Baptism

Baptism October 10, 2021

Charles Fatjo

When I was very young, a friend from school asked me if I would go to church. The pastor gave a sermon about God’s love and how Jesus had died for our sins. At the end of the service he asked if anyone wanted to come up front and ask God into our hearts. On that day I accepted God into my life. I was so excited and felt so loved that when I got home I talked to my mom about how God loved me, and how excited I was to be a Christian. At that time my family had an estranged relationship with the Lord. Through time and healing we all started attending church and serving weekly while I was in high school. Shortly after high school I joined the Navy. During this time I was told constantly by various people that there was no God. I suffered through some of the hardest challenges I have faced in my life to this point. This time caused me to feel estranged from the Lord although I never stopped believing. I felt alone and like I did not have close friends who enjoyed the Lord’s presence. When I separated from the Navy, the Lord put an amazing woman in my life. I was finally able to be surrounded by my loved ones again. I had been seeing the way the Lord was working in my life and healing wounds left from years of feeling so alone, but my fiancé and I still did not have a church to call home. We both felt like we needed friends that we could walk through our spiritual journey with. While we were looking for an officiant for our wedding we attended a wedding performed by Tyler Morris. We loved Tyler’s service and asked if he would be willing to do our wedding as well. In this conversation Tyler offered for us to come to his life group that met on Thursdays. We were both really excited and have been attending life group and church on Sundays at LEFC. Through our renewed relationship with the Lord we have found new growth and understanding with each other. God has finally given us the community of followers that we have wanted for so long. Even though I accepted God into my heart when I was young I still have not been baptized. In Acts 2:38 Peter says “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” For this reason I am being baptized today. I want to thank God for all of the blessings and community that he has given me. I want to honor him and live my life in a way that shows that I am his servant.

Nicholas Mark

Baptism Sept. 12, 2021

Adam Smith

My name is Adam and I've been coming to LEFC for 6 years. I've always believed in God but my relationship with him was more "talk the talk" and not "walk the walk." I would sit in the back of church with my wife on the old side before the new addition at LEFC, struggling to pay attention. To be honest, I think it was a lack of care. I knew I was going to live for the things that pleased me. Like the Bible says, "loving darkness more than light." Little did I know that was all about to change. This past Christmas I told myself that with the new ear buds I was getting I would download a Bible study. For the first time in my life I was actually curious about the Bible. I wanted to know what it talked about, what it meant, and all the stories. I downloaded "Return to the Word" Bible study on Pandora and began to listen. It took one day of listening to the gospel with an intent to understand and learn, to change who I was. Every morning I would wake up and the first thing that would come to mind was God. I could not get it off my mind. I actually began to thirst for the word and found joy and happiness in it. I began to read straight from the bible after work. Not because I felt like I should but because I wanted to. When my wife saw this unfolding which I believed she prayed for many times, she was shocked. Both of us didn't see this coming and how fast Jesus was moving in our family. It didn't take long for me to get the urge to be baptized, even though I was baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church. I could stand here for hours and tell you all of the sinful stories I've been a part of, but having been born again and forgiven of my sins, that is now behind me. The time has come to leave the old me in the past and start a new chapter where Christ is the center of attention.

Leighton Smith

My name is Leighton Smith and I am 9 years old. I am in 3rd grade at Lititz Area Mennonite School. I asked Jesus into my heart when I was 8 years old. I asked my mom if I could ask Jesus in to my heart and she prayed with me. After that I felt so happy ( and had a really great night's sleep). Now I am super excited to get baptized because I want to tell the world that Jesus is my Lord and Savior and I am so happy that my dad is here to help baptize me and get baptized too. My favorite Bible verse is Philippians 2:14-16, "Do everything without grumbling and arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.' Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life." With Jesus we shine like stars. I am thankful for Jesus, that he died on the cross for our sins and now my sins are forgiven. Another favorite bible verse is Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world, like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden." Now I live my life to shine Jesus' light so other can see him.