"Why Are Your Pants Wet, Lorenzo?"

“Why are your pants all wet, Lorenzo?”asked Abner Ramos (far right), InterVarsity Staff at East LA College, in the middle of an October Tuesday. The answer required a story.
Lorenzo is a Christian student involved with InterVarsity at ELAC. For the past year the ELAC InterVarsity group has been emphasizing outreach to non-Christian students on campus. Enrique is a friend that Lorenzo has been reaching out to for the past six months. Recently, their conversations have been increasingly spiritual.
Several Mondays ago, in the evening, Lorenzo (left) got a call from Enrique. “I’m doing really bad, man…can you come by tomorrow morning at 7 am?” Lorenzo doesn’t get up at 7 am. After debating his answer internally, Lorenzo agreed.

Tuesday morning, Lorenzo arrives at Enrique’s house, and Enrique shares that he’s been doing a lot of thinking, that he’s seen God revealing himself to him, and that he’s ready to become a Christian. Lorenzo shares what that means, and Enrique prays to give his life to God. Great morning…it wasn’t done for Enrique.

“I think I want to be baptized,” Enrique shares. “Yeah, that could be good.” answers Lorenzo. “No, I mean I think I want to be baptized now,” Enrique continues. “Well, after I became a Christian I was baptized a few months later,” Lorenzo explains, “you don’t have to rush.” But Lorenzo’s not getting Enrique. “No, man…I think I’m supposed to do this NOW…can we drive to the beach?”

An hour later, Lorenzo and Enrique were walking on the Huntington Beach sand toward the Pacific Ocean. Enrique stripped down to his boxers. Lorenzo wasn’t so ‘prepared’ and just rolled up his pant legs. Lorenzo baptized his friend, and new brother in faith right there. Two hours later, Lorenzo’s pants were still wet, Enrique was a Christian, and God’s work at ELAC couldn’t be denied.

The point isn’t that InterVarsity sanctions spontaneous, non-ordained baptisms. Actually, we don’t. The point is that God is doing something that’s so raw, so powerful, and so organic that students are having experiences that exceed anything they’ve ever known, and are responding in whatever ways they can imagine. That is a movement of God, and it is beautiful.