Boxers who recently accepted Jesus Christ were baptized in the middle of a boxing ring organized by a local Church’s boxing club.
Church Boxing Club
The Good Shepherd Boxing Community, which is based in Romford at the Church of the Good Shepherd, is a mission outreach. It is where people in the local community can come to learn to box and get fit. Moreover, it is where they can have fun, build relationships with one another and encounter the love of God.
An ordained minister and graduate of Church Mission Society’s Pioneer Mission Leadership Training program, Dave Harrigan, formed the boxing club in 2015.
Baptism in the middle of a boxing ring
Recently, all five members of the Church boxing club decided to surrender their lives to Jesus and get baptized. Dave, with the help of the church community, organized the baptism ceremony.
They set up the Church like a boxing ring with the baptism pool right in the middle of the ring. The boxers’ friends and families seated circling the ring, just like a regular ringside, to put the participants at ease.
“This baptism is a fulfillment of our vision for ministry,” Dave said. “And is exciting proof that projects such as the Good Shepherd Boxing Community are an effective way of being ‘church’ for people who live outside the traditional bounds of the regular church and who wouldn’t normally attend a Sunday service.”
Boxer’s baptism
On February 27, the boxers were baptized with their loved ones offering their prayers. It was a life-changing event for these boxers.
“It was like an out of body experience,” one boxer said. “I saw myself going under but there was so much weight lifted off my shoulders when I came up.”
Another boxer also shared how this experience rekindled his faith.
“This journey has re-lit the fire and belief that was always there, and with the help of the other guys, I discovered that it was I that was lost. Being a part of this community has made me want to be a better person,” he said.
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Reference: Christian Today