My name is Samuel, and I’ll be doing my 3rd year of high school at John F. Kennedy. You’ve probably seen me around playing for VBS on the worship team or with the youth on Fridays.

I became a Christian when I was around four, and it was actually my sister Phoebe who shared it to me. Honestly, I didn’t remember much, but the biggest thing was that if I didn’t accept, I would go to hell. Since hell seemed like a scary place, I did what was most logic–accepting a free way to heaven.

The years would go by, and just being in a Christian family kind of taught me how a Christian should act, but there wasn’t really a stable church we were attending for some time. It wasn’t until 6th grade when I learned what being a Christian was really all about. During 6th grade I encountered a number of problem–family problems in the household along with other things–but the main one was I was being bullied at school. It just so happened that one of the bullies was my best friend, so it was really hard on me to get through that time. Because of everything that I was going through, I was forced to cling to God, who was the thing left for me to turn to.

I don’t quite remember the details, but I remember during that time I recall reading a passage found in Proverbs 10:12 which says, ”Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” Somehow, by God’s grace, I was able to forgive my friend for all that He did to me. That just goes to show how God can use anyone to share His love. After that year, there was a lot of growth in my life, as I went to TIGS and CBM which helped me a lot.

Around this past year, I actually wanted to be baptized earlier, but I started to have a lot of doubts about my faith. Questions of the credibility of scripture and the gospels arose, and it honestly was some of the scariest points in my life. I was so scared to tell anyone because they might start having the same doubts as me.

Thankfully with the help of some people and by reading some books, God helped me find out that the gospels are the most credible books in historical literature, as well as how the gospels complement each other even though they’re different. God gives us enough evidence to have to make a choice to believe in Him, which shows His love for us.

I’m getting baptized for one, to follow God’s commands, and two, to show that I really am confident in my faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.