What puts a smile this big on Jose’s face? Being a part of the baptism of 17 people, ages ranging from 13 to 80, and hearing the stories about how God has been transforming their lives. We packed out 3 large vans/mini-buses and 2 personal vehicles and headed out to a beach about an hour away from the church in the morning. Upon arriving, the sun was shining and the beach was only sparsely populated. We began with a time of singing followed by a reflection from Jose on the significance of baptism. After that, we all moved down to the shoreline to begin the baptism.
The first person led out into the warm, Caribbean waters was Don Miguel, a man of 80 years, suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Don Miguel had been a proud military officer during the time of the infamous dictator Trujillo. After years of his wife and son sharing with him from the Bible and encouraging him to come to church, he finally listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit and decided to turn his life over to God. His son Eduard helped him out to where Jose and Robert were waiting. This moment was the answer to years of prayer. His wife Teresa and her two sons were beaming with joy!
The last individual to be baptized was 22 year old Victor, a personal trainer from our New Creation Gym. While we were driving to the beach, Victor had told us that he was disappointed that no one from his family was able to come to be with him during this important moment in his life. We told him not to worry about it, and assured him that he would be surrounded by his church family. As Victor was heading back in to the beach after being baptized, a shout of celebration went out and a group of our teenage boys who regularly work out with him at the gym, began rushing towards him. They literally pounced on Victor before he could get out of the water and gave him a massive group hug in the ocean, followed, of course, by tossing Victor back into the water and splashing everyone within reach.
You can click here to see our photo album of the event. You’ll notice in some of the pictures that it looks like it is raining. We did experience a few showers during some of the baptisms, but it cleared up by the end. Then, after we celebrated communion together and began lunch, a 10 minute downpour came through and soaked us all (except baby Isabel…she stayed nice and dry inside her stroller with a towel over it). So, everyone went home drenched, even if they didn’t get baptized!
