I have some fun and exciting news to share!! One of the new bel!evers in K0nian was great with child when she gave her life to Jss. Her name is BRo. Her first husband was a f0ll0wer of Jss and he died a little while back …not sure exactly how long. As is the custom here, the wife is then given to another relative. That is the case of BRo. She became pregnant by her new husband and a couple of weeks ago she gave birth to a little girl.
It was so exciting for several reasons. First, it was exciting because when a person is considering becoming a Chr!sti@n here some of the big questions are what happens when a new child is born, what is different about weddings, and who will bury me when I die? Since BRo is a new bel!ever and a part of the new ch.rch, we were able to teach and to show how we as Chr!sti@ns celebrate and dedicate a new baby to the L0rd. As a ch.rch we had their first baby dedication!! It was fun, exciting and everyone agreed to walk beside BRo and her new little girl as they learn to walk with Jss.
Secondly, it was exciting because BRo chose to name the new baby girl “Fanta”. This sweet new life is my name’s sake. That is a huge honor here in this culture…well I believe a huge honor in any culture to have a child named after you. As I was preparing to share something special during the baby dedication, I decided to look up the meaning of the name “Fanta”. I was so excited to find out that the name “Fanta” means “Beautiful Day”!
We celebrated “Beautiful Day” by pr@ying for her, her mom, her sisters, and her new Chr!sti@n family. We gave some special gifts to help get her life started, and then we had a round of “Fanta” Orange drinks for everyone!! It was a “Beautiful Day” when BRo gave her life to Jss. It was a “Beautiful Day” when Fanta was born, and it was a “Beautiful Day” when we dedicated Fanta to the L0rd!! My pr@yer is that Fanta will come to know her Creator and that He will be the Light of her life!! I pr@y that Fanta will be a light in her world and that she will shine for Jss like the sun on a Beautiful Day!!