Anyway, while I was driving to this meeting it occurred to me that I knew nothing about baptism beliefs in Ethiopia (other than that they have a very special religious holiday called Timket which celebrates the baptism of Christ.)
So I spent a little time researching what the baptism beliefs and baptism practices of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which is the predominate Christian church in Ethiopia.
Here is a very brief summary of what I read. (Emphasis on VERY!) While baptism in my church is a 5 to 10 minute ceremony, the ceremony in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is lengthy and very detailed.
A baby boy is baptized 40 days after he is born. A baby girl is baptized 80 days after birth. If a baby is sick and may die baptism takes place immediately.
Babies are annointed with oil to "undo the works of devils and their magic,and so become an annointing for faith in Christ."
Babies are baptized naked because, "undressing the child reminds us of the nakedness of Adam and Eve when they obeyed satan and disobeyed the commandment of God, so they were put to shame before Him and hid from Him when they realized their nakedness. Such is what sin and satan do to human beings, they strip them from all virtues and the protection of grace, and hence put them to shame before others."
If you would like to read in more detail, I found the beliefs of adult and infant baptism in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church here. You can read the entire liturgy for the baptism of an infant here.
The one part of the ceremony that most spoke to my mother's heart was when the priest asks the mother three times, "Do you believe on behalf of this child?" And the mother is given the chance to respond all three times with, "I believe."
I have no idea whether or not Joshua's Ethiopian family wwas/is a part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, another denomination of Christian church, or if they were/are Christians at all. I do not know if Joshua was baptized in Ethiopia or not. I do not even know if what I have found in my on-line research is what a rural Ethiopian baptism ceremony would resemble.
While there are many unknowns, the known is what is most important.
God has a beautiful plan for Joshua Gebeyehu Chad's life. He has been with our son through each and every moment. God will never leave Joshua or forsake him.
And until my son is old enough to claim belief in the Lord Jesus Christ for himself, I am most excited to proclaim "I believe, I believe, I believe."
We will celebrate Joshua Gebeyehu's baptism on February 6. That date is (coincidentally?) the 8 month anniversary of our family being united.
**If you have any real world Ethiopian baptism information, I would love to receive it!
