Baptism by Balti City Church of Hope
So then, those who had received his word were baptized. – Acts 2:41
We have had another joyful event – the baptism of new believers who joined the church. On June 14, 2009 in Balti, next to the city lake where hundreds of people come to tan and swim, we conducted a church service that was attended by hundreds of church members and guests. The four policemen who guarded the lake were very nice to us and heard the Word of God since they were close to the place of baptism. The Balti City Church of Hope organized the baptismal service.
The baptismal team arrived early before the baptismal service and installed the tents for the baptism. When time came to start the church service, there were many brothers and sisters who traveled from many places to attend the celebration and to encourage their new brothers and sisters. A number of relatives of the ones joining the church came to the lake as well. Sound equipment and musical instruments were set up, and we were ready to start.
The worship songs sang by everybody in the congregation by the lake attracted more people, and they approached us and listened. Pastors David Groves from Texas and Marshall Link from Missouri presented sermons about the meaning of Baptism and Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Everybody who joined the church presented his personal testimony of how he was saved and why he was joining our church.
We heard amazing stories about God’s work in the lives of every new believer. Dima came to our Sunday school and was saved as a child. Mariana was saved in our English camp while studying God’s Word in English with a team of teens. Uncle Andrei was saved when our missionary came to his village and started home Bible studies in order to plant a new church. Ghenadii, a former drug addict, was saved at the rehabilitation center and dedicated his life to serving the Lord at our local church. Elena was invited by his friend to the church and was saved. Tatiana was taught God’s Word by her mother. Timur is a gipsy guy who was stopped on the street by our team that was inviting people to the evangelistic meeting at a Culture hall, and he came and was saved at the end of service. Timur invited us to come and start a home Bible study for his whole his family and his mother was saved too. She was baptized the same day with Timur. God’s Truth is marching on, from heart to heart, saving people and changing their direction and lives.
Then it came time for the most moving moment, the baptism, when one by one all new believers went down in to the water to testify to everybody that they have died to their old way of life and were now resurrected to a new life with Jesus Christ. I had the blessing of baptizing these new believers with Brothers David Groves and Marshall Link.
When we finished baptizing, we had the Lord’s Supper at the lake for all church members. It was also time for greetings and fellowship for everybody and for a couple of hours people were talking, praying and encouraging one another. We pray God will bless all of these new believers and help our churches receive them with love, assisting them and finding a place for everyone in the body of the church and doing God’s work.
Tags: Balti City Church of Hope, baptismal service, changing direction and lives, David Groves, how he was saved, Jesus Christ, join our church, Marshall Link, Missouri, old way of life, personal testimony, ready to start, resurrected to a new life, Texas
