24 February 2022 | Cardiff, UK [Leonie Haran with tedNEWS]
18 people were baptised at Cardiff Seventh-day Adventist Church on Sabbath 20 November 2021. Several baptismal candidates had waited for almost two years to get baptised due to the impact of the pandemic. However, in the meantime, the Horler family, Kervyn and Lorenz Labalan, and Moyochena Mazura joined these candidates in their decision to publicly give their lives to the Lord.
“This special baptismal service would not have been possible had our church not been active throughout the pandemic,” said Pastor David Rancic. “I praise God for showing us that, even during the pandemic and lockdowns, our church was active, and we were able to preach the Gospel and lead people to baptism.”
Before entering the baptismal pool, all candidates stood together before the congregation, wearing T-shirts bearing the words, ‘I belong to Jesus’. In turn, then, each candidate shared how the came to know and love Christ.
The Sala family – Ioan, Monica, Marcel and Daciana – expressed their desire to follow Jesus because they experienced his love. “I want to tell everyone that the life without Jesus, without God, is not truly life, and it’s not reasonable,” said Marcel Sala. “I’ve been far away from God, but… decided to come back… to follow God all my life.”
Leanne and Kennjosh Labalan, and the Carpaci family – Geogiana, Gabriella, Samariteana, Ionut, Georgian and Gheorghe – also stated that it was God’s love what leaded them to get baptised. Gabriella said she specially felt God’s love “when she had a child after a miscarriage two years ago.”
The Horler family – Labalan, Novlyn, Mark and Mike – said they felt “God’s calling.” They got baptised “to build a truthful relationship with God,” and felt committing their lives to God in this way was “a truly emotional and joyous occasion.”
“I believe the Son walked on Earth… and died and rose” Novlyn Horler remarked. “I want to spend my life worshipping Him because of all of the things He has done for me and my family and how wonderful He is.”
Moyochena Mazura had “always been around Christians.” Mazura got baptised “to have the same extra connection that they had with Jesus.”
When all the candidates had been baptised and re-joined the congregation, they were welcomed to the body of Christ and voted as members of Cardiff Seventh-day Adventist Church. Pastor Rancic then blessed the new members. “This is an historic occasion, not only for Cardiff Church, but also for the Welsh Mission,” remarked Rancic. “It is not the numbers which make this moment historic; rather, it is the great testimony these people have given; that God still hasn’t said the last word in Wales, the Bible still changes lives… We will news about Jesus’ coming with even more passion, because we have seen that there are still more people who are searching for Jesus.”
The original version of this article was published on The Messenger, the official journal of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
