On Baptism & Allegiance

Huayquique Beach - March 19, 2021

It was a beautiful and blessed night. 

Despite rushed circumstances due to the government's Thursday announcement of lockdown resuming Saturday, nothing could mar the joy of witnessing faithful obedience. On Friday, Roismar and Rosaida chose to publicly proclaim Christ through baptism. From Venezuela and from Cuba, respectively, each came to Chile in search of a better life and more importantly found their eternal life in Jesus. What joy! 

It was a night perhaps quintessentially "Iquiqueño." Literally dozens upon dozens of cars lined the potholed pavement alongside Huayquique beach. Even if the next day hadn't been the beginning of quarantine it might have resembled this by virtue of being a Friday, but on this occasion the crowds were exaggerated. Still, at the farthest end our small church plant family found a quiet spot somewhat isolated from other pockets of people to set up camp with a toldo and two folding tables and chairs and blankets and food for fellowship. The common Iquique scents of sea breeze and marijuana wafted by as we navigated sand and bits of broken glass from previous partyers to celebrate this moment set apart.

Maybe that last sentence sounds a bit odd. But there is little neat or tidy about ministry in Iquique.  

In fact, even as I absorbed the joy of the evening I was struck by bittersweet memories. Earlier as we had proceeded at a painstakingly slow pace down the crowded lane, a car intent on attempting an impossible parallel parking job ahead of us forced traffic to a stop. My daughter's voice turned my attention to two attractive young women sitting on a cement stoop just a few feet away. "Look, Mom! It's Josefina." (Name changed for privacy.) We called out and she turned her head, flashing the familiar smile that once graced our dining room table each week. It has been years now since she was the "extra daughter" that we loved to welcome at home, at church, on family outings to the Los Verdes and Playa Blanca and Arica and Santiago. She has moved on, and though our relationship would still be characterized as friendly there are no longer any common threads that bind us. The six-pack of beer between her and her friend was evidence that her priorities are quite different now.

I still remember a concerned conversation my husband and I had when she was a young teen. She was gentle and humble and kind with a beauty we knew would dazzle one day. "What happens when she realizes she is beautiful?" we wondered. With no father in the picture and a mother here again, gone again who bounced through relationships most of her growing up years, we knew the odds were stacked against her. Yet her tender love for God as her Heavenly Father was precious and we prayed it would withstand the temptations we had seen so many other teens succumb to in this city. Unfortunately, at least for now it has not. Calls and messages and invitations politely ignored eventually evolved into this silence which is only broken by the rare sighting and accompanying smile.

As we gathered with our kids and church families for the baptisms, one of our sons pointed out that there was an actual swimming pool where Huayquique Beach ends. I told him we knew of it because it belongs to the Chilean Navy and we were able to use it once for baptisms when service members attended our prior church. More poignant memories surfaced in the telling, because it was then that the exuberant J.P. was baptized. First his wife, then his step-daughter and then he joined the church fellowship but eventually every one of them fell away. A longtime owner of a colorful restaurant known for its supersized churrasco sandwiches, J.P. still greeted us warmly when we had occasion to visit. Tragically, last year the restaurant which included his residence burned to the ground with J.P., his daughter and nephew inside. Was his baptism a true step of obedience after a sincere salvation? Only God knows, but I pray that somehow it was. 

Perhaps the most unforgettable memories which surfaced at Huayquique were of the aftermath of the last baptisms our former church held there in March of 2014. After a beautiful celebration of eight believers taking this public step of obedience, the church family enjoyed an afternoon of food, fellowship and fun before disbanding and heading home. However, a group of teens and adults still remained when a 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit and tsunami alarms began to sound. Little did we know that it was only a precursor for the 8.2-magninute earthquake that was to come two weeks later! 

As I was writing this post and looking back on pictures of that day, I was again struck with sadness that two of those baptized I described as "a young brother and sister who have been attending our church this past year ... [t]heir parents are committed Christians and very involved in different ministries." Today, only their mom remains a faithful follower of Jesus. Conversely, I wrote of a "daughter and mother who faithfully attend despite the challenge of being a family which is divided by religion." These two by God's grace remain strong in Christ and continue to preach to their loved ones who have yet to trust in Him.

Last night, I felt the joy of serving in this city of so many people and so many needs. I was reminded of the beauty of baptism and its public declaration of allegiance and obedience to Jesus Christ. Last night, I also felt the sadness of seeing many fall away over the twelve years we have lived in Iquique. We have truly observed the "Parable of the Sower" as told by Jesus in Matthew 13. Yet we are called to continue to sow the seed and rejoice when someone "hears the word and understands it." It is my prayer that these will indeed bear fruit and yield "in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty" and that we will have the awesome privilege of bearing witness. Please, Lord, raise up a mighty harvest of saved souls and faithful disciples in Iquique!