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But this time things were different. Unlike in the morning, when Julia had arrived at the chapel<br />
sad and gloomy, she was now glowing. The pews were packed that afternoon, brimming with more<br />
than 150 churchgoers. As she stood listening to the sermon, and as people waved their hands in the air<br />
and screamed to the heavens, “Praise the Lord!” and “Amen! Jesus!” a group approached Julia and<br />
asked, “Have you been baptized?”<br />
No. But can I? Will you? Jesus recently told someone to pray for me.<br />
The group gently led Julia to a tub in the middle of the chapel. They wrapped her in a black robe,<br />
and the entire congregation started to chant. “You pass through death and into life!” But then<br />
something went wrong. The tub in the middle of the church was broken and there was no holy water to<br />
fill it. Everyone continued chanting as they stood there, trying to figure out what to do. Out of the<br />
crowd someone cried out that they should take the unbaptized girl to a nearby apartment and baptize<br />
her in a bathtub.<br />
The congregation streamed out of the wide front door, leading Julia through Austin’s streets, the<br />
chants growing louder as Julia, in the black robe, was summoned into a small apartment nearby.<br />
“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will live forever!” they yelled in unison as they<br />
walked with her through a dark and dingy living room into an even smaller bathroom.<br />
The bath was filled with water, and Julia wandered past the two dozen chanting churchgoers who<br />
now surrounded her inside a bathroom that was big enough for one. They placed young Julia in the tub<br />
as the water continued to rise like an ocean tide.<br />
“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ . . .”<br />
They pushed her backward, her head sinking under the water as the liquid surrounded her face<br />
and muffled the sound of the sermon.<br />
“. . . you will live forever!”<br />
When a hand lifted Julia’s head out of the water, she was saved. She felt a sense of relief that she<br />
had never experienced before. A hope of a future that was different from the past. She was elated.<br />
And then, as Julia wandered outside, she looked up at the open and tranquil sky and wondered if<br />
she would ever have the opportunity to see Ross again in person. And if so, was there a chance that<br />
he could be saved too?
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