Personal Testimony

I attended the Salvation Army ever since I was a child. There is one thing that led me to think hard over my life: the Salvation Army did not baptise by immersion in the way that the Bible says. We were usually taught lessons by a teacher and at the end of the lessons we were asked to buy uniforms to wear on baptism day. The shirts were written on at the corners “S. S.” meaning “Saved to save others.” We were prayed for by the Pastor on the day of baptism, but one thing that disturbed my mind was that I was not baptised by total immersion in water. The Bible says that there is one baptism in Ephesians 4:5.

We have one example to follow in the matter of baptism which is crystal clear. Jesus the great teacher was baptised by John the Baptiser in the River Jordan. “As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water” (Matt 3:16). This verse shows that Jesus was baptised by immersion in water.

In 2002, while I was at school in Grade ll of my senior level, I met a certain friend, now Brother Dumisanie Mulala. During free time, while we were studying, he took a chalk and wrote the CBM address on the board. He explained to me that the Christadelphians offer free Bible postal courses. They come once a year to Zambia, and he said a team of Christadelphians from UK would be glad to meet me and discuss Bible topics that I did not understand.

I soon applied for lessons and in one month I received the first set of 4 lessons and was given Janice Bushell as my tutor. A while later I received an invitation note from David Nicholls that a team of Christadelphians were coming to Zambia and that I had to make all possible efforts to meet them at the Zambia Institute of Animal Health (Z I A H). I was glad to meet Paul Genders and his wife Elizabeth, and Andrew and Josie Walker at the Post Office, 8 am Central African time. They soon booked a room at a nearby guest house in town and we had much food for discussion from the word of God.

I later continued my lessons with a lovely German man by the name of Günter Rudolph who took me through them, encouraged me in the faith and helped me to become one of God’s true sons in Africa by teaching me the truth. On May 26 2007, Bro Kelly Simayumbula took me to the healing waters of baptism and I was baptised with the witness of Bre Timothy Mwale and Joseph Nyoni. Soon the news of my baptism reached the UK and Bro Gunter Rudolph was very happy and impressed to hear the good news. Bro Andrew Walker was also pleased with the good news and was looking forward to meeting me during their visit to Zambia.

I am now a happy person in the Christadelpian family. I act as the Secretary to our small ecclesia. The Christadelphians have changed my life. I have learned a lot of things from them.

Bro Gideon Hankomone (Mazabuka, Zambia)