Curiosity leads to a gospel presentation.

I knew I was going to have a busy day. We expected to have visitors the following day and therefore I was in the market buying things for their arrival.

As I was checking my list I saw a man in a shop who had something we were running low on, and I greeted him with the intent to purchase from him.

He asked who I was and was curious about me. He asked where I was from, where I live, and what I was doing here. I told him I have come in peace to share about my faith in Jesus with others. I emphasized that I hope to talk about God in peace with others. Our relationship with God is important and I want others to understand how know God spiritually so we can be with God for eternity. He agreed this is an important subject to discuss.

I asked if he knew Jesus. He said that he knew of Jesus. He believes Jesus is a good prophet.  So I asked him if Jesus was just a prophet or is he more than a prophet?  It is my belief that he is more.  Then I asked him if he knew of the teachings of Jesus? He said no. I shared with him a verse from Jn 14:1-6. i asked him what this meant to him. I told him this means we need faith in Jesus to take the good road that approaches the throne of God. Only through Jesus can we approach God. 

We also talked about Jesus being equal with God. I know Jesus calls himself Son of God, but to the people of that day that meant being equal with God. The Jews wanted to kill Jesus for calling himself Son of God as this was blasphemy. 

I shared Jn 3:16. i asked him what this means to him? I said this tells us of God's love to us. if we have one sin in our life, we cannot approach God. We will die. But God sent us his only Son to give us life and allow us to have our sins forgiven and to have eternal life. I told him that I wanted him to know of Jesus who has forgiven my sins.  Because of my faith in Jesus I know I will be in heaven with God. The Word of God tells me this. 

i asked him if he would like a Bible to read about the teachings of Jesus. He said yes and told me what language he preferred. I found a shop in another market and bought a Bible. And he said he would like me to return and talk more about the teachings of Jesus. 

I have given him a Bible and began reading with him. I will not say yet that he is genuinely seeking, but he was curious and also listened to me present the Gospel, more than anyone else ever has, in my poor language ability. I plan to follow up with him weekly and tell stories from God's Word as long as he will let me.

Also our night guard has invited men to join our weekly Bible lessons that will start this week. Please pray for these men and for me as we discuss God's Word together.

A Holy Day-Baptism

It has always been a dream of mine to see a baptism here in Africa. On May 16, I was able to realize this dream.

Our church we attend here had 19 candidates for baptism. Our church observed the sacrament with another church that has a pool. 

The service was to start at 4pm. When I arrived, there was nearly noone there. A few of my friends were there so I greeted them and talked. I actually took the opportunity to practice my language with them as we have had classes for 2 weeks to this point. The pastor came out and I walked over to greet him. He saw I was alone and asked if I could transport these guys. I said I had places for 5 of them, and followed a car to the church for the baptism. Thanks to everyone else being able to pile into the bed of the truck ahead of us, noone was left behind.

We started around 5 with music. The pastor gave a mini sermon on the example of Jesus being baptized by John as a model for us to also honor baptism as a time when one makes a new relationship with God. The church was full with my estimate of 170 people there. I was one of at least 30 standing. 

When the sermon was over and it was time for the baptism, I have rarely seen a crowd gather as fast as they did around the baptismal pool. I was on the other side of the church and was 7 or 8 rows of people deep around the pool. I could finally begin to see through people that there was a hole in the floor and a 4 foot deep pool of water. The musicians sang worship songs while each person was baptized. Before they were immersed they were asked a few questions by the pastor that I could not hear, and then dunked in the water. It was a beautiful sight and I was so thrilled. 

After the baptism, every candidate was given an opportunity to thank their family and friends. We formed a line and shook hands with each person and prayed for them. And that was the service. Not much different from a service in America, but so encouraging among a nation with so many who are non-believers. I pray I get to see more baptisms. I am so glad I could experience this. Baptism services are my favorite form of worshipping God. I mentioned to one of the pastors that my professor would call this day a holy day. He completely agreed.