15
The climax of the trip came after conducting
interviews with ten of those who had
expressed the desire to be baptized, eight of
whom gave a good confession of their under-
standing and belief in the name of Jesus
Christ and the things concerning the Kingdom
of God. Immediately after the interviews, I
told the eight that they qualified for baptism
and nothing could prevent them from being
baptized. I could see their faces shining with
joy and one of them asked me a pertinent
question: ?Now, where is the water?? I kept
silence for a few seconds because I thought
having travelled all the way from Nairobi I
was the one who should have asked that
question. It was a sharp contrast from the
account in Acts 8:36 where the Ethiopian
eunuch said: ?? Look, water! What is stop-
ping me from being baptized?? I felt
challenged and had no option but to devise a
solution; thus, came the idea of digging a
hole in the ground. But as soon as water was
poured into, the sandy soil swallowed it up. A
friend suggested we put in some water-tight
material first and then pour water in. We
gave some money to buy a plastic sheeting
which was promptly brought and fitted in the
hole. The plan finally worked out well and
the baptisms were carried out.
So, the mission was crowned with eight
baptisms: three brothers and five sisters
were added to the number of the Lord?s
family at Kakuma. They were given the right
hand of fellowship and then welcomed to
partake of the emblems during the memorial
service held on Sunday. The two following
days were spent on a door-to-door preaching
campaign to the homes of many friends who
had shown interest in learning the Truth.
Our visit came to an end after a meeting with
the ecclesial committee who shared with us
stories of the ups and downs of life in the
camp as Christians; most importantly, the
progresses and challenges facing the
ecclesia.
Kakuma: An Ecclesia on the move
On our previous visit the main mission
consisted of helping brethren put up a
meeting hall following an incident whereby
Somali Muslim refugees had destroyed and
vandalized the ecclesial hall claiming that it
was built in an area they termed ?theirs?. We
managed to present our case to the adminis-
trative authorities who dealt kindly with us
by granting our request for a different site
where a new meeting hall now stands. I was
amazed at the unshaken resolve of Kakuma
brethren to have a meeting place despite the
challenge they bravely faced without dispir-
iting their stand in the Truth. From that back-
drop, the ecclesia at Kakuma has moved from
strength to strength and as a result has seen
an increase in the number of both those
baptized and those interested in the Truth.
... continued ~
The makeshift baptismal pool. Sis. Regina Asende
emerging from the water of baptism
Our new brothers and sisters