When I went to Uganda the first time in 2018, I traveled out to a simi-remote village and visited a pole barn church. At that church, things were the bare minimum. They had nothing. And I’m not exaggerating. They literally had nothing except a roof over their heads. They didn’t even have four walls to protect them. In fact, it was almost hotter inside that church due to the sheet metal roof than it was outside. I had already visited this church once, a few days prior. But this was sort of like our farewell before we left that part of Uganda and moved more Westward. During a short service, I found out we were also there for a baptism. That was great, except we lacked one thing. Water. There was no body of water big enough to baptize people anywhere near where we were. But, that’s never stopped a baptism before. After the short service, everyone, about fifty people, started walking out of the church. I had no idea where we were going. As we walked, someone playing the drums, another played an accordion, and another led us in singing. Two little girls came over and walked alongside me. We sang and marched to the beat of the drums. The hot African sun beating down on us all the while. I remember sweating and feeling almost sick from the intensity of the sun. My hand was so sweaty, that it kept slipping out of the little girl’s hand that was holding it. But, as we walked along this dirt road, burning under the sun and dodging motorcycle taxis, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit stronger than I ever had before. He felt so near that I almost looked around to see if He was physically walking with us. We walked for about a mile or two and finally came upon a little mucky watering hole where people were washing their motorcycles. The water was very cloudy and dirty, but despite this, many people joyously waded out to the middle and were baptized. Every time someone rose up from the water, they were greeted by a loud barrage of shouting and singing. Again, I felt as if God were literally hovering over us wearing the biggest smile. I don’t remember anything that happened after that. The event was so spectacular that all my other memories of that day have faded. But I’ll never forget that baptism. God’s presence was more real than anything I had ever experienced in my life.
