Will Reed – Greeley, Colorado … Five individuals gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized at the Sabbath service at the Greeley Seventh-day Adventist Church in Greeley, Colorado, June 8.
Two couples, Peter and Heather Fenninger and George and Gloria Diaz, and a high school student, Ezekiel Ibarra, made their vows together at Greeley’s church service, led by Michael Shannon, lead pastor at Greeley Church. Shannon referred to the Sabbath service, the result of each individual decision to follow Jesus, as, “a really special day … because we know there’s a celebration in heaven and celebration here as well.”
Anecdotes of each individual’s journey to baptism were shared with the congregation during the service. Shannon shared that sixteen-year-old Ezekiel, whose mother had been baptized early last year, had made known his desire to be baptized several months prior to this day and that it had been a blessing to study with him and his family throughout the previous weeks. Shannon commented, “we have to do everything we can for our young people, to encourage them to give their lives to Jesus.”
Portions of Peter and Heather’s story also were shared with the audience. Peter, who grew up Adventist but was never baptized, and his wife Heather, who did not come from any church background, began attending church after they witnessed Peter’s uncle return to membership at the Greeley Church through a Profession of Faith.
They began studying and felt called to publicly give their lives to the Lord through baptism. Peter’s father, who was in attendance to support his son and daughter-in-law, shared how proud of them he was of them after the baptisms and remarked, “I am so glad my son [and daughter-in-law] made the right decision.”
George and Gloria Diaz made the public decision to follow Jesus after recently coming back to church. They had been watching online for quite some time but decided it was time to come back in person after speaking with Pastor Shannon at a memorial service last year. George had been baptized before but wanted to accompany his wife, who had never been baptized, on this day.
Attendees of the Sabbath service were further blessed when two more individuals made the decision to be baptized during an appeal by Pastor Shannon following the five baptisms. The members of the Greeley Church give praise to God that the church is growing and pray that more people continue to find Jesus in this community.
—Will Reed is principal and sixth through eighth grades teacher at Adventist Christian School in Greeley, Colorado. Photo by Jim Johnson.
