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.

Sunday Morning Singing

Welcome to another Sunday morning at the school!  As usual, I attended the Sunday morning service in the dining hall that the students all attend.  Enjoy the video of the singing!  Wilson, one of the form four students, is the best student song leader.  

Oscar speaking before the Lord's Supper

Wilson leading singing enthusiastically

VBS at Kisongo

The church of Christ in Kisongo (the town halfway between Monduli and Arusha, which also has the Andrew Connoly School of Preaching associated with Bear Valley) has quite a few children both who already attend there and in the neighbourhoods around it, so children’s activities and outreach have become an important part of their ministry.  They hold ‘Children’s Seminar’ which is similar to a one-day VBS as well as week-long VBS, which was going on this week. Tammy, Beth and I took the kids one day.

There were one hundred and twenty-five children there that night, and one of the missionaries who works there told us that they were up to one hundred and sixty by the last night.  It was beautiful to hear so many children singing and learning Bible stories.

The grass and sticks are on the floor because the lesson was something about birds and there was a nest-building competition.

Here's a video of the singing!