Five get baptised in the sea

22/05/2008

In the face of cultural pressures, five Albanians have publicly declared their new faith in Christ through baptism in the sea.

The open-air beach service took place in Durres – an hour’s coach journey for the congregation of Drita e Botes (Light of the World) Baptist church, in the Shkoze area of Tirana, Albania’s capital city.

BMS World Mission’s Graham McBain leads the church and was overjoyed that the five have come to Christ.

“Lindita, and her 13 year-old daughter Eni, have been coming to the church for the last three years. Erisela, Kamela and Jona are four teenage girls who have all been discipled by Lejda, our church worker, over the last 18 months.

“For all of them, baptism has not been quick or easy, often encountering and overcoming strong family prejudices to even be allowed to come on the baptism course.”

Helen Brook, a BMS mid-term worker, based at Light of the World, said: “To say it was a special day for the church would be an understatement.

From top: Eni, Radiela, Lindita, Jona & Kamela being baptised, and bottom right, sharing testimonies

“We gathered together, sang some songs and listened to the five tell how Jesus had come into their lives and changed them. Then they were baptised in the sea.

“It was as simple as that – yet the message it gave to everyone there was undeniable and incredibly powerful, we have a God who pulls us out of the darkness and into a brand new everlasting life.

“It was brilliant to see people, out for a simple walk on the beach, stop to listen and see what was going on. We hope that some of them walked away with small seeds of change starting to grow in their own lives.”

Read more from Graham about the day the baptisms took place by clicking here.

Graham and his wife Mairi McBain have been at Shkoze for four years, and Helen, and her husband Tim, for the last 18 months.

With Albanian colleagues they, and others from BMS, are reaching out to different groups of the community in a variety of creative ways, including English lessons and an internet café.

The latest venture is a new card-making business for some Roma ladies that live near the church.

Called Mangava (‘Love’ in the Roma language) the aim is to provide a reliable income for the Roma ladies. Any sales from the cards go back to the card makers. Click here to see the Mangava website.

Pray especially for:

Those working on the project – Helen, Drita, Suzanna and Ferenza
An Albanian to help project manage the business and start moving it into a wider context
The women involved who all come from exceedingly hard backgrounds and often suffer physical and mental abuse.

What skills do you have that you could bring to overseas mission? Contact a recruitment staff member to discover short, mid and long-term opportunities with BMS – call 01235 517653 or e-mail opportunities@bmsworldmission.org

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