Dear Friends and Family,
We had the privilege today of watching 13 brothers and sisters in Christ be baptized. 10 of these were under age 18 and one was about 9 years old! We were thrilled to see the Lord is reaching young and old alike here. Simon, along with 3 of our believers (Brus, Alex and Komiti), had the privilege of asking each of these men and women to give a testimony as to why they wanted to get baptized. They all clearly said, “We want to get baptized today because we know that Christ died on the cross for our sins. We know baptism is not a way to get to Heaven, rather a picture to everyone that we are in Christ’s family now!” Praise the Lord! One of the ladies, Lule, was so excited that she jumped in the water and came out clapping and excited. I mentioned to her later that her reaction made me smile, she said, “I wanted people to see I was excited about being baptized and not just hear it from my mouth!”. This makes it all worth it to see lives changed; God is working through your prayers and support and many Mengen’s have hope, and a future secured in heaven – oh the grace of God. Remember, our labor is not in vain. So thank you!
As Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 6:1-4 “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we became Christians and were baptized to become one with Christ Jesus, we died with Him? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”
Richard’s testimony – “I am getting baptized today because I have trusted in Jesus death completely. I am getting baptized today but baptism itself doesn’t help me. It is only a picture and this water is not able to finish my sin. Only Jesus blood and his blood alone is able to finish my sin.”
We missed some family members from our service today. Pray for our partners, the Laureti’s, who are out of the tribe just now. Marie and Madeleen are still in South Africa but make their way back shortly. Pray for Lourens as he continues to work and pray for them as a family as they make decisions about Madeleen’s schooling needs.
Thanks for your prayers and support! You are a vital part of the Church planting team here.
Simon, Annika, Nya and Noah