In our last update in August, I (Matt) shared about Kallisa Isaac who passionately shared his testimony in front of the crew during chapel and how God had worked in his life to the point of accepting Christ. That night while I was writing the update to all of you, I started thinking more about his life and the idea of baptism came to mind. As far as I know eMi has never been actively a part of baptizing men and women from a jobsite, so I immediately sent a text message to Tatyabala Richard, one of our site foremen at 9PM and we proceeded to share ideas for about 30 minutes via text on how it could happen and what it would mean.
The next couple days we discussed with the team how it could become a reality since it wasn’t anything we had done before. At that time we were at about 7 people to baptize and logistics were relatively easy. On September 6, we shared with the crew that we were considering doing baptisms for those that had committed their lives to Christ. Then Ssebunya Nehemiah, a well liked, outgoing young football star onsite who has been with eMi for several years shared his testimony. At the end, Tatyabala Richard very much led by the spirit stood up and asked for the first time in months, if anyone wanted to commit their lives to Christ. 23 men and women stood up that day. It was an amazing day but it also created all sorts logistical challenges....
Over the next week or so we prayed about what this meant. How do we baptize 30 people? Where do we do it? We wanted the Nile River, but most places are difficult to access, or cost too much money. If we went somewhere offsite, how would we transport 160 people to join in? How do we get everyone involved and connected in a local church so they can be discipled within the local body of believers. How can we go deeper? How can we really invest in them and disciple them at this scale? None of us are trained pastors, we needed help.
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| Photo: Mary McLeod |
All of these questions were answered in quick succession. Olupot Cossy and one of our assistant foreman, attend a local church that eMi had connections to from many years ago right near the Nile. This church welcomed our crew with open arms, even providing 30 English Bibles to give out. They led baptism classes for 3 days on the significance of baptism in the Bible and what this meant in each of their lives. The men onsite loved it so much and the numbers at these classes grew so quickly that the pastor kept coming for almost another week during lunch break and he led chapel the following week. An eMi designed and built Christian Retreat Center called Mto Moyoni opened their doors for free to allow us to do the baptisms at their facility right on the Nile.
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| Photo: Mary McLoed |
Since the discussion of baptism began, numerous conversations have popped up onsite during lunch and morning porridge discussing spirituality. Walking by masons debating over the Trinity or specific verses within the Bible is common throughout the day. We even have a praise team who leads worship before chapel and practices once a week during breaks. I find myself wondering if I'm still on a construction site? Praise God for His work in the lives of these men and women I have the privilege of working with everyday.
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And thank you to each of you for making this special day possible
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