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Disabled man, 27, is among 16 believers baptized at Lake Anna
By Betty Lin-Fisher
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Aug 25, 2008
Once a year for the past five years, members of the Greater Bethel Baptist Church in Akron go ''back to the basics'' for a baptismal ceremony.
They baptize new believers dressed in white robes in the waters of Lake Anna in Barberton.
''From a biblical perspective, this takes us back to the biblical days when John the Baptist did it in the Jordan River,'' Melford J. Elliott, senior pastor of Greater Bethel Baptist, said as he tucked his portable microphone into a wet suit pocket and zipped up his white robe in preparation for the baptisms Sunday afternoon.
The baptisms in Barber ton are a kickoff for a three-day ''jubilee'' that will start Friday back at the church on South Arlington Street.
Among the 16 people being baptized in the lake was Andre ''Dre'' Travis, a 27-year-old quadriplegic who joined the church a few years ago. Travis has cerebral palsy and has been in a wheelchair since birth.
''Dre touched my heart some years ago,'' Elliott said. ''He's disadvantaged in one sense, but advantaged in so many other senses. He really desires to be active in ministry.''
Travis said God was calling him to be baptized in the lake.
''I went through a lot in my life,'' Travis said, at times his words being clarified by his weekend caretaker, Robin Brock. ''I think God is calling me to do this. Most of all, I'm doing it for my family and all the young people. I just love God.''
As Deacon William Dancy cradled Travis in his arms and walked him out to Elliott and minister Ron Winslow in the water, church members and other bystanders on the shore shouted praise amidst music.
''If he can praise God in his condition, can anybody?'' Elliott asked the crowd after baptizing Travis.
As Dancy carried Travis back to his wheelchair, Cynthia Carroll of Akron wiped away tears on the shore.
Carroll said seeing Travis put her aches and pains in her knees and hips in perspective.
''By him being able to express his gratitude in his wheelchair . . . to see him, it just touched me,'' she said.
Carroll, a church member, said a lot of people in the church have taken to Travis.
''He sits in the front of the church, right next to the deacon,'' she said.
Elliott said Travis comes to church when he's able to get transportation and the church is hoping to find ways to get him there more often.
For Nicole Sommerville, 32, of Akron, the baptism was a family affair. She and her two children and mother were getting baptized in Lake Anna.
''I'm trying to get a relationship with my father, Lord Jesus,'' she said.
Sommerville said she wanted to be baptized in the lake instead of the baptismal pool at the church to be ''in front of God's light.''
Gladys Henderson, 70, of Akron, heard on the radio about the baptisms in Lake Anna and said she wanted to have the same experience she did when she was 13 in Ravenna, watching a river baptism.
''They're not done very often. I think it's blessed,'' said Henderson, who attends Peoples Baptist Church in Akron. ''I had to come. I had to see this. I've been real sick. I want to experience one more time what I felt as a child.''
After the baptism of Travis and several others, Henderson said the service was much more advanced than the one she attended when she was young because there was a choir singing and music.
''He [Pastor Elliott] felt the spirit when he baptized that young man,'' she said.
And Travis' take on the baptism?
''It was invigorating,'' he said.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at
330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com.
Once a year for the past five years, members of the Greater Bethel Baptist Church in Akron go ''back to the basics'' for a baptismal ceremony.
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