Grace
like Rain 2
It kept raining.
Story
3: Toward the finish our Spirit-filled worship
service in the elements, cars began to circle. One drove right through and
another stopped. A man with an umbrella in hand stepped out. “I was coming home
from a wedding,” he said “and I wanted to come by and check on you guys. If
this rain
keeps up, it’ll flood 5 inches overnight. Come stay at the church.”
30 minutes later, all 35 of us had
valuables packed, and took turns riding to Eastgate church down the road. What
a blessing on top of an awesome worship night: SHELTER.
Story
4: Sunday morning
With the storms raging you had us in your
hands.
We woke up Sunday morning to a big
day: Church, then a few of us to be baptized in the ocean waters. While the pastor
of Eastgate spoke passionately about “First Priority” Sunday (dedicated to
world missions… yes, ironic that the “world race” team was present), I thought
about the day before: the water cleansed us and the Spirit filled us.
The pastor even brought up again the act of baptism: spirit, soul, and body. We
bury ourselves, leaving behind the old, coming up a new creation. My stomach
turned in knots. God was asking me to get baptized as well. “Embrace
the change Lisa. You’re ready”
The service was over. I stood up and
didn’t move for about 10 minutes. Finally, I got up the courage to mention
something to Liz, “I think I want to get baptized too, if that’s not a
problem.” Ha-ha.
So, in rough waters, with the beach
“closed”, Danny (Trumpets of One), Michelle (Trumpets of One), Liz and I got
baptized. It took all of Wrecked 52:7 holding hands to stay standing in one
spot.
Then, by the grace of God
(literally), Kyla (our squad leader and fellow teammate for a week) baptized Liz
and I within our team circle. Wave after wave crashed into us. “In
the name of the Holy Spirit.” CRASH.
We celebrated with dance and the
singing of Amazing Grace. We were just baptized in a place of high spiritual
warfare and apathy: Byron Bay. And God looked at us and said, “You
are my children, and I am well pleased.”
