God’s plans for our lives always include more than we could ever hope and imagine. Such was the case for our missionary group that headed to Jamaica in July 2009. We knew we would be doing construction work and helping with a Vacation Bible School. We were completely unaware of what else the Lord had planned while we were down there.
Traveling from the Wooster and Kelloggsville churches of the Nazarene in Ohio to Frome, Westmoreland, Jamaica through Work & Witness, our 13-member team spent the 12 days of the trip helping to construct the Gamertsfelder Medical Center and lead Vacation Bible School at Llandlio Church of the Nazarene in nearby Savannah-La-Mar.
Unaccustomed to the Jamaican sun in July, the Cabarita River that flowed just a couple hundred yards behind the Nazarene guest house was a much sought out escape for the group. An exclamation from team leader George Shunk changed the way we would view the river by the time we returned home.
“Hey, we could have baptism down in the river,” George said one afternoon while sitting in the house. Enthused by the thought, he quickly followed by asking, “Who here hasn’t been baptized?”
No one had discussed baptism in the months leading up to the trip, and the idea took me a little off guard. It was not long, however, before three members of the team replied that they would like to be baptized. George said he would ask if Pastor Lionel Brown would be willing to do the honors. George, also an ordained pastor, offered to perform baptism for anyone that desired it.
Within a few days two more members of the group committed to be baptized, for a total of five — including me. It was decided that on Saturday, July 25, at 9 a.m. we would be baptized in Jamaica's Cabarita River.
The day could not have been more perfect. The river was warm, and the presence of the Lord evident. It was a family God had knitted together from all walks of life that gathered on the river's edge. Where some of us had been virtual strangers just the week before, we were now brothers and sisters brought together to bear witness to the transforming work the Lord was doing in the hearts of his people.
Each of us was asked to share a short testimony about that transformation. Kay Wells, one of the elder members of the group, went first. Before being immersed, she shared a sentiment all would echo in their own words: “I love Jesus.”
When asked why now and not before, Kay replied, “I wanted to, but I kept putting it off.” She said that this time, she felt something pushing her to do it. “It felt important to do it now.”
Deb Shnell, Cory O’Hearn, Darlene Morris, and I followed. It was a time of prayer, testimony and rejoicing in song as one by one we came in and out of the river to worship God for what He had done in our lives.
Pastor Andrew Henry read from the sixth chapter of Romans and led times of prayer. Reverend Jennifer Brown was by her husband’s side to help with the immersion. George, who baptized Janet, asked if any one else felt stirred to be baptized. Pastor Brown said a closing prayer, and before we exited the river, George gave one more invitation. It was then that Dave Wells stepped forward.
Even after spending his whole life in the church, Dave felt the Lord had given him a second chance through the mission work he had done. Just like his wife had shared, now was the time.
“It felt longer than just a few seconds,” Dave said of looking up out of the water for the brief moment that he was immersed. “It was a beautiful sight.”
Six people, all who were lonely, broken, depressed, lost or hurting at some point during their journey through life, came to declare the healing and the joy that the Lord had brought to them.
In his closing prayer, Pastor Brown summarized what the trip to Jamaica was really about. “It will be remembered in the years to come what God has done in the lives of people," he said. "We are participating in the burial and resurrection of people to live a new life in Jesus Christ.”
Glory was brought to the Lord through the construction work and the VBS, but an even greater work was accomplished during those days. It was not by human hands, but by the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the Cross. It was the surrender of lives for the sake of the Lord.
And as Pastor Brown prayed, “May the world see the difference You make in our lives!”