Sunday, April 06, 2008

Clay Pots ~ Visitors and Baptism


Dr. Zango


Kips


Nanci Zango

Last Sunday, the rain stopped just long enough for Dr. Zango, his wife, and Kips to be baptized in front of the community. One by one they slowly stepped into the freezing water and gave a public testimony of their faith in Christ before being baptized by Jason and Welsen. They were physically shaking… mostly because of the freezing cold water but partly due to their nervousness. They were ready, but apprehensive to take this step of faith in front of everyone since there has been opposition to the gospel recently. And yet as they came out of the water, every one of them had a smile. After it was all done and we were sitting around the fire trying to warm up, Kips and the doctor were encouraging each other with the fact that this was the same thing the early believers in the book of Acts faced as they believed in Jesus Christ. “Praise God that we finally know the truth,” they said.


The Smith family

We were also blessed to have some dear friends of ours bring their entire family to come visit us in the tribe this past week! We were in awe that the Smiths were willing to make this tremendous sacrifice to not only come over and encourage us, but to meet their brothers and sisters in Christ. They and their three children brought lots of laughter and fun to our home as they interacted and played games with our three kids and the tribal children, and helped us with some projects around the house. They were also our personal CNN correspondents as we asked question after question about what was happening back home. From elections to economy we feel like we can now enter back into “society” without feeling so lost and clueless. And they sat down with us and explained all the new technology out there as well. I know this sounds silly to you, but after living in the tribe for 4 years it was a blessing to have some of the changes explained before we hit home soil again.

They were in tears as some of the believers said goodbye to them here on earth, but reassured them that they will be in heaven with them some day soon! The Smiths commented that it was a huge encouragement for them to see simple faith in action.



We only have a few weeks before we will be leaving the tribe for our year long home assignment! We would appreciate your prayers as Jason is in the process of handing over the teaching responsibilities to a few of the Tobo men. Also be praying for our co-workers, the Williamsons, as they continue to learn language and culture. It is hard to think about leaving them and the church but we know this time apart is a needed time of growth for all of us.

His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, & Malachi Knapp

No comments: