Baptismal Service

As I mentioned in our last post we were in Copan, Honduras over the weekend to attend a baptismal service.   It was a combined service with Bro. Nahum's church in Copan and the Guatemala village of Nearar where David does a Bible study on Sundays.  Bro. Nahum is from Honduras and has worked with us and many other IMB missionaries over the years.  There was a total of twelve people baptized- five from Copan and seven from Nearar.  Here are some photos from the day-

our family before we left the hotel on Sunday morning

The baptisms took place at the creek that runs through the Macaw Mountain Bird Park in Copan.  That is the same bird park we have visited many times.  We have taken photos in front of the waterfall area where the baptisms took place.  Who knew we would be back there for a baptismal service one day?  That's pretty cool!

Here is some of the group walking down the trail to the creek.  That sidewalk was quite slippery!

Once everyone arrived Bro. Nahum got us started by leading a few songs and giving a devotion.

having a little creek side praise and worship time

The baptism candidates getting lined up.  That water was cold!  Two of the ladies were pregnant.  I felt bad for them to have to get in that water.

There were four males from Nearar that got baptized. 

Here are the three ladies from Nearar that got baptized.  The lady in blue is Reyes wife.  We meet at their home for Bible study.  Below is a video of her getting baptized.

As each person was baptized and walked back out of the water the rest of the crowd would sing a chorus.  It was really sweet.

A group photo minus one girl from Honduras.

After we were done there it was time to return to Bro. Nahum's church for another service.  On our way back we stopped by a nearby coffee shop to use the restroom.  We always thought it was only a small coffee shop and had no idea that in the back was a beautiful garden area with tables for eating.  After being shown a menu we discovered that they serve a wide variety of foods.  We'll be going back there on a future trip to eat.  Instead we ordered a cup of coffee, a cappuccino, and a piece of chocolate drizzled strawberry cheesecake to go.  We all ate it in the car on the way back which I will add was quite a challenge considering the streets in Copan are cobblestone and bump you all over the place, ha.

the beautiful garden area at Cafe Ixchel in Copan, Honduras

Bro. Nahum's church in Copan, Honduras

In spite of making a stop by the coffee shop we still had some time to kill at the church before everyone arrived and the second service started.  My boys had a lot of fun running around the building.  Cruz entertained himself by jumping off (over and over again) from the platform.  We are going to have to have a lot of deep conversations before we take him to American church on Stateside, ha ha.

my wild man in action

Once everyone arrived and was seated Bro. Nahum led us in some more praise and worship.

He then had a special time of recognition for all of the baptism candidates.  He called each one up and presented them with a "Certificate of Baptism".    Certificates are a big deal here so that was special to them.

The males from Nearar receiving their certificates.  The young guy on the bottom right is Reyes son.

The females from Nearar receiving their certificates.

a group photo (minus one)

When the service was over and we all waited for lunch to be served the kids had a fun time riding the horse.  Bro. Nahum's son helped them take turns riding.  Cruz loved it!  Ben was eager to get on and then just as eager to get off. 

For lunch we were all served tamales with a side of vegetables.  Our drink was horchata.  I loved the tamales.  The had small diced carrots and potatoes mixed in along with beef and chicken.   They were delicious!

our Sunday lunch

After eating and visiting a short while longer we made the drive back home to Guatemala.  It had been a great weekend and we were very happy that we got to be a small part of such a wonderful service.  We are thankful for those who have put their faith in Christ.  How exciting!!!  Would you pray for these new believers?  Pray also for the many more in this area who have not yet made that decision.