Kayaba and Pastor Paul and New life

It is always a humbling experience when you see God work in ways that you can’t see nor anticipate. We prepared for a long day with Pastor Paul and the Kayaba Free Baptist Church. He was so excited to have us participate the first baptisms for the church. There were six of them, two of which were Pastor Paul’s children. We met some of the church members at a local ‘sports club’ that included a pool. After talking about the order of things, Mike and I changed (or at least I did) and jumped into what turned out to be pretty chilly water. They all gave a short testimony and then we prepared to baptize them. The first young man didn’t want to go all the way under so we had to give him a little encouragement (ie; push him down). This was such a big deal to the church. They said they would remember it for the rest of their lives…and so will I.

This was a first...baptizing in a pool. The only other time I have had the privilege of baptizing someone was my  grandmother-in-law (Chici) in the Jordan River during our visit to Israel.

Here is Lucy, the young lady that accepted Jesus as her Savior. She is receiving a gift from Trisha. God used the entire day and the whole team to bring this about in addition to the other ways he has been working in her life.

After hanging out at the club while Mike and the driver gave the group of people a ride back to start church we headed over as well. Right when we arrived you could hear them singing and worshipping. The freedom they have to worship always stands out to me. They are genuinely glad to be praising the Living God. We ran about an hour and a half over…about par for the course. I preached out of Hebrews and as always enjoyed hearing the translation by Pastor Paul more than I did my own words. After saying a few words I had Lucas come up and share. He did a great job. He spoke on the importance of unity and being a light together as the Church. I think it really ministered to them.

After the service we split into two teams and walked through the Kayaba slum inviting people to the food outreach. Our team paid for the church to prepare food to serve for some of the community. Church members, who lived in the area, walked us around with us and interpreted for us. At several houses we were able to pray for them. On one occasion as we walked by an elderly lady called to us and asked if we could pray for her foot. So in the middle of the walkway, in front of a crowd of people I had her sit down. I asked her if I could touch her foot (I didn’t want to assume it was ok), knelt down, placed my hands on her swollen (infected looking) and filthy foot and prayed for her. Then another lady came up and I prayed for her face, though I didn’t know what was ailing her. Kids followed us from the minute we pulled up to the slum. One little girl called “Bebee” grabbed Erika’s hand while she was still in the car and didn’t let go until about 5pm when we left, save the time she was eating and sitting with the girls. We even met her parents and sat in her home for a few minutes. 

Here is Bebee (holding Erika's hand)...who Erika met, literally as we drove up and almost over her. 

During various times children would peak their heads through the window to check out the action. As always one of our team was there to greet them and offer them an encouraging hand.

Here are a couple of young ones dozing off during the outreach portion...about 6 hours into our church day. Everyone has their limits.

Here are a few of the little ones we met in the community. We Muzungus startled some of them as we walked the maze of corridors between the tin shack homes. Some were shy, others we inquisitive, but all were adorable. It is amazing to see how almost oblivious they are to the conditions in which they live. 

Remember that 'stuff' we work so hard to not step into? Well here are a few kids playing in it.