Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Baptism at the River

Ever witnessed a Baptism at the River?

Perhaps you've been baptized in a river?

I was baptized in a swimming pool.....I thought that was cool until I saw this.....


Precious souls walking out to meet the preacher while us on the river bank sang songs of praise....


The look of humble thanksgiving on their faces just before going under....




The symbolic white robes declaring their heart has been cleansed through Jesus' blood....


The celebrating that took place after wards with tears, hugs, shouts of Amen and lots of singing....


The public testimony these folks gave as they were baptized in a river with other non-believers all around.....






What a blessing! I couldn't help but to cry as I watched each of the five candidates wade through the water....while songs of praise were sung from the river bank...in Portuguese!

The language spoken by the people of this country that I have come to love so very much. The language I struggle to speak daily. The same language I cry frustrated tears over when I 'butcher' my thoughts and sentiments directed at those I love so very much. How I long to communicate intelligently.

It was a simple reminder.....witnessing these baptisms.

It's why we're here.
It's why we do what we do.







14 comments:

Sandy said...

thank you for this post. I sure did enjoy reading it and seeing the pictures. I sure do miss you all and are so happy for you. Talk to you soon.
Sandy

Betty W said...

Baptisms are emotional for me too, especially if I know the people. I´m glad you are experiencing these blessings in your work!
My baptism was outside too, but in our church baptismal font.

Jill said...

Beautiful post, Nina. Kind of puts everything into perspective, doesn't it?

Starla said...

I love river baptisms they are so beautiful. Our church has an indoor baptism. So when we get the chance we go to watch river baptisms with the church my grandma went to.

Tracy said...

Our old church would go to the lake for baptisms in the summer...I love it!

We may be doing the same thing shortly since our church burned and there isn't one at the school.
We are going to be making some decisions regarding possibly purchasing a bldg. please be in prayer for us!

Becka said...

Those kind of pictures are beautiful :)

Amrita said...

This is a very joyous and holy occasion. Saints making a public confession of their faith.

Thrilling

Jen Price said...

Awesome!

Liz said...

Praise the Lord!

Anonymous said...

What a blessing!

Alicia The Snowflake said...

Oh wow! What an amazing day! May you be blessed in the work you do. May God continue to send reminders of the reason. And thank you for sharing them with us!

Unknown said...

"It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. Life´s trials will seem so small, when we see Christ. One glips of His dear face all sorrow will erase. Then bravely run the race, till we see Christ!"

This just came to me when I was thinking on your beautiful words and pictures. Feeling a part of it all and feeling it all right along with you.

Love ya!

Cathy said...

How awesome!! I love baptisms!

Anonymous said...

Have you seen the movie "Oh Brother where art thou?" when they have the river baptism? That's what it reminded me of. The song they sing is beautiful, I sing it in the morning to my boys when I wake them up sometimes.

I love you girl! Just catching up on your blog...
~Joy