While we were still in China, we had a Chinese Christian friend explain our faith to Daniel. We knew it might be the last good chance we got for a long time to communicate it clearly and completely. And besides, Daniel really needed an explanation as to why we all closed our eyes and said something into the air before we ate a meal, and why we all held hands and closed our eyes and said something before bedtime. (He thought we were bizarre!) He was most impressed by the story of God's grace, and when our friend asked him if this was something that he wanted for himself, he said yes! So she prayed with him to accept Christ. I was thrilled that he was so receptive (I had been praying that he would have an open heart), but at the same time I wondered how much he really understood from that brief conversation. I also wondered how much of his willingness to share our faith came from his desire to follow the Jesus he had just been introduced to and how much of it came from his desire to identify with us.
In the event, it became clear in the months following Daniel's initial profession of faith that he had genuinely responded to what he understood of our friend's explanation, but that he had some significant gaps in understanding, and that his motivation to identify as a Christian did, indeed, have a lot to do with wanting to identify with us, his new family. So as he continued to watch us live out our faith he asked lots of questions and observed how our faith affects our lives. He approved of some things (for example, that our church is like a big family) and complained about others (that we give ten percent of our income to the church when we could have been spending it on him!). He was very impressed that God could help him make wise choices and become a good person, and shared with me from time to time how he prayed when he faced a moral dilemma at school or when he could not fall asleep at night. He felt that he could feel God helping him. On the other hand, his life was still hard at times, and it seemed to him that following God would add extra burdens. This past summer we had a conversation where he shared with me at length all the reasons he had for not wanting to follow God. There were many, but what it basically boiled down to was that he wanted to be his own boss and not hand the reins over to anyone else, even God. I have always believed that wrestling with questions and counting the cost is a healthy (and to some extent, necessary) step on the way to genuine faith, but I have to admit that I left that conversation feeling discouraged. Strangely, though, in the following weeks Daniel began to really own his faith. By the time late fall rolled around, it was clear that this time around, he knew what he was committing to and the commitment was going to last. So we talked with Daniel and then with our pastor about baptism, and the rest is history!
We were able to work it out that Tim went in the baptistry with Daniel and did the actual dunking, which was a great privilege. And my grandmother was able to make a special trip down here to be present for the occasion. After the pastor's introduction, Daniel talked for a minute or two about his faith (he had already testified at length--in English!--a week or two before when he had done the special music in the service). Then he was baptized. The pastor had started the water heating in the baptistry a day or two before to make sure no-one would freeze, and apparently he was a little too enthusiastic, because the water was downright HOT. You can see in the second picture how red Daniel's hands are where they had been in the water. When he got out, Esther hollered from the front row, "Are you hot, Daniel?" and he (apparently with Thanksgiving dinner fresh in his mind) called back, "My so turkey!"
This isn't the best quality video, but it gives you an idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASESSwNv5LQ
