"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

My wife Sharon and I learned these words when we dedicated our son to the Lord almost 27 years ago. “Teach him about the Lord and His goodness and you can’t go wrong,” were the words we were given. To this day my wife and I thank God for the spiritual people He placed in our path when we were just new converts in this church.

Ten years later I found myself living in Puerto Rico, giving Bible studies and enjoying my walk with Jesus. One day the Lord placed a young man in my path who I had studied with for almost six months. After our studies were finished I asked him if he was ready to make his decision for Jesus and be baptized. I was stunned by his response.

He told me that he believed everything he had learned, but that he was not yet ready to commit to baptism. So, feeling I had failed, I left his home. One year later this same young man came back to church and informed me that God had instructed him that it was time for him to be baptized. At that moment, I remembered the words from my son’s dedication.

The Holy Spirit had taught this young man, and he had to have his own encounter with Jesus in order for the “Word” to become real in his life. What a learning experience for me! He later became a church elder and is still serving the Lord today.

Now we move forward 15 years and I find myself here at the Holbrook Indian School. Last school year, I conducted Bible studies and the Lord blessed us with four baptisms.

I was sure one young lady was ready for baptism, so I approached her with the question, “Charmayne, would you like to be baptized?” She shared with me that her father had wanted her to be baptized in the Catholic church because that’s what he was. So she decided not to be baptized that year.

Summer came and went, and a new school year was in full force. There were many new faces and many old ones, among them Charmayne. In October, I approached her and asked how she was doing and how the summer went. After some conversation, I asked her if she thought she would be interested in baptism this year. She told me that she had decided to be baptized this year and that nothing was going to stop her. I almost screamed with excitement!

During the next two months, Satan attacked Charmayne left and right. Members of her family who once supported her decision now rejected it. This was very hard on her, because in her Navajo culture, family approval means everything. She was told that she would lose her identity as a Native American. I tried to comfort Charmayne and reminded her that she would always be a Native American of the Navajo Nation. No one would ever be able to take that from her. She needed continued comfort and support, which she received from the staff as well as her peers.

During a church service one Sabbath, I shared with the students that we needed to make Sabbath special and that we had to make Charmayne’s baptism a celebration. The students got on board with this idea and the pieces came together on that special day. The students kept everything from Charmayne so that we could surprise her. It was suggested that we get a blanket and place it around Charmayne as a “Blanket Ceremony” of the Sisterhood. All the girls from the school would surround her and as Boaz covered Ruth as her kinsman-redeemer, we would cover her with the blanket and Jesus would be her Kinsman-Redeemer.

The special day came and Charmayne’s mother came to her baptism. It was beautiful to see so many of the students in their traditional Navajo attire. Before her baptism, Charmayne gave her testimony of how she had to endure so many obstacles to get where she was that day, but God had led her and here she was. I shared with the congregation that Charmayne was not giving up her heritage, but that she was now accepting Jesus as her Creator.

After her baptism, we were blessed by hearing the inspired words of Sharon Rivera, dean of girls, as she shared with us the true meaning of Christmas and challenged the students and staff to seize the gift that Jesus has given to us all. At the conclusion of the sermon I called Charmayne to come to the middle of the platform and invited her mother to come up as well. I invited the girls from the dorm to come and surround Charmayne as we prepared for the blanket ceremony. We had three ladies—a Micmac/Algonquin, a Oglala-Lakota and a Navajo — share what the circle and the blanket meant in their cultures. As a prayer was lifted up to God for His blessing over Charmayne, the blanket was placed around her and God was praised that day “from every nation, tongue and kindred.”

At the end of it all even Charmayne’s mother was moved by the love, the dedication and support her daughter had received. We are planning another baptism soon of another young lady who is dealing with a family that is against her baptism. Yet this young lady has also said, “This is not about me, it’s about Jesus!”