Baptism in the Lake

Today is Friday. We were all invited to attend a baptism service for those who prayed to receive Christ this week who are a part of Bishop Independance's new church plant. It was an amazing, unforgettable experience. It is difficult to describe the sights and sounds and smells. Having baptism at the lake is definitely multi-sensory, let alone multi-cultural! We all lined up at the water's edge. Those being baptized put on white robes. There were several from our team who were assisting Independance with the baptizing - Auzelio, Jim, Troy, Mike. After a time of worship, a short message by Independance, and prayer, the baptizers waded out about 50 yds from shore. Then those being baptized joined them in groups of five. As each one was dunked then brought up out of the water, there was a lot of cheering and celebration from the crowd. The baptizees (?) would be greeted with hugs and cheering and big bouquets of wild flowers. All during the baptism time, the crowd was singing songs over and over again, accompanied only by a non-stop drum beat. These Burundi drummers are tireless! When the last Burundi had been baptized, much to our surprise, Joan, one of our team members from Orlando, waded out into the water and asked Auzelio to baptize her. Evidently, she was baptized as a child and had never been re-baptized to symbolize her own personal faith in Christ. And as it turns out, after sharing the Gospel daily, multiple times, she realized that she had never personally prayed to receive Christ as her Savior. So Auzelio prayed with her to receive Christ, then he baptized her - talk about a powerful moment! It was definitely an over-the-top experience. I promise I'll have video uploaded as soon as I get back to the U.S. - you'll want to see the celebration!