JOHANNESBURG – Ellis Park Swimming Pool.
It was a day of new beginnings for nearly 10,000 people who gathered at the Ellis Park Stadium’s swimming pools for a mass baptism hosted by the UCKG on Saturday, 4th February. Bishop Marcelo Pires, responsible for the UCKG’s evangelistic work in South Africa, started the special event with a prayer, blessing the baptism candidates and also the water. He also prayed to God that a transformation may take place in their lives.
In a message, based on the biblical account of the rich man and Lazarus, Bishop Marcelo explained that the way a person lives on earth will determine where they will go after death. He said that when someone takes a decision to be baptised, he must be ready to face all kinds of persecutions and problems. He also encouraged them not give up hope, because the devil doesn’t want people to do what is right and walk in the way of light.
“A change has to start from inside a person first and God has given us freedom to choose. He wants us, therefore, to choose to change. Do not wait for God to make you feel ‘something’ in order for you to change. Everyone has a choice which spiritual lord, the Lord of Life or the prince of darkness, they decide to serve and how to live their earthly lives. Today you are making a choice which will determine the destiny and resting place of your soul through all eternity. Having made this choice, I encourage you to replace any bad habits with new ones, resist temptation to revert to destructive behaviour and transform all aspects of your life.” he said.
Fifty UCKG pastors baptised church members who had travelled from areas throughout the greater Johannesburg area. Some are new members while others wanted to recommit their baptismal vows. All baptismal candidates had been preparing themselves spiritually from the beginning of the year.
The Great Water Baptism event also took place in Durban and Cape Town and an estimated 25,250* people were baptized throughout the country.
Thato Ngwenya, who was baptised, said: “I have taken an important decision here today, I understood that there is life after death and my actions will determine where I will end up, in heaven or hell.”
Thembi Mahlangu, a UCKG member from Thembisa, said: “Even though I came here only to give my support, I have learned a lot. I know that I will have to change and make God proud of me.”
“I was baptised before and instead of walking in the right way, I choose to go the wrong way. I started to face a lot of problems because of that decision, until I decided to change. Today I am here to be baptised. I am very happy,” says Silungile Makhoba from Soweto.
*We apologize for the wrong information given in our first article about this amazing event, as it was an estimation. We finalized the counting today, the 5th of February and in all our Temples and Events the final numbers were 25,250.
Check out the Water Baptism Photo Gallery:
By: Yugendrie October