John Dean is the first-born son of Eddie Karris, one of the first Christians in Vanuatu who lives in Eton Village. In early 2009, John began visiting our worship services in Vila and showed interest in personal Bible study. He attended a Gospel Meeting in March, and had several one-on-one studies with Wayne Burger during that week, who was conducting the meeting. John then took several of our TBS classes during the remainder of the year, all the while visiting services fairly regularly.

Following studies with Wayne, I (and others) would often touch base with John to see "where he was" in his decision making process. He knew what needed to be done in order to be right with God, but wanted to make sure that he was prepared to carry out the commitment to Christ as His Master. John is a very popular person in Vila, being a teacher at the technical school in town as well as being the former owner of a saw mill. He has a great sense of humor, and is very likeable.

Much to my surprise, John showed up at my house on Monday morning and said that he was ready to be baptized. I studied with him for a couple of hours, during which he asked some of the most thoughtful questions I have ever fielded. Though she hasn't had much interaction with the church, I was glad that John's wife was also able to sit in on this study. He desperately wants her to obey the gospel, and invited her to come with him that morning so that she could better understand what he was doing. As a result, she has now begun taking our Bible Correspondence Courses and we are supposed to study further upon her completion of those lessons.

After we had studied through all of his questions, we drove down to the Port where I baptized John into Christ. When we came out of the water and I handed him a towel, John buried his face and cried for several minutes. I was so touched by the humility of this man, and am honored to call him my brother in Christ.

John brought family members with him to church the following Sunday, and told me that he was "starting his evangelism now." He also did a superb job leading the closing prayer that morning. Join me praying that John's desire to serve the Lord will continue to grow.

EB