Post by M. Hawbaker on Sept 23, 2020 0:31:26 GMT
The Free in Jesus Christ Church Association (FJCCA) held the largest baptism in its history and, it says, the history of the church in Thailand. FJCCA, a Thai-led movement that focuses on village-level evangelism, baptized 1,435 people in a single day on September 6.
Twenty ministers lined up across the same waist-deep reservoir waters that some of them were baptized in, waiting for new believers to come one-by-one from the shore to proclaim their faith and be submerged for the sacrament. The event took two hours.
Twenty ministers lined up across the same waist-deep reservoir waters that some of them were baptized in, waiting for new believers to come one-by-one from the shore to proclaim their faith and be submerged for the sacrament. The event took two hours.
Participants came from 200 villages in five Thai provinces to Chon Daen, the hub of FJCCA activity and home to founder Somsak Rinnasak. Some wore masks, and lines of new believers were congratulated with a traditional wai greeting—a no-touch gesture (praying hands and bow) that has been part of Thai culture long before the coronavirus made physical contact a means of transmission.
After FJCCA shared the news of this month’s mass baptism, threads of supporters added refrains of “amen” and “thank you Jesus” in Thai on the church’s Facebook page. According to FJCCA leaders, many of those who were baptized had not heard about Jesus until this year.
After FJCCA shared the news of this month’s mass baptism, threads of supporters added refrains of “amen” and “thank you Jesus” in Thai on the church’s Facebook page. According to FJCCA leaders, many of those who were baptized had not heard about Jesus until this year.
Praying for all of these newly baptized Christians to continue to grow in their knowledge of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and of God's Word.