Day's Diary

January 1, 2007 ~ Baptism by Immersion

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Well, I have arrived safely at 1 p.m. on Saturday and only one box is missing and it will hopefully be here by Wednesday when the next South African Air flight arrives. The welcome at the airport was wonderful, with many from the Synod and the Partnership there to greet me. Joel and Rebecca Sherbino opened their home to me to stay with them while I am in Blantyre, which is until Thursday, when I go up to Zomba and begin my assignment there. They are a delightful couple from Canada who have just adopted their second child, a beautiful 3 month old girl, who joins their 18 th month old son. They are a delightful family, and so gracious. Saturday was an easy entry, and after a two day trip that included 4 flights over 3 continents and 3 different airlines, a 12 hour layover in London and only sleep on the planes, I was pleased to just rest. But Sunday made up for the quiet entry.

Rev Gunya, the General Secretary of the Synod, picked me up at 8:30 a.m. to go to a 9 a.m. worship service. We made two stops along the way to pick up a Zambian Bishop and his translator. The Bishop was the preacher for the service. I was to do infant baptism and Holy Communion. Rev. Mbeza, a CCAP pastor newly returned from studies in South Africa, was to do the adult baptisms and confirmation class, and assist me with communion. Rev. Gunya was to do the 2 marriages and most of the liturgies of the service. This was full immersion into Malawian worship for me. I have done a number of services in Malawi, but none this full. The baptisms came early in the service. By 10 a.m. we were going strong. I baptized 27 babies before I had been in the country 24 hours. It was quite an experience. The first baby screamed. I am not certain whether it was my white face or the cold water, or both. The clerk of session read the baby’s first name from a card the parents handed him. The parents knelt on a white lacy pillow on the first step to the chancel and handed me the baby, whom I duly baptized from the font, that looked more like a white tile sink with a stopper in the basin than it did a baptismal font. It was a permanent fixture with pipes in the back and a bucket to catch the drip from the pipe. For the most part, the process went smoothly. One baby, about 15 months old, was particularly resistant to this whole process and tried to push away from me with a stiffened straight arm in my face, screaming all the while. I quickly turned him around facing the congregation and came at him from behind. The congregation laughed, but I got the job done. I commented that some of God’s children are especially resistant to his grace. I don’t know how many in the congregation understood, but the session clerk did and laughed so hard he had difficulty saying the next name. The rest of the baptisms were comparatively uneventful, with just a few cries. The baptisms (infant and adult), confirmation, membership transfers and marriages took until noon, when the sermon began. Much to my delight the Bishop preached in English, his second language and his translator followed in Chichewa, the Bishop’s fourth language. The sermon and what I said were the only parts in English and the only parts of the 5 hour service that I fully understood. The rest of the time Rev. Mbeza interpreted for me at key points or at particularly confusing points (explanation rather than translation). Praise God for Rev. Mbeza. After the sermon was the offering and a special offering to build a toilet on the church property, a need mentioned in the announcements and picked up on in the sermon. About 1:15 the congregation was dismissed, except for those staying for communion, a common practice in Malawi, since one must be in good standing and in a proper relationship with God and the church to take communion. More than half the congregation left. Then the last sacrament began. Rev. Mbeza did the liturgy and I consecrated and distributed the elements and gave the final prayer. We finished the service at 2:15, then met in the vestry for the closing formalities and protocols and about 2:45 got in the truck to head to a church deacon’s home for “lunch.” It was a traditional Malawian formal dinner of chicken, nsima, rice, greens and fruit. We retuned to Sherbino’s about 4:15. I soon took a nap, since I was still trying to adjust to the time changes.

The New Year entered quietly here. This morning we went to St. Columba, where Joel is an associate pastor, and had a small but meaningful worship service. The youth had had an all night prayer vigil, which was well attended. It was a peaceful beginning to the New Year and a new venture for me in Malawi. I pray your New Year is filled with Christ’s blessings.