Apalit, Pampanga - Nine-hundred people today officially become
members of the Church of God International, a record that
indicates a steady rise in the number of being baptized this year.

Records of other newly-baptized from other regions and countries
are yet to be consolidated with this. To recall, in last May's
mass baptism, the Church recorded more than 700 and in February,
almost a thousand newly baptized.

In recent weeks, baptisms in abroad were also welcomed. One was
in Papua New Guinea, an archipelago near Australia and New
Zealand, where more than 100 were baptized. Earlier than this,
truth-seekers in Ghana, Africa also officially became members of
the Congregation.

Amid heavy battering of rain early morning in the Philippines,
these newly-baptized members were unfazed and proceeded with
baptism. Baptism follows after a truth-seeker completed the
indoctrination sessions being conducted by the Church and after
finally accepting the teachings and doctrines of the Church.

The ADD Convention Center in Apalit, a town in Pampanga, north of
Luzon, Philippines, is venue to baptisms that is regularly held
every Friday. Every two or two and a half month, a mass baptism
is officiated, following the completion of the set of
indoctrination session.

This mass baptism was adjusted on a Thursday in lieu of Friday, as
the whole congregation is scheduled to hold its International
Thanksgiving to God ceremonies starting Saturday (July 5) that
ends Sunday night.

Normally in a gathering this big, congregants from different parts
of the Philippines and the world start to flock the convention
center at the start of the week prior to the grand event.

The newly-baptized will be introduced for the first time to the
whole congregation come Saturday.

Last week, Presiding Minister Bro. Eli Soriano announced that the
new series of mass indoctrination session will start on 14 July in
all major coordinating centers globally.