Mike and I traveled to Marou Village to spend the evening talking to the Christians there, with a goal of encouraging them to stay strong in the faith.

Mike had met and studied with Tamata and his wife a few months ago. They live in a village near Marou, and are kinned to a Christian that worships there. This young couple was in Marou for a couple of weeks at this time, in observance of a funeral custom. When they heard that we were in town, they asked if we would spend some time studying with them. So, on Thursday morning we met with them for over an hour, talking about the church, salvation and miracles. Both of them showed interest in being baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, and thus we spent a significant amount of time talking about commitment. Their "cost of discipleship" is especially high, because they live in a village where they would be the only Christians, and would therefore have to worship by themselves every week.

Tamata's wife, Mary, said that she was very interested, but realized that she needed to think more about making such a life-changing decision, stating that there were some sins in her life that she needed to deal with. Tamata said that he was ready, and didn't want to wait any longer to be saved. I asked George, a local Christian, to baptize Tamata. Like many ni-Vanuatu, he is quite and rather shy. He said, "no, one of you do it" (referring to Mike and me). George is, of necessity, one of the leaders of the small congregation meeting in Marou. I asked him why he was unwilling, and he said, "because I have never done it before." I reminded him that God was depending on him to step up, and that this was a wonderful opportunity to do so. I asked him if he would be more comfortable if I were to go out into the water with him, and explain step-by-step what needed to be done. A grin came across his face and he said, "alright."

It was a very cold day by Vanuatu's standards, with a brisk wind coming off the ocean. We stood at the water's edge and I explained what was going to transpire...how to word a confession and how to hold a person so that you can baptize them appropriately. We headed out into the chilly waters, and George baptized Tamata into Christ for the forgiveness of his sins.

A group of Christians had gathered on the bank, and gave Tamata a much-needed warm reception. I led a prayer for Tamata and the church in Marou, and we all hurried off to get into some dry clothes. May God bless this new child of His!

EB