There was no organ piping away and no stained glass casting reflections on floor. But there was a tent and a bucket. And there was the Spirit, the Word, and the water.

Missionary Terry Schultz baptized 18 more Haitian orphans last week, a blessed event more than a year in the making. These orphans’ headmaster, in fact, had been an adamant objector to infant baptism. However, the Spirit entered his heart  and led him to have the children in his care baptized.

Below is Rev. Schultz’s report of the event:

“We were blessed with 18 baptisms in Haiti this past Wednesday! The children are all from the orphanage of Director Jeanot, and range in age from toddlers to teenagers. Before coming to us, Jeanot had attended a four-year seminary program of a church that taught very strongly against infant baptism. At times [Haitian national pastor] Rona and I wondered if it was a good idea that he attend our orphanage director classes. Many times he voiced his strong opposition to infant baptism, making his argument with misapplied Bible passages.

“Last year we covered infant baptism the first weeks of classes with our 10 headmasters. Several months later we baptized the 62 children. We continued to occasionally bring up the topic. About a year since we started, the subject of infant baptism came up again in the adult confirmation course Pastor Rona is teaching the directors. Rona spent a day on the topic and presided over much heated discussion. He asked if I would take a session on the emotional topic. The next day I hit the subject really hard, emphasizing the tremendous blessing as well as responsibility each director has as the spiritual leader of their orphan children. I presented a veritable barrage of passages, from the Old Testament models and foreshadowing of baptism to the New Testament passages. I spent over 2 1/2 hours with the directors going over numerous Bible stories and passages.

“The following morning, I was standing in the dirt path to greet the directors when Jeanot came walking up. He grabbed me in a huge bear hug, lifted me off the ground and said in my ear, ‘I went home after class yesterday and spent three hours looking up all your Bible passages on baptism and studying them. Then I got up two hours early to pray about it. The Holy Spirit came to me and revealed the truth in my heart. I want all my children baptized!’ Jeanot proceeded to make the same announcement in class before all the headmasters.

“Not only did the tremendous blessings of Baptism come upon these 18 wonderful children. As Jeanot ‘led the opposition’ so to speak against infant baptism, his acknowledgement of the truth will no doubt affect some of the other headmasters. God willing, the Spirit-powered waters of baptism will soon be transferring more of our Haitian orphans from Satan's grasp to the saving arms of our Savior!”

More photos are available on Missions site.