Journal Entry
August 31, 2008
Now in Ghana for 5 days and we are having a baptism service with Pastor Joseph. He came to me early this year and wanted to begin a church… and it has been a wonderful experience. Last Sunday service had 55 adults, 29 children attending. This week we had a Revival Weekend, themed “Power in the Word”, held during rainy season and had a night attendance of 62 adults on one cool evening. Today the revival was culminated with 14 baptism, we praise God!!
I want to describe this morning’s events in detail. There is no baptismal pool to have a baptism service. We do not go to the local lake, pond, river or creek… they are all polluted with garbage, human waste, etc. Even if not polluted with the unsightly human debris there are the unseen organisms which lurk in these waters; water bourn pathogens which cause intestinal difficulties, sometimes until death. So we find a hotel swimming pool that is closest to the emergent church.
Pastor Joseph was excited to have such a huge response to this revival and to the call for baptism. He came with a change of clothes to jump in the pool and begin the baptisms; as is usually the case, Preston Budd was to assist him. The pool had not been cleaned for many weeks, the chlorine had been depleted even before that, and the metal steps into the pool were covered with frog eggs. The bright green swimming pool water was identical to the water we had attempted to avoid; it also had a stench of rotting vegetation. Preston was not to be so easily put off! He brought out the pool net and began skimming off the rotting vegetation along with all the mosquito larvae swimming sharing the pool. The hotel people asked him not to do that as it was some one’s job to do the pool cleaning… Preston explained that when he comes he will gladly hand over the cleaning net. All the while Kim is exclaiming that Preston cannot get into the rancid water. It was really gross! I had finally located the pool guy who turned on the pump system to begin filtering some of what was floating on top of the water. The water was still so thick and green you could not see the bottom, even in the shallow end of the pool.
We had arrived 30 minutes early to pray over the area and to confirm all was in order… we should have come much earlier! No one from Pastor Joseph’s church had arrived so we had been preparing for the service while they were in route, some 5 kilometers from the church. 40 people coming to the Baptismal Celebration had just arrived as the pumps were trying to clear the water. This green water did not deter them in the slightest because most are not accustomed to being around swimming pools. The color, smell and appearance had no affect on them. We had cleaned it a bit, but more difficulties were to arise. As the Pastor and Preston stepped into the pool via the metal ladder they both slipped on the frog eggs, Preston wiped them off with his feet to assure that others would not slip as they entered the pool.
Although so many had come to be baptized, only one woman had brought a change of clothes for baptism. The teenagers and the men had all brought something, but the women were all going to just wear their under garments (or less). The baptisms progressed as the first woman baptized shared her clothing with the other woman who had not brought another change of clothing. Only one wardrobe malfunctioned during the celebration.
Kim prayed through out the event concerning protection of from the stagnant water, Preston assisted in baptizing the 14 new members to the Kingdom and I shouted halleluiahs to each one coming up from the water. The new children of the Kingdom were excited at their new found faith and their new beginning in life.
It was a glorious day!
Wish you were here!
Keep Praying
Pastor Charlie
Tags: africa, african, baptism, budd, charlie, ghana, god, hope, jesus, kim, kingdom, mission, missionary, preston
