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Baptism on Board
"I want to get right with God."
Chaplain Denis Cox looked to see who had said that. It was one of the Marines who served in his battalion aboard the USS Carter Hall.
Chaplain Cox stepped out of his office on board the ship and walked with the Marine, whose name was Reese, along the deck. Below them splashed the Atlantic Ocean as the ship plowed through the waters. The two men stopped to lean over a rail and watch the sun rise over the ocean.
Chaplain Cox explained the plan of salvation to Reese. After hearing that Jesus died for his sins, Reese committed his life to Christ with tears in his eyes.
Chaplain Cox told Reese that he should be baptized in water after making a public profession of his faith. Reese agreed, so Cox began asking the ship's officers how he might do it.
The captain of the ship had never been asked to authorize a baptism at sea. The command master chief, who had been on ships for 20 years, had never seen a baptism performed at sea.
Chaplain Cox continued to ask whomever he could. Finally he got help from another sailor named Christopher Oxendine. Cox and Oxendine created a makeshift baptismal tank using part of a casing used for landing-craft air cushion engines. The container was placed on the deck, and Cox arranged for 100 gallons of fresh, clean water to be dumped into it.
About 50 soldiers and officers gathered around to watch the ceremony. Chaplain Cox lowered Reese into the water and baptized him into his new faith.
A few weeks later, another Marine named Ames gave his life to the Lord and wanted to be baptized. Now he and Reese attend every chapel service and are discipled in their faith by Chaplain Cox. Both men have shown a tremendous change in their lives. Reese's wife had been praying for his salvation for years.
Since then, two more sailors have been baptized on that ship, and Chaplain Cox reports a spiritual awakening in the lives of many others. This article is reprinted with permission from the Assemblies of God Chaplaincy Ministries.
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