized too that day. So I told me team that I wanted to get baptized too and they got really excited for me and Steph.
Steph went first and gave a short speech why she felt led to get baptized again on that day. She talked about baptism being a sign of true surrender to the Lord, echoing the day she got saved. Hannah went next and gave a short speech about why she felt led to get baptized and what God was teaching her with it.
Then it was my turn. I hadn’t planned on giving a speech, I hadn’t even planned on getting baptized earlier that day, but I talked to my squad about how I felt like God was leading me from a season of fear to a season of resting in His love and that getting baptized would be a symbol of how God was leading me out of that fear and into His love and a re-commitment of following Him wholeheartedly.
I had gotten baptized as a baby before, but this baptism felt so much more real to me since I was saying the words and recommitting my life to God. I got saved by accepting God as Lord and Savior about 3 years ago on Nov. 8, 2013, and this baptism on Oct. 11, 2016 was an outward symbol of that commitment to follow Him for the rest of my life. I had wanted to be baptized as an adult for several years now, but I have just wanted to wait for the right time when I felt like God was speaking to my heart about baptism. Oct. 11th was that day. It was especially meaningful for me to be baptized on the World Race, which is my first mission trip, and that I was baptized in Nepal, which is a country that had my heart since the first view of the city in the mountains in Thamel at debrief.
Baptized in Nepal!
Photo Credit: Brittni Wisner
After being baptized, I was filled with the joy and peace of my decision for the rest of the day. Everything around me seemed beautiful (in fact the place where we got baptized was very beautiful since the river was in the valley of mountains and everything was so green and the sky so blue) and every person who witnessed it felt like such a blessing to me. We even saw a rainbow after the bus ride back, which is a symbol of God’s promises to mankind.
I know some of my supporters, friends, or family may not understand this decision of mine to be baptized since I was already baptized in the Catholic Church as a baby. As of Nov. 8th, 2013, I considered myself a saved Catholic, meaning that my Catholic faith is not just empty words to me, but a true relationship following the Lord in every step of my life from then on. As of the end of the summer of 2015, I made a decision that I am actually a non-denominational Protestant. My commitment to the Lord is the same, I have just decided to live my faith in a different church. Ever since Nov. 8th, I have considered the idea of getting baptized as an adult as an outward declaration that I am living my Christian faith. I did not want to do this for me, for a particular church, or for the people who were watching. My decision to get baptized on the World Race is simply an outward symbol of my love for the Lord and my commitment to follow Him. I hope that my friends, family, and supporters will respect this decision of mine and feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions!
Praises:
~Thank you, thank you, thank you for the recent donations I’ve received! Thank you to my new supporter, for the large donation I recently received from someone who’s supported me in the past, and for my monthly donors! And thank you to anyone who has supported me financially in the past, prayed for me, shared blogs or videos with someone, or encouraged me in any way! You guys are the best and I could not be on the field without your support!
~More stories from Nepal to come and hopefully more videos from Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana to come as well!
~Thank you, as always, for your prayers and generosity!
Prayer Requests:
~My final financial goal is to be fully funded by Nov. 30th! Currently I am only $2,569 away from $17,361! Wow! Praise the Lord! I have no doubt that God will provide the rest for me to be able to stay on the mission field, but since I now have less than 30 days to be fully funded, I would like to humble myself by asking that if anyone who has given in the past or hasn’t given before feels led to give, I would be so grateful. If you know anyone who might be hoping for the opportunity to financially bless a missionary, please click “contact me” to give me their contact information or direct them to my blog page so they can donate to my mission trip directly by clicking “donate!” on the top right corner of my blog.
~If you would prefer to donate by check, please send a check addressed to Adventures in Missions with my support ID: OBRIENGENEVA in the memo no later than Nov. 16th because it takes up to 2 weeks for checks to process. Please mail your check to:
Adventures in Missions
P.O. Box 742570
Atlanta, Georgia 30374-2570
Note: Please only send checks to this address. Cash will not be accepted and will not be applied to my support goal. If you would like to donate by sending cash, please contact me by clicking “contact me!” or by Facebook or email if you know me personally so I can give you my U.S. address so my mom can deposit that money directly into my account and I will donate that amount to myself online. The simplest way to donate is by debit or credit card online because it has the shortest processing time and is tax-deductible.
~For the month of November, I am starting a new fundraiser called “Coffee and Chocolate.” No, I’m not selling coffee or chocolate, but I’m asking people that whenever they buy a cup of coffee in the morning or when they buy chocolate if they would help send me by donating that amount to me instead. You can either buy yourself some coffee or chocolate, tag me in a picture of it on Facebook, and donate the amount on your receipt to my World Race account, OR if you feel led, you could donate the amount that you would have spent on coffee or chocolate to support me instead! Please round to the nearest dollar if you’d like to participate!
~Whether or not you are able to give financially, I would like to ask that if you are reading this blog that you would join me in daily prayer for the month of November that I would be fully funded and be able to stay on the field. Prayer is so important and I know our Father in Heaven will hear your prayers!
~Please pray for our hearts to be prepared as we travel from Nepal to India. So many of my squadmates, including myself, have fallen in love with our ministry, our hosts, and everything about Nepal. It will be a sad goodbye this month, but we are also excited for our ministry in India!
~Please pray as our squad travels to Hyderabad, India tomorrow morning! K-squad will be staying in Hyderabad for a few days for orientation, and then my team One Pulse will be traveling to South India near the coast for ministry.
~Please pray for my team to partner well with our ministry hosts in India. We will be serving with the Adventures base in India and may be working with orphans and children from low-income families. More details to come!
