Sunday morning, 7th August, found the river Dansu taking part in a Holy moment. Pastor John Nuledo of the Crusades Kotoku/Abbaman fellowship baptized 10 souls in repentance, & joy. Mud & rain showers did not delay or discourage. Alongside us, a local man continued his bath & wash day. But, as you all know, a Holy moment does not depend on us or our imperfect earth, but on the presence of the Spirit of the One who was present with fresh forgiveness & joy.
The man being baptized is the village chief, Emmanuel.
As he hobbled on swollen feet down the rocky bank holding onto Adrian, he looked weary & old. And he is by Ghana standards. But as I gave him a hand back up the bank after baptism the look on his face, the twinkle in his eyes, was weary no more! He has difficult decisions to make. He & his wife sell alcohol for a living. He has gone from observer of the village church to devotee of Jesus. He is very respected & his choices will impact many lives. Pastor John will be discipling him. We are praying he will see with new eyes all areas of his life & have the courage in the name of Jesus to deny Satan.
A young worship leader kept the singing going.
If you are thinking I was planted on that muddy bank thinking lofty thoughts, you do not know my children. Adrian took this of us during the baptism. Elle is considering sliding down the bank to Adrian. I had told her no. She is the least sure footed one of us & an obruni landing in the water was not the impression I wanted to leave. Max was darting around, poking Rory & trying to see everything that was happening. Rory, placed firmly on my hip for a very good reason. He is the one to take off running the minute I'm distracted.
This moment captures John & Jon in prayer over the baptisms that have just taken place & the coming spiritual warfare over true change in the life of each one. As they lifted up their voices in prayer, I was again in awe of the hand of God. To see the work of the Spirit in the life of your husband is a beautiful thing. He has come here, taken the unofficial title of pastor & become a minister of the gospel. He feels inadequate in life experience & in classroom training. But he is a minister of the gospel . How thankful we are that God has chosen to qualify the called. His Spirit is leading the way through this new territory.
Pastor John Nuledo graduated from CFC Bible School after one year, picked up his chain reference Bible & concordance to begin a church. In his small congregation, he deals with alcoholism, abortion, abuse & divorce. He is not perfect. He feels inadequate. But he too is a minister of the gospel. He too is learning as he goes along. He too daily needs the Holy Spirit to lead the way through new territory.
And so the sight of these two men unified in fervent prayer was a beautiful contrast to all the brokenness in the body of Christ.
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