Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.- 1 Corinthians 12:14

Sunday night there was a baptismal service at Newcastle Baptist Church.  It was a night that truly represented what the Church is here on earth for and how it functions within society.  Now this was a unique baptism in Newcastle because of the fact that the two people getting baptized were not Northern Irish, but Polish.  What made it even better, there were people from Scotland, N. Ireland, America, Canada, and Poland (if not more that I simply wasn't aware of).  It was such a depiction of the body of Christ bringing those dear to us into the body, celebrating through their baptisms.

What made this even better was the fact that English is not their first language, but that is one of the reasons they came to N. Ireland.  Their friend, Ewelina (originally from Poland), suggested they come over to N. Ireland.  One of them actually gave his testimony to us in English.  I don't know about other people, but I have enough jitters talking in front of people in my native tongue, let alone another one that I've learned, where most people you're speaking in front of it is their native tongue.  No pressure right?  He did such a wonderful job and really made his personality and sense of humor apparent while sharing with us his story.

Such moving parts of the service were 1. as each one of them was baptized and came up out of the water, the congregation sang a verse of Amazing Grace, which was very moving and appropriate to bring the reality of the moment to light and 2. Ewelina closed that time by praying for the event in Polish.  It was a time when, although only two other people knew what she was saying, it was apparent the Holy Spirit was present, and of course God knew every word she prayed even before she spoke.

Then, yesterday we had a discipleship course with the team from Southland in Lexington, KY.  It was a night of encouragement, worship, teaching, chatting, and tea.  Best of all, I had a conversation with a young man about how he has been thinking about the idea of baptism since coming to the baptismal service Sunday night.  I am so excited to talk with him about his desire to get baptized, but am making sure he understands the implications of getting baptized and knowing why he wants to get baptized.  It is definitely an exciting time in Newcastle, the Holy Spirit is definitely moving amongst us here.

With all the different nationalities present at Sunday evenings baptismal service I couldn't help but think of the follow Scripture.  "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many."-- 1 Corinthians 12:12-14