When a baptistery becomes a lifeboat
ITAPETINGA, Brazil — A mobile classroom used by Churches of…
Around the World: Caribbean baptisms, needed supplies in South America and more quick takes
Around the World is our monthly rundown of news briefs, links and quotes from Churches of Christ all over the globe. Got an idea for this column? Email Erik Tryggestad at [email protected].
Featured image (above): In the village of Higo de la Cruz, Dominican Republic, a minister named Simón baptizes one of 16 adults and teens in a pool that flows out of the nearby mountains.
Missionary Bob Young witnessed a total of 24 baptisms during his recent visit to the Caribbean nation as he traveled to remote congregations, many of them composed of immigrants from neighboring Haiti, with Manuel Aquino, a Dominican evangelist who lives in the city of Neyba.
Since the Neyba Church of Christ appointed elders about six years ago, “that church has been the impetus behind the establishment of seven new congregations among the Haitians,” Young said. “They are also working with two new congregations in Neyba and another in the mountains.”
In Higo de la Cruz, a Dominican Christian woman named Anita “has been very helpful in the establishment of the church,” Young said, adding that the church needs a concrete floor and enclosed walls for its meeting place.
Related: When a baptistery becomes a lifeboat
BRAZIL
VALE DO CATIMBAU — It’s a land “without electricity, running water, grocery stores or medical facilities … quite isolated from the outside world,” said missionary Josh Pruitt.
So Christians in the northern Brazilian city of Recife make the five-hour journey into their country’s arid Catimbau Valley to deliver food, toiletries, toys and Bibles.
Church members distribute food to families in the Catimbau Valley.
“With every visit, we share the Gospel,” said Pruitt, who accompanied members of the Downtown Church of Christ on a recent visit to Catimbau. “We are touched by their meekness and gratitude.”
See more at redeemingrecife.org.
INDIA
PALAKOL — Third-generation preacher Aarilla Anil Kumar directs a ministry school in this southern Indian city. His faith remains strong even after the death of his father in a traffic accident last year, said missionary Larry Waymire.
Waymire, of Caribbean Ministries, teaches a class of 25 in Palakol from his home in Tennessee. “We meet on Monday nights at 8:30, which is Tuesday morning in India,” Waymire said. “Some of the men travel three to four hours to arrive in time for class.”
ZAMBIA
LUSAKA — Members of the Lusaka Central Church of Christ were apprehensive about confronting the dreadlocked man “who was frequenting our premises to draw water for the car wash business he has across the street,” said minister Kennedy Mukuka.
“Thank God we confronted the man with the word of God,” Mukuka said. The man, named Greatson, was receptive, studied the Bible with church members and was baptized. “Brother Greatson has since placed membership with Lusaka Central, and we have joyfully been together the past two Sundays. We give God the glory.”
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