Madyson V.

My name is Madyson and I am 15 years old. I have been attending church since I was 4 years old when my parents became Christians. In 5th grade I accepted Christ during a Sunday school lesson, that was an awesome day. We have always been very active in church as a family and have a large church family back in Wisconsin. I am hoping to find that here as well. Having God has provided strength for me since our move and I hope during the rest of my life. I fill my life with Christian music, Bible camps, and positive people. I am always trying to find ways to bring God into my everyday life. I can't wait to see what He has in store for me.

My first pastor always said baptism is an outward expression of an inward change. Thank you to BridgePointe for helping me make this expression of my faith!

Donna L. L.

I was baptized as an infant in the Catholic Church and attended mass every weekend and holy day through my teen years. I believed in God but didn't have a committed relationship with him.

I have always longed to find a church where I felt I belonged. I wanted my life to have more meaning. My son, Justin, and daughter-in-law, Tammie, have always included me in going to church and finding a church family. They found it!

My first visit to BridgePointe was in March. I felt at home immediately. Jared's sermon and the music brought me to tears. I felt the Holy Spirit that morning! I couldn't wait till the next Sunday! It also prompted me to get involved so I joined Starting Point and met some incredible people. This class taught me a lot and helped me realize that I am not alone with my inner conflicts.

I have started my Christian journey and have joyfully accepted Jesus into my heart. I am eager to learn, and I know that God will be by my side every step of the way!
Thank you for praying for me. I am ONE!

Tammie C.

As a child I grew up fast but I grew up to be broken and lost. I knew I needed Jesus and my mother reminded me often. I wanted to grow deeper in my faith more than anything, so I decided to start for my children first and prayed that I would someday become a believer.  After trying many churches we found BridgePointe and this is where my story starts.

From the moment I stepped foot in this church I felt the Holy Spirit and not only through the sermon but through the people who I am now proud to call my family. Through a class at the church called Starting Point I learned I am not alone in my struggles but more importantly I learned more of who Jesus is and I can now say with great confidence and joy, He is my Lord and Savior. I will live for Him because He never gave up on a sinner like me. Today I am happy to say by the grace of God I am redeemed, I am free, and most importantly I AM ONE.

Laura D.

I knew about Jesus since I was little, my grandma and aunt used to take my brother and me to church, I accepted Jesus when I was 16. My childhood was not easy, I saw a lot of violence between my mom and stepfather. My parents finally separated in very disturbing way, were my mother was threatened at gun point by my daddy (of course he had drinking issues, all the violence was done when was under the influence).

I probably started hating my dad since I was 12 because he used to punish my brother and me for the stupidest things in a very violent way. Finally my mom fled to here, the US. My brother and I stayed behind, she was running for her life, I ended up leaving with my uncle, he registered me in a Christian Evangelical school where I was able to know more about God and Jesus, that is when accepted Jesus and HE HEALED MY HEART AND GOT RID OF ALL THAT HATRED, it was amazing. It is still.

I am being baptized because I would like to commit and keep experiencing the love of my God and not fall back into this crazy world.

Kristen S.

I am a 30-year-old single mother of two. I have always attended church but for most of my life I felt it was more of an obligation. I was never taught to talk to Christ and believe in his ability to help me through daily struggles. It was more of a "when you sin come to confession and your good" attitude.

I have always searched for more and believed in a higher power. I then hit a period in my life where every single time I turned around something terrible was happening. Illness, car accidents, bills upon bills, failed relationships, it was completely chaotic. Culminating with my youngest daughter being born 8 weeks early, her father deciding parenthood wasn't for him and walking out on us the weekend after she came home from the NICU. Telling me, in the same breath that he hadn't paid any of our bills in 4 months and we were being evicted the following day.

Throughout all of this I kept question God as to why these horrible things were happening? Why was I being targeted? What did I ever do to anyone to deserve this?

For almost a year I had been trying to find myself as a person and mother. Then one day I was driving by a Christian church, going somewhere else and something in my head said, "you need church and a church family in your life." My children and I have been attending church almost every week since.  We then found BridgePointe, through the F. family. I truly love that we are raising our children in Christ together, but most of all we are learning and growing with each other, and with the children. Not only being models of what God expects, but also of how he still loves AFTER we have stumbled.

I can now say that when I've come up on struggles and trials, like sick children, job struggles, changes, school trials, I no longer blame Christ for my struggles. Instead I can say to him "give me strength, show me your will, help me see what I should do" and inevitably it has helped me through. Recently my girls and I were struggling with stress, work was tough, they were constantly sick, I prayed daily for Christ to show me and help me. This time I got an answer. Not directly but an overwhelming feeling that I was doing the right thing.

So as of today, I can say my faith in Christ is strong, and I know I am doing the right thing. Especially because my girls tell me all the time that Jesus is in their hearts and he loves us all. So now I have decided I need to take the next steps and be baptized. I am worthy of Christ's love, that even though I have made some mistakes, it is never too late to make them right and live in God’s love. 

Josh St. O.

Growing up, Jesus was someone we spoke about on holidays and at funerals. I later went on to attend a Catholic High School, and my curiosity grew a little bit. Then college came and my attention soon turned to other directions: my studies, friends, girls, and 2 for 1 Happy Hour at the Coast Guard house were what became important to me. Though not always in that order. 

I have spent most of my life searching for happiness in all of the wrong places. Consumerism, social status, alcohol, & womanizing were not the answer. While I was exceling at work, my soul was becoming more and more empty. Through it all, Jesus was trying to reach me. I just kept looking the other way. 

I met Taylor in 2010, she is my angel on Earth. We started our family in 2012. I knew I wanted more for us. I wanted my wife and my boys to be happy. I wanted inner peace for everyone in our household. Again, the Lord was waiving his hands in the air and yelling, “Hey, everything you are searching for, I can lead you there!” I just wasn’t hearing him.

I’ve known Jared for some years now. About a year and a half ago I asked him to pray for us. I also asked him to help give me the push I needed. I was lacking the courage to open my heart to the Lord. Jared was “respectfully consistent”. Through his friendship, (and occasional text messages), he convinced me to visit BridgePointe. 

Since then, my life has been transformed. Our household has seen a total shift. Everyone is more content. The Holy Spirit is working in us. Now we are listening.

I am ready to hand my life over to Jesus. I believe He is not only the way to eternal life, but the only way to joy while we are on this Earth. All that is good flows through Him. God created us in His image. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to serve others. He wants us to spread the good news.

Thank you Lord for never giving up on me & thank you Church for supporting me. Because of you, I am One.

Brooke O'D.

I moved to Rhode Island in January of 2016 and I started going to church which is where I heard about baptism. I was very curious about it, so one day I asked my mom about getting baptized. That is when I got to Jesus. I started talking about him in different places, and I was really happy about it. Once I decided to follow Jesus and make Him my leader, I wanted to be baptized, and I decided my sister Emily would baptize me. Now I am 7 years old and on June 10th at the Bristol beach I am getting baptized. Thank God for this moment, and thank you for praying for me. I am One.