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Baptism in Zagreb

ZAGREB, Croatia (BNc) — Damir was baptized into Christ on Thursday, Jan. 22.

His three teenage children found the church several years ago and were enthusiastic. Their parents, Damir and Adrijana, became regular participants in church retreats and camps. From time to time they would attend worship services on Sunday. Read more

Police find saint thought kidnapped

By Joe May

Associate Editor

  A saint  stationed at Fort Bragg, NC who was throught to have been kidnapped has been located safely in Arkansas and isnow receiving medical treatment.

  Spc. Joseph E. Putnam, 22, a native of Bisamrck,  Arkansas where he worshipped with his family at the Lord’s church, was reported missing  on the morning of Tuesday, February  10.   Putnam,  who was baptized by Joe May in 1997 along with his mother, Angela, was assigned to C-Company, 2nd Battalion, 508 Parachute Infantry Battalion. 

  Putman was last seen by his friends along Brag Blvd.  He was wearing a plain white t-shirt, Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots.  At the time of his disappearance, police suspected foul play.

  When Putman did not show up for roll call, his fellow soldiers called his mother, Angela Stanford, in Bismarck.  They were concerned because it was not like the third-generation paratrooper  to be AWOL. 

  Stanford, who had last heard from her son the previous Sunday, called police in North Carolina.  She said that when she spoke to her son, he wished her a happy birthday and told her he would be out of communication on Wednesday, her birthday, due to field manuevers.

  Police opened an investigation into Putnam’s disappearance and in the course, became concerned with what they found.   The soldier’s ATM debit card was used around 2:30pm Tuesday at a Kangarooo Store on Ireland Drive in Fayetteville by a black male authorities have termed a person of interest.  Later, videos were released showing Putnam and two white males at various ATM machines in the Fayetteville, NC area.  Putnam, who was intoxicated by a mixture of alcohol and medication used to treat his Post-Traumatic Stress Sydrome, was apparently giving the men money of his own free will.

 As police were using K-9 units to search nearby woods,  it was learned on Friday, February 13 that Putnam had  made his way from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to Little Rock via bus. Stanford, told BNc  that a friend received a call from Putnam around 6pm that day a pay phone around a bus station in North Little Rock.  Putnam was said to be very disoriented and kept saying that he was in trouble and needed to be taken to the VA Hospital.  The friend told him to call his mother, but he kept saying he was out of money. The call was then cut off by an operator needing money.

A tribute to George F. Wachter

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (BNc) — At the age of 78, George F. Wachter passed away on Monday, Jan. 26, at a Huntsville hospital. In December he had gone in for asthma treatments. He contracted MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staph infection, and did not recover.

Read more

New Christian slapped as first test of conversion

by Joseph McKinney, Jr.

JOAO PESSOA, Brazil (BNc) – When Fernanda said that she wanted to be baptized, we held our breath because, in these nine months, we had come to know this young lady to be hard-headed, strong-willed, explosive, fiercely contentious.

She never measured her words or tone of voice when provoked by a co-worker or family member and was a constant source of conflict within the restaurant where she worked and as a visitor of the church meeting. Her rudeness had made her some bitter enemies within the restaurant.

Joey McKinney with Fernanda before her baptism.

So we hesitated, but she persisted in her desire, and she was baptized Jan. 18 for the remission of sins.

Fernanda’s mother was traveling that weekend and asked her to wait until she returned so she could be present for the event, but Fernanda told her that she was making this decision for Christ and not for her, and that she needed to start her new life now.

Fernanda was baptized early Sunday morning so the restaurant workers could be there and still get to work on time. Fernanda cried when she came out of the water, and the whole church hugged and welcomed this newborn baby into the family.

She quickly changed into her work clothes and went to the restaurant. There one of her co-workers came up to her and said, “So, you were baptized. Are you ready to receive the baptismal certificate?” She waited expectantly.

He held both of her hands in one hand and slapped her face with the other. He said that Jesus said she should turn the other cheek. She did, and he slapped her again.

When she didn’t react negatively, he said, “Ah, you only passed because your hair is still wet from the water of baptism, let’s see how you do in a week.”

Her reaction even surprised herself, because the old Fernanda would have torn into him like a she-bear defending her cub.

Although she passed her first test, this new life in Christ has been rough for her. Every Sunday she says that she didn’t do too well the previous week, with co-workers provoking until she lost it. It seems as if she can’t breathe harder without someone reminding her in front of the restaurant full of people that she is supposed to be a Christian now. She is working through a lot of bitterness and pride. We have even been criticized within the restaurant for baptizing people who aren’t prepared for the decision.

Was Fernanda prepared for this life commitment? Will she make it to the end? I don’t know, but I do know that she is in Christ and his Holy Spirit is in her, beginning the long, sometimes slow, process of transformation.

Please, please pray for Fernanda. I have told her, and it is true: if she continues faithful, Jesus will use her to bring her family, her co-workers, her hometown of Esperança to him. She will be proof to those whose main excuse is that they are not good enough. She will be a living testimony to the power of Jesus that works wonders within those who are unworthy.

Since its beginning in May, 2008, the congregation that meets at Irene’s house has produced three converts, three people from the Chinese restaurant who gave their lives to Christ. Fernanda was the most recent.

Seven-Year-Old Recites Psalm 119

CHENNAI, India (BNc) — Samuel, who is 7 years old, can recite Psalm 119 in its entirety, all 176 verses.

Beth Johnson had given her class a memory-work assignment of learning Psalm 119 during the 2008-09 school year. The intention was that they would learn it in sections and recite each section separately. Can you imagine Beth’s surprise when Samuel came in before the year was half over and recited Psalm 119:1-176 in its entirety? Read more

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