“What hinders me from being baptized?” was the question the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip in Acts 8. He was determined to be baptized after hearing the good news about Jesus.
That same desire was in evidence recently in a creek baptism by Dewayne Gibson, pastor of Parkway Baptist Church in Hodgenville, Kentucky. One of the 16 people baptized was a man paralyzed as the result of an accident a few years ago. Someone hit the trailer hitch on his vehicle, spinning him into a tree, resulting in paralysis.
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“He met Jesus, and his life shows real growth and changing. He wanted to be baptized — and was not going to let anything stand in the way,” Gibson said.
The obvious hindrance was paralysis. But that was remedied by four men carrying him into the water, with a couple more on standby in the water to assist.
“He couldn’t go completely under the water for risk of infection, but the men were able to lift him and tilt him so his head and shoulders and as much full body as possible could go under water,” Gibson noted.
Capturing the moment
A video of that baptism was posted on the church’s Facebook page. “That video captures the moment … so many were joyful. There’s something special when someone is not going to let anything keep them from doing what God called them to do.”
Another person baptized was one of Gibson’s college football teammates. The baptism came two years after he had contacted Gibson and heard the gospel and was saved. Gibson said the next thing was baptism. “He works a crazy shift — we’ve been working hard to get that (baptism) taken care of.”
Other unexpected moments
Also, an unexpected text was sent to Gibson at 3 a.m. one morning from a Bardstown area resident working third shift. He hadn’t been attending Parkway but followed the church on social media. He voiced that he wanted to be baptized, and Gibson agreed after hearing the man talk about his salvation experience.
“He called the next day and said his wife wanted to be baptized.” Now the man is working toward changing his work schedule so they can attend the church services.
Gibson said that over the course of two weekends, the church has baptized 39 people — and there are at least four more in the wings to be baptized. Now it is just a matter of scheduling.
The church conducts the baptisms in a creek on a private farm. “It is immaculate. The man keeps the area excavated for baptisms, and it is always clean and nice and accessible,” Gibson noted. “The water is 55 degrees, so it’s cold — but the people are filled with joy.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today. It is used here with permission.
