Yesterday I was privileged to be a part of a baptism service.
As I have shared we are spending this month with a Passport team, one of the other missions initiatives run by AIM (the parent organisation of the World Race), and this weekend two of that team wanted to get baptised.
Since they arrived five days after we did, I have made an effort to be someone who has been welcoming and friendly and have built up a friendship with all of them. There are two leaders, Sarah and Neal, three guys, Charlie, Nathan and Nolan, and three girls, Ariel, Kate and Rebecca.
Over the last two weeks two of them, Nolan and Kate, came to the conclusion that they were being called to baptism during their time here. So yesterday the team and a number of racers and boys from the ministry headed down on a forty five minute walk, through bushes and along hillside, to the nearby river, finding somewhere with sufficient depth for full immersion.
We opened with a time of worship led by Nathan who also gave a short message about the importance of and reason for baptism. Then Nolan shared how he had come to the point of wanting to be baptised, before being prayed for and immersed by the Passport leaders. Kate followed, with Rebecca sharing some scripture first, and then Kate being baptised too. I was invited to close the time in prayer which was an honour.
Jess, from my original team, has since put together the footage from the day into a video for each of them:
