Uganda Day 3: Baptisms and Bumpy Roads

Today was amazing!! We left the hotel a little bit earlier than we have this week, but it was because we had a long drive ahead of us. We had to drive two and a half hours to a place where we would be able to witness something amazing… Baptisms of 48 Ugandan Christians. The whole team was excited.

As we loaded into the bus, we quickly realized that this was going to be a less than comfy ride. We were packed into every seat and on top of much of our ministry supplies. As we headed down the road and out of Jinja, the ride started to get rough. We were constantly dodging potholes the size of small cars. When we couldn’t miss them, our tailbones took the beating. But when you looked out the window and remembered that you are in Uganda, heading to a baptism service, the discomfort faded.

After a couple of hours, we pulled up to the side of a large swamp and the bus stopped. Pastor Henry and the rally team piled out, and so we followed. As we stepped up to the large swamp that was so inundated with water plants that you couldn’t see the water, we wondered what we could possibly be doing here. It became clear when two of the rally team members hopped in and started clearing the plants away. This was where we were going to baptize!!

I knew that there was a possibility of me getting to baptize a few of the new Christians, so I had come somewhat prepared. I got my swimsuit on, and walked towards the crowd. When I reached Ken, he said “hop in!”. I would be the one doing the baptisms. So in I went.

As I stepped into the water, I was so humbled that I was actually getting the honor of baptizing these people. I didn’t even know them, had not done the hard work of evangelizing them or teaching them the Word of God, yet here I was walking with them into obedience to Christ through baptism. How awesome! They started to come to be baptized. I asked them about their relationship with the Lord, and their devotion to follow Him all the days of their life. One girl was so excited that she shouted: “until the day I die!!”. It was so rewarding to be a part of.

One of the most exciting parts of this baptism service for our team was the baptism of one of our own. James had never been Biblically baptized, and he wanted to do so today. It was so cool to see this white teenage boy in the crowd with 48 Ugandans ready to be baptized. The excitement in his eyes was awesome. I think the only thing that could have completed this, was if his mom was there to witness it with us. She will get to see pictures and video though, and I know she was praying for him as he obeyed.

Once we got cleaned up from the baptisms, which took a while because we were covered in water plants, we headed to a high school to evangelize. We were given the opportunity to share one of our Bible stories with them, and we chose to tell the story of the Exodus. In the story, we talked about the Israelites spreading blood on their door posts and frames to protect themselves from the angel of death. It was a great tool for us to communicate to the students the concept of blood covering us from the wrath of God. There were many students that said they wanted to have a relationship with Christ, and we had a great time with them.

We did one more rally at another high school, and presented them with the story of Abraham and Isaac. The students were amused by the drama, but it really helped us communicate the idea of faith and how vital it is for our relationship with God. Once again, we saw many students come to know the Lord.

Once we got back to the hotel, we enjoyed dinner and made plans for tomorrow. There is a LOT going on tomorrow, but we are very excited to see how the Lord will work.

Please pray that our time in Henry’s village would be beneficial. Pray that the kids that we minister to tomorrow would see Christ in us, and desire to know Him. Also keep praying for our safety and health! It is greatly appreciated!

In HIM,

pastor matt