This morning we went to Nalerigu Baptist Church where they were having a baby dedication. Apparently they keep the name of the child a secret until they have the dedication at church. The pastor then gave a mini-sermon explaining the name of the child and invited people to guess. This baby’s name means “God With Us” – any guesses? Emmanuel!
An interesting twist on this baby dedication is that the father is a Muslim and the mother a Christian. At the beginning of the service he introduced himself and said that it was his first time to come to church. He received quite a warm welcome which was comprised of everyone cheering and clapping and the piano player banging randomly on the keys.
After the service I asked Emmanuel’s father if I could photograph their family together. I ran into 2 issues:
- The sun was so bright I couldn’t see my LCD screen to see if my photos were turning out (they weren’t, they were too dark). I’ve got to figure out some solution for that problem.
- He asked for a copy of the photos – something I really can’t provide since they are digital. I tried explaining to him it was impossible but he didn’t understand. He even asked if he came back to church next week if I could get it to him then. Now that’s just great! A Muslim’s first time to church and he offers to come back and I’m gonna let him down. Just wonderful. I told him it would be great if he came back, but I was sorry that I couldn’t get him a print. I sure hope he understood. I also hope that he returns next week, but not with expectations from me.