Raised to Walk in the Newness of Life

I remember the day that Malachi (our eldest) was born and I got to hold him in my arms for the first time. The moment was so magnificent and overwhelming that for several days I felt like I hovered above the ground as I went from place to place.  Surely no moment in the future would ever come close to what I felt right then. I was wrong. I experienced this same emotion when Matthew was born two years later, and again three years after that when my baby girl came into the world. I was sure those moments were so remarkable that nothing would ever compare to them again.

So far 2017 has been a great year at the Bible College, and we have seen God do some amazing things in the lives of these students. Many of the first-year students have never experienced water baptism. As strange as this may sound, this is not uncommon, as many Africans’ have an immense fear of water (when it comes to baths, pools, dams, lakes, etc.). This fear of water is partly because the majority of black southern Africans do not know how to swim and partly because of cultural beliefs about water spirits and other dark spiritual powers believed to be present in larger bodies of water. Our three children joined the chapel service a couple of weeks back in which we discussed the subject of water baptism, and to our delight, they too made the decision to be baptized. Yay God!

Remember that feeling that I thought I would never experience again; I was wrong. Having the privilege to baptize my three children may be the greatest moment of my life. Malachi, Matthew, and Kyla each decided this was the time and place to make this public declaration. Kyla had a tough time the night before the baptisms. She’s not overly fond of being in front of people or being the center of a lot of attention, so this was a big deal for her. We placed no pressure on her whatsoever, and we were so proud to see her make a decision to obey Christ because we knew how difficult this was for her in front of all the people. She was standing up for Jesus even when it was tough to do… it was so great to see.

As Rebecca stood on the pool’s edge with my family present and Face-timing the event with her mom in U.S., the feeling overwhelmed her at how ‘right’ the moment felt. Watching me baptize our kids in our swimming pool where we have baptized countless people over the years, and surrounded by these wonderful young African men and women we have the privilege to know and love, could not have made for a more perfect day.

Derek