Willy Kalsef's [right] parents are Christians in Epau Village, and thus he has been attending worship services with them for several years. Paul Iala [left] is originally from the island of Tanna, but now lives with Willy and his family in Epau, and also visits worship services regularly. These two young men are students in the TBS classes that I receently began teaching in Epau. We are studying the church, which is of course a very timely study for both of them.

I saw Willy's dad in town on Tuesday afternoon, and he was very excited to inform me that these two members of his household had been baptized. Of course, I was pleasantly surprised to learn the news as well. I had preached a sermon on Bible Baptism the Sunday before, and a lesson on the The Purpose of the Church the day before they made their decision. They both told Arthur [middle] that with the knowledge they'd gained from these studies, they were ready to make a commitment to follow Christ.

This news came as a surprise to me for a couple of reasons: [1] I wasn't even "trying" to convert these men with these lessons - I was simply teaching God's word - which shows the true power of the gospel message when it is proclaimed. [2] Local Christians tend to shrink back from any leadership role, hoping that instead one of the missionaries will take charge. Often times in this situation a conclusion of "let's wait until Eric comes next Saturday" would have been the consensus. I was so proud of Arthur for baptizing these two men into Christ when he heard that they were ready to make that decision. To my knowledge, these are the first conversions that took place without direct assistance from Eton or American Christians. Very encouraging indeed!!

EB