Above: Down under she goes!! IN THE OCEAN! It was so cool!
Above: A close up of Brenda and the Pastor who baptized her
Above: all the people that were there (excluding me and Justin). The lady in the pink is her mom - Burnadette.
Today has been all about Jesus!! I know what youre thinking Mom – “Everyday should be all about Jesus!”. (Don’t deny it – that is sooo something you would say!!)
Well this morning we went to Brendas baptism which was in the ocean. We pictured it being like a revival you see on TV or something where like the whole congregation is there and tons of people are getting baptized. But is was so precious and intimate. There were like eight people there including me and Justin. We were late – of course – by like 10 minutes. Brenda called me at 10:05 asking where we were because they were fixing to start. I was just thinking – Oh it must almost be her turn!! But when we got there they were all waiting on us so that they could get started. They sang a song, prayed, and then a preacher talked about the meaning of being baptized. He talked about how being baptized does not give a person salvation and that it is merely a profession of your salvation. He quoted scripture from the good ol King James and then had Brenda give her testimony. It was so cool to see that Christianity actually EXISTED on this island. I was beginning to think all hope was lost!! Above are pictures of the baptism. Enjoy!!
After we went to our church service on campus we went to eat Chinese food (oh it was so gross) but Justin will eat practically anything if hes paying for it. And then Justin and I parted ways as he went to study on campus and I went home. Soon after I was home a Jehovahs Witness comes to my door. Now this was an experience……
She was here for about an hour with her grandson. I proceeded to ask her what was different about Jehovahs Witness than Christianity. She then told me some things that they believed and I somewhat tried to help her with the real Truth. I was so frustrated with myself about how little I knew about Scripture. Luckily my Bible has a concordance so I was somewhat able to ask her what she thought about certain verses. Like the fact that they don’t believe in Hell. So I would find different verses about Hell and would say – how can you believe “everything the Bible says” – yet you don’t believe in Hell? It was interesting the different answers she had to each of my questions. So she asked if she could come back and talk with me some more. I said – Sure!! I came back in my house and thought – am I in over my head here?? So I emailed my pastor from back home asking him for HELP!! He was a missionary and will be the perfect person to talk to about everything.
Although I don’t agree with everything the Jehovahs Witness believes I have to admire and respect their tenacity and the way they pursue people. This is the third time they have been to my house. I mean the lady had her grandson with her – having him look up verses for her and quoting scripture. When I said something about Hell – he knew what scripture to look up! He was just as into telling me about his religion as she was. How many Christian 10 year olds do you know like that? How many any age Christians do you know like that? That are so passionate about what they believe in that they want to go knocking door to door telling everyone about it. And who know EVERYTHING about what they believe in and why. I can promise you I am very guilty about not knowing my Bible like I should. Please pray for me that if this lady comes back God gives me the right words to say.
I encourage everyone to take a step back and ask yourself – how strong is my witness?? Am I passionate about Jesus like every other religion is passionate about what they believe in? A while back there was not a synagogue in Dominica for the Muslims to go to however many times they go a day. The students threw such a fit that they got one built almost right beside campus!! Wow!! Would we do that if there wasn’t a church here to worship at? Now that is the kind of passion I want!
God has sent me here not only to support my husband but he is showing me that my faith needs to be stronger and that I need to know more about what I believe in. He had to take me out of my element from back home to make me realize that I need to be in the Word more. (Sorry Justin – its all my fault were here ;) ) There is a song called Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns. One line of the song says – “cause You are who You are, no matter where I am”. Oh how true that is!!!
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