Baptism

My name is Aidan Schroeder. Baptism means, like a public declaration. I feel like I’ve been a very quiet Christian, and I don’t want to be silent. I want to be unashamed and I want everyone to know, like hey, this is who I am, and this is what I’m gunning for, and like it or not, this is what you get. It really just resembles a turn that I’ve been making in my life and what God has done these past couple months, and it symbolizes the new life that I’m shooting for and that He’s just helped me walk these past couple months. Growing up, I grew up in a Christian household with just godly parents that I love so much, and I’ve always known about God and I feel like I’ve always lived on easy street, like my my parents gave me an easy life, a couple lows, but I feel like I’ve developed to use God as a crutch. You know, when things are bad I would pick Him up and I would, you know, I would pray, I would do my devos, and then when things were good again, cast Him to the side. And that worked for a while, it felt like a good plan growing up, but recently, actually it was when I received the best blessing in my life that God could have ever given me: in April I got to marry my wife Chloe, and she’s just been an absolute God-send for my faith and just for me as a person. But in now being a husband and moving out on my own, I have bills, I have all this responsibility, and I’m trying to handle all of this just by myself, because things are still good, I can handle it by myself or on my own. But it just started to chip away at me, and resentment and lust and insecurity – things that I hate to see in myself started coming up, that I think were always there. But God has showed me that this is what’s happening, and it gave me a new perspective that I haven’t given God any input in my life. So I wanted to, just with this baptism, to really  jumpstart this new turn in my life and it really shows that now I want to be the godly husband that I think my wife deserves and that I want to be for her, to be a godly man. And in the future, when we have kids, I want to be the way that my father was to me – I want to be that to my kids, and that’s a big motivation to connect with God.

Hi, my name is Abby Plett, and I alm getting baptized because in 2022 I was diagnosed with a medical condition and I feel like I lost Him. Baptism means that I can grow with Him in a different way than I used to. I used to be quite a sinful person, which I deeply regret, but He has helped me deeply and I would love to grow more faithfully with Him. Psalm 107:29 is one of my favourite verses because it tells you that even through a bad storm He is right there with you, and that He won’t leave – no matter what. Baptism means that I can grow faithfully with Him while He’s right there with me. I feel like He never walks away, but I feel like I did, and I want to get baptized because it would mean that I would be devoted to Him.

My name is Adrien Desmarais. Baptism for me means publicly declaring my faith and choosing Christ as saviour and saying my yes to Him and being obedient to Him in all things. I’m getting baptized because ever since the last baptism I’ve felt the Holy Spirit stirring in my heart to get baptized and as soon as this baptism opportunity came up I knew I wanted to do it. And I would also like to publicly declare my faith. In a season where I was deceived by Satan, I started believing things he was saying to me, things like “You’re not good enough”, “You have to do better”, “You have to work hard for your sins to be forgiven”. These things only started out as a thought but then worked its way to my actions. And then things like hopelessness, doubt, and self-pity started controlling my life, until God gave me a breakthrough and I started using things like prayer against the enemy. Praying “In the name of Jesus may satan go away.” And through constant repetition I started experiencing life to the full again.

My name is Andrew. Baptism means to me basically signing the adoption papers into God’s family and, you know, finalizing that whole thing. I’m getting baptized because I believe it’s the next step God’s wanting me to take in my faith. God has given me tons of great spiritual leaders that I can fall onto as I’m getting baptized. I can ask them any questions about faith and whatnot.

My name is Andy Kornelsen. To me baptism means that I’m ready to fully commit myself to serving Jesus for the rest of my life. I walked away from God for a long time out of rebellion and selfishness. I wanted to do things my way, and God stood in my way of achieving that. Throughout all the years after I walked away from God he never stopped calling me back to Him, no matter how bad of a person I became. About a year ago I started coming back to Him and I’m so grateful for all he has done in my life since then helping me to conquer sin and break strongholds in my life. I’m choosing to be baptised now because after all he has done for me, it’s only fair that I should give up everything for him and to serve him fully. With the help of the Path to Freedom course and Set Free I am finally starting to walk close with God again, and I owe him my life. I will never cease to thank Him for what He has done. My theme verse is now “He must increase, but I must decrease”.

My name is Angelica. To me it means that you’re fully ready to dedicate your life to God. I’ve been called to do it for a very long time, and I’ve felt that now is just a good time to do it. And I’m ready to live my life for Him fully. He’s definitely helped me become a lot stronger and better person and helped me be the best wife I can be, and definitely helped me a lot with my anxiety that I’ve had lately.

My name is Anika. To me, baptism is my declaration of God’s good work in my life, and how I intend to live the rest of my life for Him. I’m excited for how God will lead me in the future, and baptism now is my next step in becoming more like Jesus. In my past, God’s taken me from following Him always halfheartedly, to giving me an understanding of my need for Him in every part of life. He used Bible camp to give me that understanding, and then He led me to surrender certain friendships, which I’d been putting in His place at the time, in order to grow my relationship with Him first, and to make Him number one again. God’s currently been using my small group to create belonging in my life, alongside growing closer to Jesus, and also Mark 8:34 to continue growing me in following Him closely. “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” I’m getting baptized to show that I want to follow wherever God leads, always trusting He’s worth the cost of living wholeheartedly for.

Hi, my name is Brooklynn Malmsten. As a kid I was always told that baptism was like devoting your life to God, that it was like the final step – that was kind of like what my parents raised me as. Like once you get baptized you’re devoting your life to God. I’m getting baptized to devote my life to God. He’s done a lot for my family recently, and since 2022 now. And I feel like this is my final step. I’ve tried to prove myself as much as I can, and If eel like this is my last step to devote my life and prove to Him that He’s my Lord and saviour. He has protected my family throughout the years, He’s healed my siblings from cancer, and has been with my dad through all of his surgeries and stuff like that. Currently He’s brought me closer to my family and to myself, He’s showing me where I really belong in life, and He’s brought me many things, like what I feel like is a gift from God, like friends, families, relationships, and stuff like that.

Hi, I’m Celine Hart. Baptism means to me growing in this next relationship with God, taking this next step, and just growing in relationship with Him, and just inviting Him into your heart. I’m getting baptized because baptism has been on my heart for a very long time, and every time the subject would be brough up, I’d be like “I really want to do this.” And I  want to take this next step and just grow in my relationship with Him, because I’ve been wanting to do this for a very long time. He’s been working in my heart in trusting in Him, letting Him take control of my life. So many times in my life I just want to do things on my own, I’ve just wanted to say “No God, just let me do this, I want to do this all my myself.” And He’s just been helping me, just trusting in Him, letting Him take control because He knows what’s going to happen, He knows my life, He knows my future, and He’s just helping me – giving Him my trust and letting Him take control of my life.

Hi I’m Celine Weiss. When I was in middle school, I went to youth, church and bible camps knowing of god but I didn’t really have a relationship with him. It wasn’t until I was in college when god really spoke to me and changed my life. When I was going to school in downtown Winnipeg, I took the transit. I was staying in the north end so the bus I took and the area I was staying in was filled with homelessness and addictions. It gave me such bad anxiety. It’s then that I looked to the lord and prayed everyday for his protection and for him to take my anxiety away. I always heard of all the amazing things god has done in other people’s lives and I wanted that to. I prayed everyday and read my bible. It didn’t take long before I realized I felt safe getting on the bus as I knew I had the lord’s protection over me. My life has changed since then, God is shaping me, making me more holy, gracious and loving. Ephesians 2 says we are a masterpiece being worked on by god. Just like pottery he’s shaping me to be more like His Son. He’s giving me new learning opportunities at work, steers me away from non godly activities and gets me through even the toughest times when I’ve had little to no sleep. people ask me where my strength comes from. It comes from the lord!

I’m getting baptized because I want to publicly profess my faith in Jesus and be reborn in Christ receiving a whole new life, washed away from my sins. I wanna show god that I am fully committed to him, that I have no life without him. He’s the reason I’m breathing today!

My name is Danika. Baptism is a symbol of a commitment that you’ve made to everyone else that they can see. I’m getting baptized because I feel like it’s really the next step for me. I made this commitment to follow Christ already a while ago, but fear really always stopped me from taking this next step of baptism. And I really feel like that’s where the Lord is leading me, and it’s my responsibility then to respond in obedience. One thing that God’s has currently been doing in my life is teaching me what it looks like to follow His plan for me, and teaching me that I really desire to do whatever He has for me, and that my life is not my own, and therefore I can go forward in peace knowing that what He has is good and that I don’t need to know exactly everything that’s going to happen or control every situation but that I can actually rest assured that He has what’s best.

Hi, my name is Don Neufeld. Baptism means I get to walk with Jesus and live a life with Him, for Him, and be able to know Him properly all the time. I’m getting baptized because I felt a calling from God to get baptized today and be with Him,  for He came and saved my life, and I felt the calling for Him. And He’s just forgiven me on a lot of things that I’ve done. Currently He is forgiving me for my sins, and keeping the devil out, for I’ve done some personal things that He’s kept out from me, and keeping the devil out, and keeping it good for me.

My name is Elijah Demetrioff. To me baptism is meaningful to me because it shows my next step of faith and me progressing throughout my faith. I’m getting baptized because I got a sign to get baptized from God. I prayed to Him and then I got a sign for it. God has gotten me out of very hard times throughout my entire life there.

My name is Ella. I think baptism means to just give your life to Jesus fully and show Him that you’re ready to follow Him. I’m getting baptized today because the Lord has been pushing me to get baptized for a while, and I just feel like I’m being tested in my faith, so I really need to take this step. He’s shown me that I can live a life full of joy and I don’t have to always be be down in the dumps, and I can just live my life fully.

My name is Gerhard Fehr. I think baptism is giving your life to Jesus – fulfilling His purpose. I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time but finally got the courage to do it. I think He’s strengthening me. I think He’s preparing me even more, making me more humble, stuff like that.

My name is Isaiah Friesen. What baptism means to me is to give my life to Jesus and like moving forward in my faith. Just move forward in my relationship with Jesus and to get closer to Him. God has led me away from bad influence because a while ago I didn’t even want to come to church, and now He’s been really moving forward in my life, bringing me towards Him.

My name is Jonathan Plett. Baptism means that you are wanting to take the next step in your journey with Christ. I’m getting baptized because I want to take that next step in my life and in following God. One thing that God is doing in my life currently is growing me in faith. When I have a problem or something bad that comes up, I have been trusting Him a lot more than I’ve been trusting myself recently. A few years ago during prayer and fasting, I prayed to catch a master angler, and that summer I caught two master angler catfish in one day, and that’s one of the only days that I have out-fished my brother. And I can tell that God sent those fish to my hook.

My name is Jordan Barkman. Baptism I guess is just the symbolism of dedicating my life to Christ in front of others and that next step. I’ve kind of felt that hint from the Lord for the last two years and I’ve procrastinated time and time again, and I’ve just felt that I’ve been half in with my relationship with Jesus in some ways, and it’s time to go all in, and I feel like this is where I need to be. Personally, He’s just been growing me in trust for Him and a better prayer life, and then just with community He’s been growing me in accountability and vulnerability, and just letting me experience Him through that.

My name is Liam Boschman. Baptism is an act of obedience to God and, yeah, just answering the call that He has set before me. I’m getting baptized not because I am worthy of being baptized, and not because I am worthy of God’s grace and love for me, but because He calls me to do so. And it’s a public declaration in front of this congregation of my faith and my trust in Jesus Christ and that I’m unashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What God has done in my life; He’s really taught me to open up my heart to receive His love and His grace for me. I’ve had a lot of difficulty in accepting that into my heart for many, many years. And over the past couple months I’ve really been learning how to open up and accept that. Again, not from anything that I can do to deserve it, but that He just pours it out on me because He loves me. One more thing: He’s teaching me a lot about how to put Him first and foremost in my life, and to root myself in Him and create a firm foundation in Him above everything else. And that’s been really key in growing in my faith in Him and to allow Him to work through me so that I can work for others as well – only through His power.

Hi, my name is Madison Plett. To me baptism means just giving your yes to God and saying that you’re all in and you’re ready to live for Him and do this forever and ever, no matter what the cost is. I’m getting baptized to show the world that I am ready to live for Jesus, and I am ready to say yes to Him and fully just jump in and not sit on the fence anymore, and just give my yes to Jesus. About a year ago my brother got really sick, and he went to the hospital, and my parents had to go with him. And I was left at home, and I had to keep going to volleyball and, you know, going to school and doing all that. So that was really hard for me, but I had to lean on God, and just trust Him that He was going to help me through this. And He did. He really helped me, and I felt that I really grew closer to God in that time, and He’s really helped me be a light and show His goodness to everyone around me, even when it’s hard and I’m going through some tough stuff.

My name is Malachi Thiessen. So for me, baptism is continuing my commitment to God, but then also making a public declaration to the people around me, that I want to pursue God with my life, and give my yes to Him. Over the summer and for the past couple months of my life, I’ve just felt called by God to get baptized and pursue that as I’ve seen some friends get baptized, and that really compelled me. And then also to further my own relationship with God. Something God is currently doing and has been doing over my life is really showing me how much I need Him, and growing that dependance on Him. When I’m with my friends I just realize that I need to rely on Him in all my situations, whether it’s sports or family. He’s just grown that through my devo life, with my prayer and everything.

My name is Marilyn Sawatzky. Baptism means a next step in obedience, just strengthening my relationship with Him. I’m getting baptized because, I guess I want to take this next step in obedience and just to do basically what He has set an example for us to do and I think this will be the great next step for me. I grew up in a Christian home, gave my life for Jesus at an early age, and basically just seeing how powerful He is throughout my life and in prayer, which has been a huge part of my journey. And yeah, just to see where He will take me next, and freeing me from things in my life that I never thought I’d find freedom in, and just the hope that it has brought to my life.

My name is Melody Chateauneuf. Well for me, Baptism is an affirmation of faith and the desire to follow God in a more profound way. I also understand that faith is strong in times of tribulation, and then it kind of ebbs and flows throughout, and I’ve noticed that as I’ve matured my faith is more consistent. And I want to give more of myself in service to God, and be a better child of God, and hopefully as I grow in my own “being discipled moments”, I hope I can relay that to others. It’s really important to me to reaffirm my commitment to God and Jesus. I’ve felt moved by the Spirit that this was my time; I’ve been baptized as an infant, but that was beyond my understanding in faith, and now that I’m a mature adult I feel like this is my commitment to Jesus, my yes. You know, I have to say that God has been present and a blessing throughout my life. My husband and I are new to the community last year, and there was no explanation for moving in this direction, and I profoundly believe that Jesus had a lot to do with that. Ever since we’ve been here, Jesus has been making our paths more clear to one another, and particularly for me, so I feel like this is the journey that God has put me on, and I’m looking forward to seeing what He has planned for the future.

My name is Peter Friesen. Baptism to me means getting closer to God, growing in your relationship with God, and showing Him that you’re ready to take the next step and growing your faith. I’m getting baptized for those reasons, and also to grow closer to myself and my wife and my child, because a close faith to me means a close faith with those you love, because we all share it. God has helped me get through addictions, some bad, some worse – all bad in the eyes of God of course. And He’s also helped me get over a traumatic and abusive past and upbringing. He’s helped me learn that as long as I love Him, and I can rid my heart of fear, and fill it with faith, I can do just about anything.

My name is Sierra Malmsten. Baptism means committing my life to Christ, and I want to publicly commit my life to Christ and follow in His footsteps. I’m getting baptized because if believe that I’ve been called to be baptized. I grew up in a Christian household my whole life, and I always struggled with my faith, but recently I have found God, and I am ready to fully commit. Four years ago me and my twin brother had gotten diagnosed with cancer, and that was really hard. I had always found myself praying, and I had asked myself, “Well why do I pray when things get hard, but I don’t pray for all the good things that happen in life?” And that’s when I realized I have so much to be thankful for. So now I want to get baptized and commit my life to Christ, because God has called me to be a better Christian.

My name is Sylvia Grant. Baptism to me is recommitting my life to the Lord, and making steps to become a better Christian. I’m getting baptized because I’ve gone through a lot in the last four years. I went through my cancer journey, and I went through divorce, and throughout that I always came back to the Lord in prayer. I think right now, coming out of a relationship that was ten years, and cancer journey, and I’ve never felt more supported – even though I technically am alone. It’s been a big journey, and every time I come to church, I just feel like I’m coming home.

My name is Tommy. I’m getting baptized because for the past few months I’ve seen a bunch of mentors, coaches, friends – a lot of people – showing perfect examples of giving their lives to Christ, showing me what it means to be a Christian. And with God nudging me, I’ve seen that Baptism should be the next move. I want to give myself to the Lord and be with Him, help Him serve through God. As I start my first year of High School, God has shown me many different and unique ways that He has blessed me in. He’s giving me the opportunity to serve Him through music, through song, and through representing Him in my school volleyball team. Baptism means to me, giving myself to the Lord, sacrificing myself for Him, giving everything to Him, serving for Him. Even if it means just holding the door open for someone, doing everything I can, dedicating every moment to helping Him. And baptism represents that – giving myself to the Lord.

My name is Tristan. Baptism means, like just pushing yourself towards God more, and committing your life to Him. I’m getting baptized because for the past four months I would say, I’ve just been receiving a calling deep in my heart to just do it and push more towards God. I can’t think of anything that He’s done, but something I can think about that He’s currently doing is He’s been helping me through all my struggles. I had to deal with the loss of a brother, and dealing with parents separating, and it’s just been pushing towards that which God has helped me a lot.

My name is Xavier. Baptism is to me a sign of our trust and confidence in God, and that He will be with us, and that we can still continue to build a relationship with Him going on in our life. I see it as a commitment that I am willing to make. Just to pursue that relationship and to show the church that I am willing to take that step. This is something that I believe is important to me. I wish to pursue that relationship to a deeper level, and make it something even more personal with God. God has been showing me the value of belonging in the church, that I am able to come to the church and the people in it, and to Him personally that I am able to build relationship with them and enhance that strength. And I believe that it is very helpful that I got to serve at camp, that was a very strong place of belonging up at the river, so that is why I’m getting baptized.