my baptism

it's been quite a while since i've updated anything cos i've been incredibly busy aka incredibly tired to blog at all.

anyway 16th Sept ( last sunday ) was my baptism :D
heehee.. been thinking about it for ages and finally took the time to go for baptism classes and really thankful that God provided me an opportunity to openly declare my faith towards Him and that opened my heart wide open to accept whatever i had to go through ( eg. ministry, etc. ) to prepare myself for baptism.

I was a rather nervous wreck on the day itself, it's a once in a lifetime affair and the whole congregation would be observing the entire process. But fortunately most of the baptism candidates were familiar faces ( having gone through the same baptism classes and made a friend Jo, during the Power Encounter Weekend at Gallery Hotel) and that I felt comfortable in the church itself.

I was also extremely happy, because not only were my parents and sister there to witness the entire event, but that my dad and mum were out together and that it's been ages since my dad stepped into the church ( since i was ard 7-8 if i remember correctly) and I was anxious to see his reaction and response to church again, having seen his rather negative reaction the other time round.

I was also praying that the message spoken to them would touch their hearts and that it was something that they could relate to. Fortunately, it did :) the message was simple, basically the testimonies of how 3 couples learnt to cherish their broken marriages and their journey together as a couple to recovery of not only their relationship with each other, but also their relationship as a couple with God.

As I couldn't sit with my family ( I had to sit with the other baptism candidates), N told me ( he sat together with them ) that my dad and mum were moved by the speakers and I sincerely pray that things would turn out better. I must remind myself to bring them to church again this weekend.

Ok so back to the baptism itself. First the pastor asked us one by one " Do you turn to Christ?" Our reply was " Yes I turn to Christ". Then we lined up towards the pool set in the stage ( ladies first in no particular order) and handed our name tags to the assistant. There was a male and female pastor who were submerged to the waist in the pool and each baptism candidate was to stand in between them. Suzie ( the female pastor) then took my right hand to put on my left chest and she said " In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I baptise "insert name" " and I forgot what else she said already -_-. I'd better check back and edit this part. :P

Then they both submerge each candidate BACKWARDS and out and tadahhhh~~.
Anyways water went up my nose and I was sorta choking when I came out. So that was it. Simple huh :P

So after we got changed, we got back to our allocated seats and worship continued. The 3 couples proclaimed their testimonies and then.. to my surprise, Pastor Derek called out all the baptised candidates to stand in front of the stage. 0_o""" machiam like celebrities like that. hahahah.
anyway the whole church clapped for us and welcomed us, and the various pastors went forward to shake our hands. Relatives of the baptised candidates then went forward and gave them flowers etc, but I was the most happy when N stood smiling in front of me and we gave each other a nice big hug :o) heehee

I was also surprised that N's dad and mum came forward too hehe.. and shook hands with Uncle and hugged Auntie. :P It was also slightly embarassing that I couldn't recognise Angela from the previous cell group gathering dinner thingy ( it was my first time there ) and she could see it etched all over my face that I hadn't the slightest inkling who she was. hahaha. :P But I'm so glad that she came down to congratulate me :)

Yup so that sums up the whole baptism service.
Anyway N told me that he feels that I have the gift of prophesy. heehee.. which I didnt really think about previously and I think it's rather true! :D wheeeee.. I hope that I'll put it to good use and be able to touch people's lives.

The pastor at today's service is an Englishman by the name of Michael Ross Watson. He was recently diagnosed with cancer ( of where I do not know ) and it was so wonderful to listen to his testimony that basically, if you put your faith in God and trust Him with all your might, God will provide for you. ( He couldnt pay for his medical expenses and it was miraculously covered for in the end. )

" If you try to defend yourself for ordinary events, God will say 'Get along with it'. But if God needs to defend you, He will protect you."

Alrightey that's the end of my story for today. Felt so excited just typing the whole thing out. heehee.. Hope u all feel touched by this post! :D