Botswana Church Still In Deep Shock After Pastors Drown At Baptismal Service (Lekopanye Mooketsi/Mmegi Online; Dec 21)

St John’s Apostolic Faith Mission church members in Metsimotlhabe [Botswana] are still reeling from a tragic incident when three of the church elders perished.

The three church elders – Leonard Barakanye, Noko Letsweletse and Maila Moilwa – drowned in the Gaborone Dam during a baptismal service two weeks ago.

The 60-year-old Barakanye was the pastor who opened the Metsimotlhabe branch in 2000. He had moved to Metsimotlhabe from Orapa. He was buried at his home village of Serowe last week.

Moilwa and Letsweletse, who were deacons, hailed from Seleka and Shoshong respectively, and were buried in their respective home villages last week.

The trio was described by colleagues as devout Christians.

One of the church members, Pastor Julius Rakgogo was lucky to survive. Recalling the fateful day, Rakgogo said they had an exciting service that Sunday before they left for Gaborone Dam for baptism after a moving sermon.

They left for the dam at 3:00 pm. Rakgogo said when they arrived at the dam they were tossed from one spot to another by the people that they found there.

“We went to one spot and we were told by the fishermen to move to another side. We were wondering what was happening,” he said.

He said this was not the first time that they had gone to baptise the faithful at the dam site.

Before they started the session, he said, Barakanye went to check the water level and found it to be suitable. The baptising session went smoothly.

Rakgogo said just after they had finished, they were told that a 10-year-old boy who had just been baptised, had slipped into the water.

He said three church elders drowned, while trying to rescue the boy. It was Barakanye who leapt into the water first, but he never re-surfaced. He was followed by the two others.

Rakgogo managed to rescue the boy after he applied his swimming skills. The boy was resuscitated.

Rakgogo said the congregation was terrified when the three church elders failed to surface. He said they desperately called the police who arrived after about one hour.

The police scuba divers managed to retrieve the bodies of the church men from the water and took them to Princess Marina Hospital where they were certified dead.

Rakgogo said they have come to accept the death of their fellow church members. He said as believers, they feel that it was the wish of God. “We have accepted the tragic incident,” he said.

Rakgogo said they have arranged counselling sessions for the church members who witnessed the drowning. He said in future they are going to look for alternative ways to baptise their converts.

This was not the first time church members drowned during a baptismal session. There have been similar incidents in the past in places like Thamaga. Government officials have advised that churches should build swimming pools for baptising purposes.

To learn a bit more about the many tragic cases in which people have died while trying to get closer to their gOd, see the entries I posted on April 22, June 14, and Oct 7.