My Testimony

I have been a Christian my whole life, but I only really started to become close to God this year. I grew up in a Christian home and attended Christian schools. I went to Sunday School until I was about 13 years old, after which I joined a local youth group where we would meet on Friday nights and learn about and discuss various Bible passages. When I was in primary school, our Christian group went to see a popular play called ‘Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames (maybe you’ve heard of it?) The play showed various scenarios, each involving a Christian and non-Christian, sometimes a father and son, two friends, a dating couple and so on. In each scenario, the two actors ‘died’, in a car crash, or so, with the Christian subsequently being taken away by angels and the non-Christian would be taken away by satan. They were very powerful, thought-provoking skits. At the end of the play, we were given the opportunity to go up on stage, everyone who wanted to, to receive a prayer to give our lives to God. I remember going to do this, but at the time I didn’t really understand what it meant. But I knew I had made a good decision, as I certainly would rather live a life with Jesus than with satan!

During my high school years  and up until the end of my Honours year at university, I also went on many SUIS (Scripture Union Independent Schools) camps; my first one being in Grade 11. These were a great way of learning more about God, praying, fellowshipping, enjoying spending time with other Christians and witnessing others give their life to God. I lead on these camps in my university years and it was a great privilege being able to teach high school pupils about God, and have lots of fun as well; playing sports, swimming, horse riding through the wilderness on the day out to name a few. I also have fond memories of helping organise games and party packs for the children’s Christmas party and weeding the garden at a nearby township preschool.

After a year in Cape Town studying my PGCE  (postgraduate certificate in education) and then in South Korea teaching English as a foreign language, where I was lucky enough to find a great church and meet wonderful people, I returned to Grahamstown to commence with my Psychology Masters-by-Thesis. I joined a wonderful church in Grahamstown and whilst preparing to become a member and spending time talking with the pastor, I learnt that water baptism was one of the things that the church highly respected and encouraged among its members. I had been baptised as an infant and confirmed in Grade 10 through my high school, but water baptism was something I had been thinking about doing for a long time. I had wanted to cultivate the gifts and fruits of the spirit that God wanted for me, and I realised that being water baptised would allow me to unlock those gifts.

A few weeks after joining the church, on the morning of the 20^th October, two of my friends were asked  to come to the front of the church. They had made the decision to be water baptised and they were asked to share a few words about how they had come to their decision. They were to be water baptised after the service. I immediately wanted to be water baptised as well, and after the service I let the pastor know my thoughts. He invited me to join the other two, if I felt ready, so I raced home to put on my costume and grab a towel and met the others around the pool. Before the water baptism, we were asked if we wanted to share a few words again about why we would like to do this. I shared that I have been wanting to become close to God for a long time, but I often felt that my relationship with God thus far was in an academic sense, not a fully, or deeply relational sense. I wanted to hear God speak to me often and feel close to Him, and I felt that now was the right time and this was the right decision to make. When my turn came to be baptised, I stepped into the water with my two friends, Hayden from my Bible Study and Michele, one of the leaders of my Bible Study, who placed their hands on my shoulders. I remember taking a deep breath before they lowered me into the cold water. I recall, when I was below the water, realising how big and wonderful a decision I had made; that I didn’t want to go back and this was the right thing to do. When I was lifted from the water by Hayden and Michele, I remember Hayden’s quoted words echoing in my head; ‘the old has gone, the new has come’, and I was excited to start a new life with God. It was a new beginning;  everything that had happened before was a mere shadow. God was washing me clean of all the sins and troubles of my past, and I was making a public agreement to live a life in obedience to Him. My body felt refreshed from the icy water and my whole being felt alive and renewed.

My water baptism was also a way of reaffirming my infant baptism, which my parents kindly did for me when I was too young to understand what it meant to give my life to God, as well as my confirmation during high school. I was now ready to commit to living a life in obedience to God now that I was old enough to fully understand what it meant. It was the answer I had been looking for to the many questions I had had about wanting to become closer to God.

Since my water baptism I have been receiving visions from God when I pray for myself or others. Sometimes the visions don’t always make sense at the time but God is teaching me that He speaks in mysterious ways. I thought it would be scary to receive these visions but rather the opposite; God is our protector and we are safe in His arms. The visions indeed make me feel very close to Him and remind me of His great love – how He knows us and speaks to us idiosyncratically.  It has been wonderful to be blessed with this gift from the Spirit and I intend to use it to extend God’s Kingdom; reaching out to others by providing them with messages or visions of hope from God.

I hope my testimony has been an encouraging read for you :)

My water baptism with spiritual support from Hayden and Michele. Photo per kind courtesy of Elna Schutz.