Baptism: Maria Copas-Santos
Before Maria came to Christ, she was desperate for love. Without a father figure in her life, she was looking for love in all the wrong places. At the age of 17, she found herself in a bad relationship. At 18, she was pregnant and gave birth to her daughter. The father of her baby left her shortly after. He took everything with him and told Maria she’d never be anything without him. Her world was shattered, and she was alone.
Baptism: Dan Davis
Dan’s life felt hopeless, tragic, and difficult before he came to Christ. His first year of college was especially challenging as he moved away from family and was introduced to alcohol. Over the next several years, he became reliant on alcohol. This impacted his grade point average and resulted in him getting a “notice of academic dismissal.” At this same time, he went through a relational breakup, and moved back home.
Baptism: Matt Welstad
Before Matt came to Christ, his family went to church regularly. As the only deaf person in the family, he didn’t get much out of church because that church didn’t provide interpreting. There was no spiritual connection accessible to him, so he checked church off the list.
Baptism: Peter & Ezela Tagliente
Ezela always went to church as a child because it was the right thing to do, but she didn’t have a relationship with Jesus. She knew she was sinning. She consumed, partied, and didn’t respect herself. All of her decisions culminated when she got engaged in her 20s to someone who became her abuser. She ultimately lost all of her self-worth. It was after she left that relationship that she met her husband, Peter.
Peter was raised in the Roman Catholic faith and went through all of the sacraments. When he grew older, he realized something was missing. He drifted away from church and felt the void in his life. His marriage and family relationships were in a dark place. He couldn’t get away from the feelings of doubt, resentment, and anger.
