A married couple who came from diverse faith backgrounds, and a man who connected with the church through online bible classes, were baptised at The Terminal Baptist Church in early February.
The three shared their testimonies of God’s grace at the baptism service, which was conducted by Senior Pastor Rev Petone Toelieu, and held in a friend’s backyard pool.
“The couple were school sweethearts but, when they came to my church, they were quite disconnected,” Petone said. “One came from a Catholic background and one from Presbyterian, and they’d had different expectations of the faith. But on their baptism day, the healing and restoration of the family that had taken place was very evident. They’ve become stronger together by drawing closer to Christ as his disciples. They’ve also had a baby – named Anniah, meaning ‘joy’, because of the joy they now share.”
Petone said the husband had drawn closer to Christ through discipleship classes. “This challenged him, as he had been sitting on the fence regarding his faith but he was now making an all-out commitment to Christ.” The man’s wife shared that baptism was the next step in her journey of faith as she wanted to follow what it means to be a believer. “It made the day even more fulfilling seeing her husband get baptised too!”
The third person to be baptised had been in prison and had joined Petone’s online bible classes to learn about the faith. “As we studied, he arrived at John 11 where Jesus wept, and this brought home the fact that Jesus has emotions just as we do. It made the scriptures real to him.”
Petone said the day was not without its challenges, , but it was wonderful to see the baptism candidates push through these setbacks. “That’s what happens when you place God as more important than anything else – you see other things challenging that. But you endure through because this is part of the journey of following Christ first.”
There was much emotion and celebration at the service. “For me as a pastor it’s so affirming to see three believe and follow Christ in water baptism. They were able to understand what Jesus said in the scriptures and that affirmed their decision. This shows me they’re growing in the faith.”