Baptism ...

For me, after I made the commitment to follow Christ, I was asked when I wanted to be baptized. I may have been taught some about baptism, but not in a lot of detail. I had seen baptisms and I only knew it was something I was supposed to do. I learned more later!

In America (or at least for most of the people I know), nobody is going to try to stop you from being baptized, and a lot of non-believers simply don't care about it one way or another. Though many people are confused and believe that baptism equal salvation. BAPTISM IS NOT SALVATION! Salvation is repenting from your sin, believing and trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior, and committing to follow Jesus.

In Cambodia, there's also the confusion that baptism is salvation. This confusion is mainly because (for the most part), when a believer chooses to follow the Lord in baptism, he/she is saying, "I FOLLOW JESUS." Baptism around the world is a sign that you follow Jesus, but at least for here, a believer's family thinks baptism is a more serious statement than simply confessing with their mouth that Jesus is Lord.

Therefore, most believer's families "won't let them" be baptized. Many believers don't even tell their family beforehand, so that their family won't try to stop them.

After people believe, and sometimes before if they're involved in a Bible study, they are taught about baptism. They need to know how important it is, and that they may even be persecuted because of it.

The following is what they will study before being baptized.  Maybe you've seen baptisms where they ask something like this:

                         - Do you believe in Jesus?

                         - Have you accepted Jesus as you Savior?

                         ...

There are different questions for a Cambodian baptism, which you will find at the very end, followed by a few different pictures!

 

Important Points That We Need To Learn About Baptism

HOW TO BE BAPTIZED

1. Ask someone (you) to stand up and pretend that they (you) are in the water.

2. Hold your nose and hold your right hand
3. The person baptizing will put their right hand on your hand. The person baptizing will put their left hand on your back. Then you will fall back into the water, then stand up.
4. When you duck down into the water, you should bend your knees.

THE MEANING OF BAPTISM

What is baptism?

Picture / Symbol – Baptism is a picture / symbol to remind us of the resurrection of Jesus (Rom 6:1-11). When you were baptized it showed that your old sin died with Jesus. After you got up from the water, it showed that you have a new life with Jesus.

The Special Sign – Baptism is a special sign to show that we love Jesus and follow Him. When somebody gets married, their wedding is a sign to show all the people that they are getting married. When you follow Jesus, you would like to tell God and people that you love God and you belong to Him.

Why must we get baptized?

·        Jesus got baptized (Matthew 3:13-17)
·        Jesus commanded us to be baptized (Matthew 28:10, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16)

Why do we get baptized?

·        The New Testament tells us to get baptized
·        It is a picture that shows about death, burial, and resurrection.
·        John 3:23 “it has a lot of water”

When should we get baptized?

·        After you believe in Jesus (You can’t be baptized before you believe in Jesus!)
·        All the commands in the Bible say to be baptized immediately.
·        In all the events in Acts, people were baptized immediately

BEFORE YOU GET BAPTIZED

Do you have other gods in your house? If you do, you should throw them away. Baptism is the sign of Jesus’ love and the promise that we will follow only God. If we still worship other gods, it seems like we are unfaithful to the Holy Spirit. It’s not God’s will.

If your husband or wife tells you, “I’m going to sleep with another woman or man, but only once a year.” How would you feel? Exactly, you won’t allow adultery, even for only one night per year.

In the same way, we can’t worship other gods even once a year. Because God is jealous. His Spirit will not stay in us if you still worship other false gods.

STOP WORSHIPING OTHER FALSE GODS OR STATUES THAT REPRESENT SATAN

·        Worshiping false gods is committing adultery against the Holy Spirit. (Look at Judges 2:17, 8:33, 1 Kings 5:25, Psalm 106:38-39, Ezekiel 23:37)
·        Remove all the statues from your house

If you get married and your husband or wife asks you, “could I take my ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend to live with us?” How would you feel? Maybe you can’t agree with this! Maybe you demand for the ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend to leave, and don’t allow him / her to return.  In the same way, you cannot receive fake gods after you belong to God. You must get rid of everything that has to do with fake gods in and outside of your house. You must get rid of your loyalty to them. Pray to God, that He would bless your house, and that it would be a place to worship only Him.

DON’T BE AFRAID

·        Satan can’t take away your Savior. The Lord has power over everything. The Bible promises that the Lord won’t leave us. However, Satan will still persecute us.
·        Pray about Baptism
·        Set the time for baptism as soon as you can.
·        Ask yourself four questions about baptism (look below) and don’t let anyone see. You must be sure yourself. Don’t have any doubts when you get baptized.

1. Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for you sin and three days later He rose from the dead?

2. Do you know Jesus forgives all of your sin?

3. Will you tell everybody here that you’ll follow Jesus and never turn away from Him?
4. When you have problems or when somebody persecutes you, will you still believe in Jesus?



My first Sunday in Cambodia, I got to see three people baptized in a big orange ice box
 

I've seen people baptized in the swimming pool at the Olympic Stadium (not pictured)

I've seen several baptisms in a kid's pool


I've heard of many baptisms in the river, at the beach, or in a public swimming pool. I think big churches probably have a baptistery like those in America.

After every group of baptisms, there is a time to lay hands on and pray for our brother(s) & / or sister(s) who've been baptized!

Angry birds ...

For those of you who've been expecting a baptism post, I'm sorry! It'll come sometime in the near future. I had some things translated, but lost the paper, so I'm getting them translated again. You'll understand when that post comes!

This post is about this girl here (The one on the left, with the glasses, wearing the angry birds shirt):

You may wonder about the title. When I first came to Cambodia on a Christmas team (2011-12), she wore an angry birds shirt what seemed like every day. And that's where I got the title!

For security precautions, I don't put names and pictures together, even though I usually give my phonetics of the name and not the way they actually write it.

As you know by now, this young lady has been studying at the English center for a long time, over 2 1/2 years. She's always excited about teams! Both times I came on a team, the other girls and I got to go eat a snack multiple times with this girl. When I came for my longer term, it was harder to get time with her, and many other students. (That's one great things about teams. They're only here for a very short time, so it's now or never. And teams are just more exciting!)

So this young lady was not the least bit interested in the gospel for a long time. Finally, God got ahold of her and she initiated studying the Bible with Crystal (back in October or November). Her and one other girl studied with Crystal every day after class for a few months. Since January we've offered a Bible study class in the evenings and they've joined it, along with several other students.

With the team coming, I've been wondering if I should teach a Bible study class with the group we have, or if they should split up, study with the team, and make connections with other students. The community they have is great and I hope for them to keep that community. It would be wonderful if they, being "old students,"  would welcome and even reach out to new students, especially during the CONNECT time.

All that being said, I talked with this young lady yesterday before class. I asked her if she thought we should still have the Bible study class when the team comes. She said yes. She thought many students would rather study with the team, but she'd rather study the Bible. AMEN!

I asked why she wanted to study the Bible and why she's not a Christian yet. She replied that she's very interested in the Bible. She wants to know more. She thinks it's wonderful / amazing and she wonders about it, and is surprised as she reads.

One obstacle, like for every Cambodian, is her family. They won't let her go to church, especially her dad. They have no clue that our organization teaches about Jesus. They just think their two children (this girl and her younger brother) are going to study English. They are, but they're learning so much more than English. I asked if she reads the Bible at home ( I know that in the past, she's read through the whole Bible, but I wasn't sure if she was still reading it). Her response ... if my parent's aren't home, yes. If they're home, no. She keeps the Bible hidden in a bag, so they won't see it.

Pray for both of these girls! The blog is about the one in the middle (with glasses)