An Amazing Amazon River Baptism!
Today we had our Amazon River baptism, and it was one of the most amazing and unforgettable days of my life!
We baptized 13 people today in the Amazon River. 11 were men and women from the Yagua tribe, and 2 were members of FRC-Lima.
We started out this morning by meeting the Yagua tribe at the Port of Iquitos. As mentioned, 11 of them were going to be baptized, and another dozen or so of the Yaguas also came along to be part of the historic occasion. We all got in a large dugout canoe, with a roof made of palm leaves, and we took a 30-minute ride down the Amazon River together to the site of the baptism, in the port of a small pueblo called Barrio Florida.
Once we arrived in Barrio Florida, we all got off the boat and were met by a couple of local ladies selling coconuts, which they promptly whacked open for us with the sharp machetes they were carrying. We drank a toast of coconut water to the baptism candidates, then I led in a time of prayer, then the Yagua women led us in a glorious time of worship, then I gave the baptism candidates some instructions on what to do when I dunked them, and then we headed back down to the river.
The Amazon River is big, brown, and very muddy. It is like walking into chocolate milk. As soon as I stepped into the river, I sank in mud up to my ankles, even though I was wearing sneakers for better traction in the river. During the entire time of the baptism, I had to keep moving my feet around, so that I wouldn't get stuck in the mud. Pastor Samuel helped me baptize each of the 13 people. He is the pastor of our daughter church in Iquitos which we started for the Yaguas and the Boras. He and I had to hold on tight to each person as they waded into the muddy Amazon waters. We were waist-deep in the big Amazon muddy.
As we began the baptism, a crowd of about 100 people from Barrio Florida came over to watch what we were doing. They were absolutely fascinated by the baptism. As each person entered the water, our group of FRC-Lima folks and Yaguas broke out into worship, then we baptized each person, and then they were serenaded with more worship when they left the water.
The presence of God was so strong around us during every single minute of the baptism. We could practically hear the saints and angels looking down at us and cheering from heaven.
God also protected us from any nearby anacondas, crocodiles, or piranhas. I did feel a few nips around my lower legs at different moments during the baptism, but thankfully I'm still all in one piece!
The boat ride back to the Port of Iquitos was quite a trip! The motor broke on our boat, and so we had to sit and wait for 3 hours on the banks of the Amazon until another boat came along with a replacement motor for us. Then we had to proceed at a snail-like speed back to the port, due to all of the logs, weeds, and other assorted flotsam and jetsam which clogged the river as we putt-putted back to the port, going against the ultra-strong Amazon current.
Today also was the 35th birthday of our friend, Ricardo, who is one of the spiritual leaders of the Yaguas, so tonight we invited Ricardo, his wife, Keli, and his little son, Alex, to dine with us in Iquitos, in celebration of his birthday and the awesome Amazon River baptism today. We're going to be posting a video of the baptism on YouTube within the next few days, so be on the lookout for it.
Revelation 7:9 tells us that there will be people from every nation, tribe, people, and language in heaven. Today we saw a little bit of that as all of us, from FRC-Lima and from the Yagua tribe, stood shoulder-to-shoulder and arm-in-arm and praised our God together, worshipped our God together, and participated together as brothers and sisters in Christ in the most amazing baptism that I've ever been a part of.
We baptized 13 people today in the Amazon River. 11 were men and women from the Yagua tribe, and 2 were members of FRC-Lima.
We started out this morning by meeting the Yagua tribe at the Port of Iquitos. As mentioned, 11 of them were going to be baptized, and another dozen or so of the Yaguas also came along to be part of the historic occasion. We all got in a large dugout canoe, with a roof made of palm leaves, and we took a 30-minute ride down the Amazon River together to the site of the baptism, in the port of a small pueblo called Barrio Florida.
Once we arrived in Barrio Florida, we all got off the boat and were met by a couple of local ladies selling coconuts, which they promptly whacked open for us with the sharp machetes they were carrying. We drank a toast of coconut water to the baptism candidates, then I led in a time of prayer, then the Yagua women led us in a glorious time of worship, then I gave the baptism candidates some instructions on what to do when I dunked them, and then we headed back down to the river.
The Amazon River is big, brown, and very muddy. It is like walking into chocolate milk. As soon as I stepped into the river, I sank in mud up to my ankles, even though I was wearing sneakers for better traction in the river. During the entire time of the baptism, I had to keep moving my feet around, so that I wouldn't get stuck in the mud. Pastor Samuel helped me baptize each of the 13 people. He is the pastor of our daughter church in Iquitos which we started for the Yaguas and the Boras. He and I had to hold on tight to each person as they waded into the muddy Amazon waters. We were waist-deep in the big Amazon muddy.
As we began the baptism, a crowd of about 100 people from Barrio Florida came over to watch what we were doing. They were absolutely fascinated by the baptism. As each person entered the water, our group of FRC-Lima folks and Yaguas broke out into worship, then we baptized each person, and then they were serenaded with more worship when they left the water.
The presence of God was so strong around us during every single minute of the baptism. We could practically hear the saints and angels looking down at us and cheering from heaven.
God also protected us from any nearby anacondas, crocodiles, or piranhas. I did feel a few nips around my lower legs at different moments during the baptism, but thankfully I'm still all in one piece!
The boat ride back to the Port of Iquitos was quite a trip! The motor broke on our boat, and so we had to sit and wait for 3 hours on the banks of the Amazon until another boat came along with a replacement motor for us. Then we had to proceed at a snail-like speed back to the port, due to all of the logs, weeds, and other assorted flotsam and jetsam which clogged the river as we putt-putted back to the port, going against the ultra-strong Amazon current.
Today also was the 35th birthday of our friend, Ricardo, who is one of the spiritual leaders of the Yaguas, so tonight we invited Ricardo, his wife, Keli, and his little son, Alex, to dine with us in Iquitos, in celebration of his birthday and the awesome Amazon River baptism today. We're going to be posting a video of the baptism on YouTube within the next few days, so be on the lookout for it.
Revelation 7:9 tells us that there will be people from every nation, tribe, people, and language in heaven. Today we saw a little bit of that as all of us, from FRC-Lima and from the Yagua tribe, stood shoulder-to-shoulder and arm-in-arm and praised our God together, worshipped our God together, and participated together as brothers and sisters in Christ in the most amazing baptism that I've ever been a part of.
posted by Stephen Guschov at 6:56 PM
3 Comments:
This is so wonderfully exciting. I was I could have been there!
AWESOME STORY!
-Raul
Way to go Lima! Our Sawgrass campus is really proud of you guys!
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