One of the most inspiring things about the UYC Nigeria camp and the Lagos Congregation are the number of young people! Lagos in particular, but Nigeria itself is in a good place over the next several years as these young people mature and begin to serve locally even more.

I was so excited to hear that we had 3 of these young people interested in being baptized while we were there. Because Paul doesn’t have the opportunity to travel more than a half a dozen times a year to West Africa – at the moment, individuals have to wait until he’s present to be baptized. So three individuals, Nnamdi Aninye, Ralpheal Nduka and Toyosi Adedeji desired to make that commitment to God, accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf and go forward in newness of life.

I was even more excited when Paul asked me to assist, and ecstatic to find I would be performing one of them myself with Paul assisting. Baptism is such a wonderful and emotional moment -- and it is such a privilege and joy to serve God and have the opportunity to perform them periodically.

So on Thursday the 25th -- we entered the pool with Toyosi and Ralph and baptized them both in front of many of the campers and staff. Nnamdi, the young man I was going to baptize requested instead to be baptized in the Atlantic Ocean.

So Paul, Nnamdi, and I entered the waters of the Gulf of Guinea. The waves were pulling pretty hard and the water was rough. I began the process -- asking him if he had repented of his sins and whether he had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. He had and did. So I began to let him know that because he had repented of his sins, which are contrary to the Holy, Righteous and Perfect Law of God, and because he had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior, Lord, Master, and soon coming King… I now baptize...

I glanced up at that moment to see a huge wave coming in -- I quickly looked at Paul, he looked at me a little wide-eyed, and I continued with a bit more hop in my step “not-into-any-denomination-or-sect-of-this-world-but-into-the-Name-of...” quickly finishing the rest of the ceremony just before the wave slammed into all three of us. Paul and I made certain that Nnamdi stayed under on the hit, but we nearly re-baptized Paul and I as well in the process.

We moved back up onto the beach for the prayer for God to pour out His Spirit on Nnamdi and joyful embraced our new brother. It is such a joy to see young people submit their lives to God and commit to living their life according to His way.

These three baptisms half a world away are moments I will personally NEVER forget.