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BAPTISM GOES ON IN SPITE OF OBSTACLES

As Kwaelom`s daughter came up out of the water his face lit up with joy!

June 11, 2008

by Christina Johnson

Malaria was not enough to keep missionaries in Papua New Guinea from conducting and celebrating the baptisms of 59 new Siawi believers on Sunday. Not only was Tom Brendle suffering from the disease, but another missionary, Shannon Swanson, was still recovering from a foot infection.

The missionaries were committed to seeing the baptism follow through and were happy to learn the tribal people decided to move the event to 3 p.m. in order to give Tom more time to recover from his fever.

Apart from illnesses, the river for the baptism was low because it had not rained for a week. The Siawi people did not let this stop their baptism and some of the men built a small dam to create a deeper pool.

Through sickness and weather conditions, God was faithful to His people and 59 Siawis were baptized.

"Praise God; it is all of Him and none of us," Danielle Brendle wrote. "In truth we were amazed at some of the young men who participated in the believer's baptism - young men like Noa, Ekebauele and Sek - who have each caused a lot of trouble for the church."

For Ekebauele, the baptism was especially significant since he used to be so adamant about not listening to the Word of God. Ekebauele used to throw stones at the building where the missionaries were teaching from the book of Acts.

Jason Swanson tried to get to the bottom of Ekebauele's behavior and to see why he felt compelled to act that way.

"When I talked with him, he told me he wasn't a believer and didn't care about God's ways," Jason wrote. Ekebauele showed a great amount of change since then and started frequenting more of the teachings.

"A couple of days ago he came to Tom and I, saying that he too wanted to be baptized," Jason wrote. "Tom was floored [and] I was beside myself. I thought, 'What angle is he trying to work here?'"

Through more conversations with Ekebauele, Tom and Jason learned how he came to believe in Jesus.

"Oh yes, before I wasn't a believer in Christ. I didn't care about God's road, but as I listened to the teaching on Acts my thinking became clear," Ekebauele told Tom and Jason.

"I understand that Christ's death made the way for me to go to heaven. His blood was shed for me and there is no other way for my sins to be paid for. I want to be baptized because it is what Jesus said should happen to those who believe in Him. I want to follow Jesus' Talk."

The missionaries explained to Ekebauele, as well as the other new believers, that baptism is a big thing. It is not about the water saving them or the water having special powers, but it is only a picture to publicly declare their belief. They also made sure the baptism candidates understood completely the significance of their salvation and that they are saved through Christ's blood alone.

At the time of the baptism, Tom was still feeling weak, so he and Jason asked two Siawis who were strong believers if they would be willing to take Tom's place during the baptism. These two men -- Kwaelom and Someliae -- happily agreed to participate and also had the opportunity to baptize their own children.

At the end of the baptism, the missionaries asked for believers in the tribe to stand with the newly baptized.

"There are now around 100 Siawi believers who have been baptized," Danielle wrote. "Our desire is for them to begin to see that they are one body in Christ."

There have been many divisions in the church here and they probably need to be taught from 1 Corinthians, as much as Romans," Danielle wrote.

Please pray that there will be a unity of the Spirit in this Siawi community and that there will be a bond of peace. Also, pray for continued growth of faith in the 10 to 20 Siawi people who desire to be baptized next.