the witness of a baptism

this morning we attended kev and kath's church in footscray, an inner-city suburb of melbourne.  it is a poor area, yet rich in diversity from the settlement of immigrants and refugees from all over the world.  their church, itself, is beautifully diverse with members from ethiopia, india, greece, malaysia, china, uganda, italy, botswana, and the philippines.  Today we witnessed the baptism of a young indian man.

geoff's father, kevin, assisted in leading the ritual and in blessing him.  another friend, andrea, read a letter sent from his mother in india.  in the letter written to her son for the congregation's hearing, she thanked god for god's grace and saving work in their lives.  she rejoiced that her son belongs to the lord.  it was powerful to behold and deeply moving.  he made his statement of faith and he was "dunked" in a baptismal pool and he came up wet and new.  the children were gathered at the front to see upclose this fundamental act of faith.

in the end, we sang and the children blew bubbles.  from a far corner of the world, we were reminded of the faithful, loving and unifying work of god across cultures.

(sherry)