An Interesting Baptism
By E. H. Gates
On my arrival at Singapore after my visit to Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, I received a letter from Brother J. N. Anderson, from Hongkong, China, telling me that a young man, a soldier in the British army who had learned the truth of Brother LaRue, had been transferred to Singapore, and asking me to look him up. I at once went to Fort Canning, and without difficulty found him. He had for some time desired baptism; but as Brother Anderson had not arrived from America at the time of his leaving Hongkong, he had not had the privilege. Being a total stranger to me, I invited him to my boarding house, in order to become better acquainted with him. I soon became satisfied that he was an earnest Christian, and told him that I saw nothing in the way of his being buried with Christ. March 9 Brother Munson, the young man, and myself took a carriage, and drove out into the country a few miles to a quiet place on the beach. After preparing to enter the water, we sat down under a cocoanut tree and read from the Bible, and talked with the brother of the important step he was taking, after which Elder Munson offered a fervent prayer for God’s blessing on what we were about to do. Then I led the brother down into the water, and buried him beneath the waves of the China Sea. No person was present to witness the scene except one Malay, who happened to be near; but I am sure that God’s angels were near with their gentle presence. The blessing we received was worth more than all the wealth of Asia. On one side of us, and at but a little distance, was the British fort where this brother had for several years trained for service as a soldier of the queen, while on the other side, a mile or two away, was the large United States man-of-war “Brooklyn,” which had just come into port. But we enjoyed the peace which comes from doing the will of God.