Baptism Stories

Below are stories of those at Forefront who decided to get baptized:

Amy

Hi, my name is Amy Gelfand. I am originally from Millerton, NY. I am a relatively new Christian. However my faith in God and belief in his love and grace stemmed from my childhood and have been with me since I can remember.  My mom was raised Catholic. My parents divorced when I was 6, and my dad is Jewish.  There wasn’t much ‘religion’ growing up.  We went to church on Easter and Christmas, and I remember asking my grandmother to say the Lord’s Prayer with me before bed.

When I was 8, I saw my best friend die in a car accident ahead of me after a Girl Scouts meeting. During that time I knew God was with me.  More importantly, my friend Krista was in heaven with Him.  And that gave me comfort. Throughout my life, I have felt his presence occasionally. During college I studied chemistry, biology and exercise physiology.  The more science I learned, the more confident I became that God existed, and that He must have taken great detail, love, and intricacy when He created life.  The delicacy and brilliance of life was too incredible to have been an accident. I felt that I had my faith in God, I was in His hands, and other than that I didn’t really give much more thought to it.  I wasn’t sure of the details of Christianity and the difference between denominations—it all seemed confusing.

It wasn’t until I met my fiancé, who was raised with a very Christian background, that I began challenging my beliefs, and learning about Christianity. Through conversations with him, and attending more services, my beliefs have continued to strengthen. I was baptized to publicly show my love and faith in God.

Brad

I am originally from Texas.  I was raised on a horse farm in a small town named Terrell.  My mother raised and showed, registered thoroughbred quarter horses for a living.  (So needless to say, I was a cowboy). On the other hand, my father was involved in the recreation business. He ran a number of go-cart tracks, which provided my family with a very good living. I am a middle child and for most of my childhood all I can remember is feeling different.

I was raised in a loving Christian environment, but at a young age I only remember being told often what Jesus did not approve of. As I grew up, my fear of Jesus grew, thinking that he wanted nothing to do with me, and I was not worthy of being loved by him. Looking back, I now see that by not knowing the truth, that I had separated myself from his love.

I started college immediately after my high school graduation. It was in college that I was introduced to alcohol. Soon after, I started playing with drugs. To make a VERY LONG story short, in the end, they took everything away from me. I even almost lost my life. Alcohol and drugs lied to me. The path of addiction took me in and out of 2 rehabs, and in October of 2008, I hit a bottom that had me locked up into a mental ward. I was haunted by darkness, isolation had become my friend, and my hope for myself was to die. I was release from the ward and sent home only to find myself staring the devil in the face.

It was on that day, that I dropped to my knees, and begged from the depths of my heart for help. I did not know that Jesus would answer for I felt that I had let him down my entire life and I was not worthy of his love. Boy was I wrong. Shortly after, things started to change in my life. I had a friend introduce me into the program of Alcoholic’s Anonymous. My cousin helped me get involved in a spiritual group, and I started to learn the truth about my Lord.

What I learned was the most comforting truth that I had ever know.That there was nothing that could separate me from his love for me. It was on January 31st of 09, that I was intuitively told by Jesus, that I had been forgiven, and that He would NEVER leave me. Since that day, I have asked him to be my Savior, my Lord, and my Master.

I have been shown things that I never could have dreamed of in my wildest dreams. His love for me is real, and he is here to show me the way if I ask. I now serve only Him. I start everyday asking for his hand to be with me, and for his guidance and protection. He has revealed to me his truth, and can never again be denied. My heart is now full, faith has replace fear, and trust has replace deception. I will remain forever grateful.

Dawn

Hi, my name is Dawn Turner. I am originally from Las Vegas, NV. I grew up in a household that did not go to church. Instead, I joined my friends and their families on Sundays and discovered worlds I didn’t really know existed. I prayed to God occasionally after my grandmother died.

It wasn’t until high school that I really found God at my best friend’s church and threw myself at the welcomed warmth of the people I met there. I felt comfortable there until I realized that the word being spoken was not one of which I believed. I had questions and all of the answers were negative towards the people I called my friends outside of the church. I didn’t understand and was hurt. Then I moved to Chicago and left church alone. I left God alone. I became someone I look back at and don’t recognize.

It wasn’t until recently that I was reconnected to God through Forefront. Forefront was everything I expected. There was love, truth in the word, and friendships that I believe will last forever. The rush of love I felt for God overwhelmed me and left my heart full. He was there for me on all of my lowest and highest moments. He has been there for me even though I wasn’t looking.  Every day my faith and love grow as I see all of the work he is doing in my life.

Jennifer

Hi, my name is Jennifer Cheng. I am originally from Queens, New York. I was raised in a very traditional home. My parents, both avid Buddhists, adhered to the faith of their parents and ancestors that came before them. The idea of God was contained in either a Buddhist temple, or an armoire, where, enshrined within, were these elaborate Buddha carvings and statues made of ceramic, porcelain, or gold. To me, it all seemed so cold, limited and unfulfilling as there was no personal relationship with these gods.

This discontentment with religion carried on up until high school, when God actually became more than just a concept in my life. Through the spiritual guidance of one of my closest friends, I discovered that He was real and that His offer of redemption demonstrated an eternal love story, larger than life and above and beyond any superlatives of sacrifice and love I could have ever imagined remotely possible.

I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior and my life has changed in so many ways. Through the years, my faith in Christ was my strongest defense mechanism against life’s hardships. As I have gotten older, my desire to live an honest life has emboldened me to seek baptism. For many years, I confined myself to a sort of spiritual limbo. I confessed my faith in Christ in some circles and kept quiet about it in others. I’d read my Bible but I’d attend Chinese temple every Lunar New Year with my family. I was afraid to let my inner belief in Christ manifest outwardly, so my faith was muted. I want that to change because those hesitations and fears are no longer credible. I want to honor God with my words, my actions, my comings and goings.

Marivic

Hello everyone! My name is Marivic Guevara. I was born in Dagupan City, Philippines and moved to Southern CA at the age of 9 with my 2 brothers and widowed mom. Immediately after moving to the OTHER side of the world with a minimal knowledge of the English language, I was shipped over to Charlotte, NC to live with my aunt, uncle and 2 cousins. I felt like a foreigner especially being in an unfamiliar country with family I had never met, speaking a language I barely understood and abandoned by my immediate family. I felt lost and neglected by the very people that were supposed to love me unconditionally. Through all the hardships of feeling alone, I felt that God was pursuing me but I didn’t know quite how to meet him.

Being raised Catholic and having a nun for an aunt and an uncle as a priest, I was surrounded with this idea that I had to follow everything my family did. I went through all the ‘required’ steps; baptism, catechism classes, confirmation and daily rosary prayers. I am grateful that I grew up with these things but somehow always felt a slight disconnect with everyone, especially God. I tried to do all the right things that I was taught but felt like something was missing. I didn’t know that I could have a relationship with him until I read “Trust God. Love People. Serve the World” on my Facebook page. That slogan immediately grabbed my attention, except for the trusting part. I still felt like a foreigner even after stepping into church last February. I still can’t maneuver my way through the bible or pray aloud but I am willing to learn. The last 3 1/2 years here in New York has been a roller coaster but it was all for a reason. A good one at that. I am ready to trust God so that I am able continue to love people and serve the world.

I am being baptized today by Brian Moll because I finally feel like I connect with God, that I am a part of his plan. Being a part of Forefront has changed my feelings toward religion in the most incredible way. I’ve learned that Baptism is like a wedding ring-it's the outward symbol of the commitment you make in your heart to follow God. I was baptized as a baby but I did not fully understand what that actually meant. As I get older and become more aware of what I want my life to be, I cannot imagine it without God by my side.

Thank you for being here and being a part of my commitment to follow him. I am excited to be sharing this day with all of my friends who mean the world to me. They are my family and believe that they have all been sent from God to make me closer to him. I am placing my trust in him from this day forth and will continue to share his love with as many people that I can. I want to thank my Forefront family for the support and comfort through this new phase of my life. The word AWESOME barely tips the iceberg when it comes to describing all of you. I am grateful to be a part of your community!

Jessica

My name is Jessica Phillips, and I was born and raised in New Jersey. I was raised Jewish. I started going to Hebrew school in 2nd grade and made my Bat Mitzvah on the day I turned 13. I loved Hebrew school, I loved going to temple and I loved learning about where I came from. I did really well there too – my rabbi said I did the fastest Haftorah he has ever heard, and was even asked to read from the Torah during Rosh Hashanah, which was a huge honor. However, after I made my Bat Mitzvah my family stopped going to temple.

In High School and College the only “religious” aspect of my life was celebrating the holidays and at times I found myself even questioning God’s existence at all. Almost 4 four years ago, I met someone who changed everything. I was introduced to the Christian faith and although skeptical, I was always open to learning about it. Years of asking questions, reading the stories of the bible, attending church, and praying has changed my life. I never realized that my life was missing anything until I developed this faith. I feel whole and complete, that I have a purpose and that God loves me.

Through all of this I have also developed a stronger connection to where I come from – the culture and traditions of the Jewish people is and will always be important to me – it makes up who I am. But deeper than that, I have a relationship with Christ, which has changed my whole perspective on life.

Lauren

Hi, my name is Lauren Buller. I am originally from Louisiana. I was raised by strict Catholic parents and attended Catholic School my entire life. I never questioned my faith growing up. I was baptized as an infant, made my first communion at age 7, and was confirmed in the 11th grade. It didn't strike me as odd at the time, but no one asked me if I wanted to make any of those commitments. I was just going through the motions of a "good catholic." I continued with this mindset all through college and attended mass every Sunday.

A few weeks after moving to the city, I met up with Jeremy, a Forefront member, and my relationship with God was forever changed. At first, I only agreed to attend Forefront as part of a compromise. To my surprise, I enjoyed every minute of the celebration. I talked about it all week, asked thousands of questions and haven't looked back.

My faith and connection to God are stronger than ever. I am finally able to see how amazing his love really is for those who believe. Finding Forefront has opened my heart and mind to a deeper connection with God. I want others and God to know I believe in his love and want to work through him to reach those who may be struggling with their faith. I hope my outward expression of my commitment to God inspires everyone to follow their own path to Christ.

Yen

Hi, my name is Yen Shing Ng. I am originally from Penang, Malaysia. Faith does not come easily to me. I grew up in a family of skeptics. Trusting someone else – God – with my life is somewhat of an issue, too. I learned at a tender age that nobody else has my back.

But God never stopped knocking on the door, and one day when I had fallen so far down that no other voice could reach me, I heard God clearly. Not once or twice, but every time I listened he was there. Even when I wanted to ignore him he was there. Of course, doubt and guilt still lurks around the corner. Maybe I’m just hearing voices, isn’t it too convenient that I ‘found God’ in the depths of my despair? But it’s impossible to hang on to these dark thoughts for long. He always ferrets me out from the dark places, and I realize that’s how it’s been all my life. God has always walked between me and the precipice.