Saturday and Sunday May 7 and 8, 2011 Two New Births

Saturday.

Thank you God for the safe birth of baby boy Titus to Paul and Stacey Herrington this morning at 8:30.

I mailed some things home to the US and sent some selected blogs to Dianne at the Martinez church. We cleaned Brent and Sandy’s apartment to get ready for using the oferu tub for a baptism Sunday.

Sunday.

I learned the song Dare Demo “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation” from 2 Cor. 5.17 so I would know it for later. Then re-packed my gear for my return to Tohoku. The Rogers had invited the local missionary workers and all their Japanese Bible study contacts to Tomomi’s special day. Leslie and Sarah and the girls, David, myself, one lady from a Bible study and her little daughter were all there. Kumi came late as she had been at a funeral.

Brent prepared a simple, meaningful service to fit the occasion. We sang songs about the new life and we read from Ac 8 about the Ethiopian and Rom 6 about the meaning of baptism. Brent at Tomomi’s request asked her in English if she believed Jesus was the Son of God and wanted to make him Lord of her life. We set up a cell phone in the bathroom and Skyped it to the computer in the dining room so we could all see, because obviously the bathroom was too small for all of us. Since an oferu tub is kind of small and square and deep, Sandy had done a test run earlier in the day to determine just the right amount of water so it could cover Tomomi, but not overflow. So that was one of the many things that we had to think of ahead of time, that you take for granted in the US. They had even thought about renting the youth hostel so they would a larger bath and more room.

We sang some more while Tomomi changed, and then Leslie read from 1 Corinthians before we shared communion. It was all so low-key, but meaningful. Brent and Sandy had been building a relationship with Tomomi for so long, and she had done so much thinking and asking, and she is a well-respected member of the community, so that this was really a thrilling moment for them.

The thought struck me that we had just watched the royal wedding on TV and you know it’s important because of all the pageantry and finery and ritual and tradition. And even there, what was most important was not what you could see, but the commitment and devotion in the couple’s hearts. Here we had also had a special occasion, but just watching, you might never guess that what had happened was far more important than that wedding, because the amazing transformation and the wonder that God was working were all unseen.