Very Special Milestones!

This was a day that they had been eagerly anticipating for months. The 20 daughters of MamaLand had been taking classes with their Grandma Dorcas, learning all about what it means to be baptized. Each one wrote a paper on what this important milestone of their faith means to them and expressed their desire to take this next step in their lives. This would be a very special outward testimony of an inward transformation. And so, with tremendous anticipation, on a cloudless, warm Saturday last month, the girls led a lively processional down to the river. 

A special friend of Dorcas, Rev. Joe DiPaolo, the Pastor of First United Methodist Church of Lancaster, PA, had graciously traveled a great distance to take part in this unforgettable day. One by one, as their names were called, each girl walked down into the water to be baptized by either Pastor Joe or Pastor Dorcas.

A large crowd of MamaLand and Salone Rising staff members, along with many members of the local church enthusiastically cheered as each girl was submerged and then rose up out of the water.

Joe later shared that the privilege of baptizing these precious girls in Sierra Leone was one of the highlights of his many years of ministry. What a day!!

The next morning, while at church, the daughters of MamaLand celebrated yet another significant milestone in their young lives. Here is a picture of the girls, oldest (14) to youngest (4), dressed in their beautiful special occasion white dresses.

Pastor Dorcas and Pastor Joe presented each girl with her very own, first Bible, engraved with her name on the front.

After Pastor Joe delivered a wonderful sermon, the service ended fittingly with a time of Communion and prayer. 

Here is a heartwarming picture of Reverend Dorcas Kamanda, a long-ordained minister in the Methodist Church and faithful servant of the Lord, serving communion to her son, Ali and her brother-in-law, Benjamin.

This truly was a very meaningful, never-to-be-forgotten weekend in the lives of all of these girls and the many who are investing into their lives. May the girls of MamaLand Children’s Village continue to grow in their faith and as Micah 6:8 says, to

“act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” 

If you would like to sponsor any of these girls to support them monthly on their journey of faith and education, or make a donation of any kind, please click here.  

Thank you!