Baptisms at Sunset

May 6th was an important day at Alpha Omega...we had three baptisms! Late in the afternoon, we gathered around the portable baptistry that Albert spent a good part of the afternoon filling (large amounts of water are usually rather difficult to come by around here).  

 The first baptism was Rebecca Short.  It was nice that she could be baptized while her grandparents, Edward and Sharon, were still here.  Talking to her grandmother earlier in the day about her baptism, she had said something about hoping for there to be a sunbeam on her; Sharon said something about it while we were waiting for everyone to gather.  Well, she got her wish!  Her baptism was just before the sun dipped behind Monduli Moutain, and my camera captured sunbeams shining right over us at that moment.

 Baraka, a form four student, was the second baptism.  While he had been baptized a few years ago when he was still quite young, he felt that he wasn't really ready back when he did it to make a commitment really understanding what he was committing to.  He had been thinking about his spiritual walk, and once he heard that Rebecca would be baptized and so the water would be ready, he decided it was a good time to be baptized again himself.

Edward Short prayed with Rebecca and Baraka after their baptisms.  I ask you also to pray for them as they begin this new commitment to God. 

After the other two baptisms, Stephanie, a form one student, came forward and said that she had been thinking about baptism and had decided that she was ready.  We stalled a bit while she called her parents, but with their permission, she was also baptized that evening. 

Edward had a prayer with Stephanie, with her friends gathered around, after her baptism. 

I've had a difficult time getting videos to load properly to the blog with my weak internet signal here.  Hopefully, you'll be able to watch this one.  We are singing the Swahili version of "I've Been Washed in the Blood."  The videos of the baptisms themselves were too long to load here, unfortunately.