A Blessed Event on a Beautiful Day

Written by David DiCrescenzo on . Posted in FAITH

A new friend of mine told me and another friend her story of faith recently.  She is a great lady, a single mom, works very hard to make ends meet on her own, and through her boyfriend has come to know our Lord and Savior.  Such stories happen all the time and might not be considered newsworthy by most, however, this past Friday, my new friend shared with us that she was following a blessed mandate of the Christian Faith…she was being baptized the very next day.

As Christians, my other friend and I started welling up a bit because we understand fully what this means.  It isn’t simply a trip to the Baptism location for a sprinkle or a dunk.  No, it is in fact a very public act, a declaration for the whole world to see that she fully understands, accepts, believes, and knows that our Heavenly Father sent His only Son, Jesus the Christ to become a final sacrifice for the sin of the world.  In doing so, He literally took on the burden of the sin of the entire world for all time, and paid the price….DEATH. 

My friend told us she was taking part in the Beach Baptism conducted by Calvary Chapel Church of Ft. Lauderdale, so when I got home I looked it up, and decided that giving my friend a simple hug and wishing her well fell way short of the right thing to do; she was after all preparing to do something amazing.  So I decided to get up a little early and drive down to witness the blessed event with my own eyes.

So, on Saturday morning, I got up extra early, and made the drive to Pompano Beach.  When I saw the line just to pay for parking, I suppose I should have figured that maybe there were a few more present than I’d imagined.  I found out just how many a few minutes later when I crossed the street and entered the beach.

I guess I was thinking and expecting to see a hundred or so people; um, nope….try well over a thousand, and I’m guessing close to 1500.  They weren’t all being baptized mind you, but every one of them was either there to help, pray, or simply support one of the over 400 that were to be baptized.

Almost an entire football team from the Calvary Christian Academy was on hand to help in any way possible; and with the fast moving high surf, no doubt most of them spent a lot of time in the water.

We spoke with Pastor Doug Sauder and Pastor Jorge Bustamante; both great guys that were very gracious and chatted for a while as we watched a chopper circling overhead.  They say that this takes place about every 6-8 weeks and everyone just comes out to do their part.  This was just a great occasion, and I’m very glad that I took the time to attend.

I never did find my friend, however, let me just say God bless you Suzy, remember Saturday as one of the greatest days and moments of your life for you and your son.  And many blessings to all the rest that braved the wind and rough surf to publicly declare that they belong to the Most High.