I’d like to start by saying all glory to God for the opportunity to be baptized. My name is Bethany, and I am blessed to say that from a young age God has always had a pull on my heart. Growing up my dad gave me a Bible and brought us to church, and the seeds of faith were planted as I always felt the presence of God even as a child.

Fast forward a few years and we stopped going to church and slowly allowed busyness and sport schedules to be more important than time with God. I continued to believe in God, but in my middle school and high school years, sadly I let God sit on the back burner of my life.

Growing up in NY I didn’t know any Christians or have Christian friends. I was in public school and candidly in the area of NY I lived in, I did not meet anyone Christian throughout school – all my friends never so much as mentioned God or faith.

It wasn’t until my senior year of high school and into my freshman year of college that I started to realize that something was missing in my life, a closeness in heart with God. I started to read my Bible more and pray and in my freshman year of college, I met the first Christian friend in college (my now good friend Hannah) who lived in the dorm next-door. I saw so much of Christ in her in the way she spoke to people and treated people, and it made me want to be more like her. I realized that it was God’s light that was radiating through her that I was drawn to.

After my freshman year of college, where I began to pray to God more and grow closer to him, my dad suddenly became very sick. We didn’t know it at the time, but he was suffering from physical ailments, which we later found out was mostly due to Parkinson’s disease. The last seven years I’ve watched my father go from a strong, healthy, active individual to someone who can no longer walk, stand up, and now hardly speak. I’ve heard it said that if you don’t go to your knees, sometimes God will bring you to them. It’s an understatement to say that watching him become so ill has brought me to my knees. There was nowhere to run but to God. Everything was outside of my control. So much was unknown to me but not to my Lord. Sometimes God brings you to a point where you realize that there are things outside of your control that you have to give to him. I regret to say that during that time of rushing to hospitals and caring for my dad entirely on my own, I made decisions that led me to grow further from God in sin, perhaps in hopes that the world could help with the pain that I was going through, hoping a distraction would help or solve my problems.

As he became more ill, as a 19- or 20-year-old, I found myself solely responsible for my extremely sick dad. When most kids are partying at college, I was in hospitals and physical rehab centers watching my dad slowly turn into a fragile, painful, thin, hurting version of himself. I felt angry with God many times in his early stages of illness, angry that he was so sick some days that I was told to say goodbye to him only to have him pull through to the next day, which really messed with my heart and emotions. My brother had moved to California and my parents had been divorced for many years, so I had not a single person in my life who walked with me through all the late emergency room nights and hospital visits while trying to finish college.

I never told any of my friends for a couple of years because I worried about bothering anyone with my struggles. However, I thank God for being the only one who stood beside me in that time, I know I would not have been able to do it without him. He carried me through as I wasn’t strong enough without him. My sins led to the realization that most of us have found: the things of this world cannot fulfill the need we have for God’s love and place in our heart, and it only resulted in emptiness.

These past few years, I have run back to God to help me, to forgive me, to let go of guilt, to fully trust in his plan for my dad’s life, to continue to believe in his ability to heal my dad no matter how long he is sick, and to trust he loves me well. He has given me so much more grace than I could ever deserve or imagine. I realized the need to serve him and share his Word, so I repented and found an organization called YoungLife.

Four years ago, I started volunteering with teens (who I now love so much and couldn’t imagine life without them) who have taught me that following God is not a 1:1 walk, if we truly know God, love Him, and follow him, we must share his word with everyone around us. Kids tell me all the time how much it means to them for me to tell them about God. Little do they know that doing so has fulfilled a hole in my heart I didn’t know could be so overflowed in fullness.

That realization and transformation of my heart to not think “well I’m saved, that’s great, done deal” but instead to say “I want every person I meet, I know, I love, to be saved and know God” has really changed how I live my life and my relationship with every person. How I think of it is that, if someone you knew or even a stranger you met was terminally ill, and you had the cure in your pocket, wouldn’t you tell them about it!? And wouldn’t you offer it to them!? That is the opportunity each of us gets every single day. The people who are not saved who cross our paths are sick in sin, and if they don’t repent, they will die from it and they will spend eternity in hell. We all have God’s word and love in us; we have to tell them about it. How could we keep it from them? They need it, eternity is at hand.

This responsibility and weight of it should never be something we take lightly as followers of Christ. So, I am grateful God has revealed his wisdom in that while we were yet sinners, he died for us, and we are to go into all the earth and teach every living creature about him. It is life or death, and we are his disciples. My long suffering with my dad’s sickness has actually opened doors to tell more friends and people about him. When they ask how I am getting through it, I can point to God and tell them that I pray with my dad constantly and it is God only who has gotten us through these past several years. I am grateful that he lifted the veil off my eyes to the dangers of sin and has given me the conviction to want to change the things that are not of him. I am still a work-in-progress. There are still things I know I need to change, whatever things are not aligning to his commandments and perfect plan, to be more like Christ. This has brought me here to want to be baptized as a new creation in him! Amen!

Before Summer Jam 2025, I questioned what it would be like to follow Jesus. During a song called “Live It Out” I got a feeling that I wanted to be different and change myself. That's when I knew I wanted to follow Jesus.

My faith in Jesus helps me trust him and make better decisions.

I want to be baptized to show others my promise to follow Jesus.

I want to thank my mom and dad, Gammy, Miss Paris and Mrs. Jennifer.

I want to be baptized to show everyone that I am a believer and thankful for Jesus.

I was a child of divorce and eventually spent time living in government housing – even having to share a room with my older sister during high school. I began using drugs which seemed harmless at first but led to waking up in hospital bed from an LSD overdose scaring my mother and all who knew me. This event led me to living with my stepdad in another state months before high school graduation. Needless to say, I had no friends and began to wonder why my life and Christ had forgotten me. My stepfather strongly suggested the military which I joined and served for 20 years. While the Navy transformed me into something that I will forever be proud of, it didn’t stop me from using alcohol and continuing to ignore Jesus.

I watched my wife and how she seemed to find strength in Jesus’ words. I began to pray and talk with Jesus daily, all of which came from seeing my wife’s faith. I soon realized despite everything I had been through in my life, Jesus had always been right there. I just never stopped to accept him. Knowing Jesus was beaten, crucified, buried and then rose 3 days later made me realize all my sins can be forgiven.

I no longer feel alone, or without purpose. Nor am I fearful of what is before me in this life. I am ready to live my life as he intended: not just with a purpose…but with joy for what is to come and knowing Jesus and I walk together. Hopefully my walk with him will inspire others to understand life with Jesus is never too late.

I was raised in a Christian household. Throughout all of my childhood, my mother taught me how to pray and talk to God and took me to church every week.

I was baptized when I was a small child and as I got older, I started to stray from the path of God. I started to go down a dark path.

After I moved back to Florida, I started trying to find a church with my wife but never took the first step to do it, until my daughter at the age of 3 told me she wanted to go to church. I knew that was a sign from God calling me back home. That next Sunday, we found Fort Caroline Baptist Church and felt at home right away. I knew God placed me here.

My wife got baptized in 2023. I trust in Jesus to save you from your sins. I accepted Christ as my savior, and I have committed my life to him, to live the way he wants me to live, and to show and teach my kids the way to live for God.

My Name is Daniela Dempsey. I was raised as a Catholic. I felt forced to go to religion class throughout my younger years in life and make my first holy communion and confirmation. It felt like a chore to go to church and whenever I did go it was not enjoyable. I felt like I had to go through all that because that is what my family practiced and how they raised me.

I had a wonderful childhood growing up in Long Island, New York. My mother provided the best life she could for my brother and me. My parents divorced when I was about 4 years old, so I do not have a memory of my parents being married and living under the same roof as a family.

I was always an anxious child, and my parents being separated probably contributed to that. I have had ups and downs with my father my whole life, but we always mended the bond no matter what. As a young child you always want to see your parents together and living under the same roof as one big happy family, but unfortunately sometimes divorce is best for the whole situation. No matter what went on in the past, I have a beautiful relationship with my mother and father.

Over the years I learned to manage my anxiety and overcome many obstacles in my life. When I graduated high school in 2016, I met a guy and dated him for 6 years all while going to college and working part time. I graduated from college in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in professional communications. We got engaged in 2023. We decided to move down to Jacksonville Florida to start a new life and chapter. There were red flags for many years, but I thought things would get better – I always try to see the good things in people. I knew deep down in my heart that this was not the right person to be engaged to. I decided to break my engagement in July 2024. I felt a huge weight lifted off my back and at the same time I felt lost. I thought I had my whole life together and planned. But I know God is the only one with the best plan for me.

At the time I had to get a second job because now I had to make sure I stood on my own two feet and made ends meet. I am thankful that God provided me with the second job. I met many wonderful people. I had to learn who I was as a person again and I know God gave me the strength to get through it and persevere.

In late August of 2024 God led this wonderful young man into my life, Nick Allen. We talked for a while and got to know each other. God knew I needed him, and I am blessed that Nick walked into my life. On Sunday November 17, 2024, Nick invited me to church with his family. I was a little nervous about going. I had lots of questions about the Baptist church since I was raised Catholic my entire life and Baptist was not very prevalent on Long Island. I remember walking into Fort Caroline Baptist Church everyone was so welcoming and accepting. It was such a warm feeling. From the moment the lights went dim and the band started playing on stage, I felt this energy inside of me – this abundance of happiness and wholeness. It was nothing like the Catholic Church, but it was the most beautiful thing. From that day on, I look forward to going to Sunday Service with my boyfriend and his family and hearing Pastor Stuart preach. I am forever grateful that Nick invited me into the Fort Caroline Baptist community – it feels like home.

Nick and I continued to talk, including about differences in our childhoods and respective churches. It was through these long talks that I knew this was a chance to start over. This time, I was calling the shots rather than going through the motions. Through my boyfriend Nick opening this door and pastor Stuart’s wonderful preaching, I knew if it wasn’t for God sending his one and only son, Jesus, to save me from my sins that I would have no chance to make it into Heaven. His sacrifice on the cross is one of many blessings we receive each day, and I believe he rose from the grave and is still with us. His sacrifice is a reminder of his love. He loves us more than we can imagine, and his desire is for us to grow closer to him. God has come into my life and his grace is all I need through this beautiful journey called life.

I was introduced to God and the Church when I was 10. My Dad retired from 20 years in the Marine Corp, and we moved from North Caroline to Jacksonville to be near my mom’s family. We moved in with my Me-ma and she insisted that my brother and I go to church. That is where my foundation started.

My parents purchased a house, and I was only able to attend church every now and then. After I graduated high school, I married and had two children. We tried church as a family a few different times, but we were never able to find a home church. So, I really developed the mentality that I could do it on my own. I did okay with work, raising my kids, but did feel as though I fell short in my marriage as well as other things in life. I got caught up in doing things I knew were not right but sinned anyway.

Then, in 2018, my very best friend for many years was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He was diagnosed in April of 2018 and went to be with Jesus in June of 2018. His wife Vickie was hurting dearly, and, rightfully so, asked to sit down and talk with the pastor of Fort Caroline Baptist Church to ask some questions. She asked if I would go with her. That is when I was introduced to Pastor Ricky Powell.

Pastor Ricky sat with us for hours answering all of Vickie’s questions all while explaining and preaching the gospel to us. I immediately went home and told my wife that we had to attend this church and listen to him preach.

One Sunday morning in September of 2018, Pastor Ricky ended a service with a prayer of salvation. That is when I fully came to know Christ. I asked him for his grace, mercy and salvation. God gave his son, Jesus, for me. A gift I could never repay. It's been life changing for me. My sins have been forgiven and washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. Since then, I let Jesus be the boss of my life.

I have chosen to step out in my faith with baptism, leading by example for my family, my friends, my co-workers and whoever else needs to know the love of Christ. I am Saved! Hallelujah!

I was raised in a Christian household, baptized as an infant, and confirmed in junior high school. After graduating from high school, I drifted from my faith. I was distracted by college, marriage, a career, and children.

Shortly after retiring and moving to Jacksonville in 2015, my husband and I joined a Bible study group. The lessons were a struggle for me as I had not been raised reading the Bible. My husband recommended watching the movie "A Case for Faith," and it was during this movie that my faith was renewed. I sobbed and experienced overwhelming peace. I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, and my life was forever transformed.

Once fearful of death, my restored faith and trust in God gives me peace that I will only experience a physical death. What comfort and joy it brings knowing that Jesus will prepare a place for me where I will spend eternity in His presence.

After searching unsuccessfully for a church that spoke to my heart, FCBC was recommended by someone from my Bible study group. After one service, I knew I had found my home. Today, I seek to be baptized as a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

I had a hard childhood. We moved around a lot. When my dad left our family, I felt lost.

Last year in 2024, I attended youth camp and experienced music and worship that touched my soul. I realized I needed a relationship with God. Camp opened my eyes to my need for Christ and forgiveness of sin through His death and resurrection. So, I placed my faith in Him.

Since then, Christ has changed my point of view. He has helped me see people differently and treat people differently. I’ve shared my faith with others, and I hope they come to Christ, also.

My name is Elizabeth Ann Moore, but everyone calls me Lizzie unless I’m in trouble. I am nine years old and about to start the fourth grade. I used to go to Lone Star Elementary, but I am starting a new school this year at Alimacani Elementary.

Last year, during VBS 2024, I learned a lot about Jesus, what it means to make him the boss of my life and why that’s important. On Thursday of that week, I was lying on the couch, playing Minecraft, when I was thinking and decided to ask my mom a question. I said, “Hey, Mom? You know that thing they’ve been talking about at church, about how you can ask Jesus to come and live in your heart and be your boss? How do you do that?” My Mom grinned really big and said, “All you have to do is pray and ask Him. Is that something that you want to do?” I told her that I did but didn’t know how and asked if she would help me. She said, “Of course! Whenever you’re ready, just let me know.” I put down my game (which totally shocked my mom) and asked, “Can we do it right now?”. She said we could, so we sat together and prayed together, and I asked Jesus to be the boss of my life and to help me make better choices from now on.

My mom was so excited and so proud that she called and texted everyone we know to tell them that I had made the most important decision of my life! Because Jesus is my boss, I can officially know that He is by my side, and He’s there whenever I need Him. Also, I struggle a lot with my behavior and making good choices. Now that I know Jesus is by my side, I actually WANT to make better choices and I ask Him to help me when I’m having a hard time knowing what is right. He reminds me to do what would make Him proud.

I want to be baptized because I want the whole world to know that Jesus lives in my heart and I can have hope because he died for ALL of OUR sins and then came back to life to go and prepare heaven for us to come and live with Him when we leave the earth.

My favorite story from the Bible is the Easter story of how Jesus didn’t just die and stay dead but came back to life to show us that there is hope for a future with Him in heaven. I especially like the VeggieTales version called The Easter Carol.

I want to thank my mom for teaching me how to pray and helping me to ask Jesus to be my boss. She has helped me understand more about Jesus and my decision to be baptized. I really appreciate how much my mom shows love and forgiveness to me and my siblings. We can drive her crazy and make her mad sometimes, but she always forgives us and tells us that she loves us.

I am here today to show that world that I am a follower of Jesus and they can be, too! He loves and cares for us all and wants to talk with us.

My life before Christ was full of confusion, pain, and loneliness. Since I was younger, I’ve struggled with OCD and anxiety.

I was baptized at 6 years old without understanding the full commitment of what it meant.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been weighed down by the feeling of never being good enough. It took ahold of my life and caused me to act out in anger. I took the pain out on myself and my surroundings, waiting and praying for it all to just go away. I resented myself and turned to the world, all while being mad at God for not being there.

While I was at Centrifuge this year, Pastor Chad Poe shared a story from Luke chapter 18 about tax collector praying at the temple, beating his chest, saying: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I remember kneeling down at the altar, crying out “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I was begging Him to fill the empty hole in my chest with His light, to show me he was there. There was an overwhelming feeling of weightless calm that washed over me as I was singing.

After deciding to dedicate my life to Christ, peace has been brought back into my soul. I’ve learned to accept myself as I am because I am made in God’s image and He has a purpose for me. He is the savior of my life, and I know he is with me always.

My walk with the Lord began when I was very young. My mother and father were divorced early in my life, and my mother insisted her 5 kids go to church, even though she turned to drugs and my father turned to alcohol.

I was saved and baptized at a very young age but did not understand what I was doing when I got baptized. I did it because everybody else was doing it, so I thought it was the right thing to do at the time. I understood that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and he is my Lord and Savior.

As I got into my teenage years, I veered away from going to church and started doing normal teenage things.

Then on July 11, 1985, at the age of 18, my world was shattered. I was sitting right beside my 16-year-old brother in front of a store when a car came up, jumped the curb and pinned my brother against the wall, killing him instantly. I survived, but I was scared to live, I was scared to die, and I had severe survivor's guilt. Then my father took his own life 11 months later.

These events tore my family apart and sent my family members scattering in all different directions. It would have been so easy to turn to drugs and alcohol to get through the pain, like my other siblings did, but I knew my brother would not have wanted me to go that route.

Day by day, God got me through that horrible period in my life, although to this day, I still struggle with PTSD and night terrors due to what I witnessed that horrible day.

God has given me three beautiful children from my first marriage. In 2015, I reunited with the love of my life, my high school sweetheart. I felt God had sent her to me to finally give me peace in my life. We married in 2017 and started going to church with my mother-in-law here at FCBC in 2022, and my walk with the Lord has gotten stronger. Without Him, I would not have made it through all the hard times in my life.

I was introduced to God and the Church when I was very young. Some of my earliest childhood memories of my grandmother were going to church. I am thankful that I had grandmothers that helped set that foundation, but I ran away from it for many years.

I looked for love in all the wrong places with multiple failed marriages. I knew of Christ but did not KNOW Christ. I did not walk daily with him as my Heavenly Father, and I tried living life and raising my children my way feeling as though I was always falling short and not meeting anyone’s standards.

In 2018, Kenny Nichols, who was the husband of my co-worker and good friend Vickie Nichols, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Kenny was like a brother to me. Pastor Ricky Powell was asked to stop by and visit us at the hospital before he passed. Pastor Ricky was able to visit us at the hospital. After Kenny passed, Vickie had LOTS of questions, and rightfully so! Pastor Ricky was so kind and patient with Vickie and my husband David and all the questions about life. David came home one night and just said, “We have to go to Fort Caroline Baptist Church!”

Going back to church stirred my spirit. I felt renewed, and I started to feel alive again. That is when I fully came to know Christ. I asked him for his grace, mercy and forgiveness and accepted his salvation. God gave his son, Jesus, for me. A gift I could never repay. It's been life changing for me. My sins have been forgiven and washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. Since then, I let Jesus be the boss of my life.

I have chosen to step out in my faith with baptism, leading by example for my family, my friends, my co-workers and whoever else needs to know the love of Christ. I will be that “praying grandmother” for my grandchildren. I am Saved! Hallelujah!

I believe I was a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins and rose again. I confessed my sins and asked Jesus to forgive me.

I believe 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Now I believe “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13

My life before Jesus was not the best it’s ever been. I did not really know Jesus that well. I didn’t really understand what having a relationship with Jesus was supposed to look like.

I was not a very good kid growing up. I got into trouble a lot and was not very nice to my parents. About a year and a half ago, it got bad. I had no one to talk to and I really lost myself during that time. It was tough every single day. I was praying to Jesus for hours just talking to Him about my life and asking Him for help. I found my Best Friend, then it started to get better. I enjoyed going to church more and learning about the gospel.

I always wanted to be baptized but I told myself I wasn’t ready yet. But on Sunday, March 23, 2025, I was sitting with my LifeGroup leader talking about being saved, and I knew that I was ready. I believe that Jesus died for my sins so that we may go to heaven. I believe that He was resurrected and that He forgives me for all my sins.

On that day, I gave my Life to Jesus Christ. Now I am growing in my faith, becoming a better person and praying more. One of my Favorite Verses Is Psalm 46:5. Because God will be with me now through everything.

Growing up at Fort Caroline Baptist Church, I went to the children’s classes, donated my one dollar to the offering plate, and listened to Pastor Ricky’s preaching while I drew on the “Let’s Connect” cards. At that age, I believed in God and knew what Pastor Ricky said in his sermons was true, but I was too young to understand what that really meant for my life.

As I got older, I pursued temporary comfort and happiness through friends and material possessions, but none of it was long-lasting. For a while, I struggled with feeling whole and understanding my purpose in life.

My faith deepened when I began serving in the children’s ministry at fourteen. At that time, I already believed in Christ, but there was room for spiritual growth. For the first time in my life, I was no longer just taking in God’s word—I was teaching it. Each Sunday I spent with the children, I felt God working in my heart. I felt as though the purpose I had been searching for was right there in that classroom. It was then that I reaffirmed my commitment to Christ and declared Him as my Lord and Savior.

Since opening my life to Jesus, I have gained new perspectives, my faith has grown stronger, and I have become closer to God than ever before. Through finding strength in prayer and the support of my church community, I live knowing I can trust God no matter what, God is always with me, and He is always listening.

After baptism, I look forward to continuing to grow in my faith and spread God’s word, wherever He may take me.

Before I accepted Jesus into my heart, I went to church occasionally with my great aunt or with friends, but I was not consistent with it. I thought from the Pentecostal preachings I had heard as a child, God was angry and vengeful. Fire and brimstone. It was easier to pretend I didn't care about religion, doing secular things and seeking worldly pleasures, than it was to try to figure out why God drowned the Earth's population and turned people into stone. But my mind wouldn't rest because I was scared. I was afraid of an eternity in the fires of hell.

As an older teenager, I started going to church to try and learn more. I was touched by the music and by the sermons that I heard, and one day, I felt touched to my very core to the point of tears, so I answered an altar call. Someone I did not know prayed over me, asked me a few questions, and I accepted Jesus into my heart. I was elated, knowing that Jesus, who chose to die on the cross to pay for my sins, was now my Lord and Savior!

I started trying to make changes in my life but was not consistent with it. It's like I would go through phases of wanting to be a good Christian, and then not wanting to give up the worldly pleasures. I lived in sin with a man that I ended up marrying 2 years later and we immediately had a child. After my child was born, he became abusive to both of us behind closed doors but became an ordained minister in the eyes of the world. Our little family of three were living two separate lives. One in the eyes of the public and a completely different one in the seclusion of home. As time went on, things got worse and worse for me and my child. He threatened to kill me if I left, so I didn't for 16 years. Then one day, I truly believe Divine intervention occurred. My husband was in a motorcycle wreck that put him in the hospital for a year, and allowed me to change the locks, separate bank accounts, and set our lives up to go on without him.

Has my life been perfect since then? No. But I did get divorced, eventually reunited with my high school sweetheart and got married again. I am nowhere near being a perfect Christian. In fact, I have fallen way short of that. I have fallen way short of being the perfect wife and the perfect mother, daughter and sister. But apparently Jesus still sees potential in me because He very recently made His Presence and Will known to me through bombarding me with scriptures during sermons from Pastor Stuart, putting names and phrases in my face repeatedly and filling me with an undeniable desire to make things right in my marriage and in my life. He gave me another chance... Not my second chance, not my third or fourth or fifth chance...or my last chance. In fact, it's just my next chance. Most likely the next of many that I will need before the end of my days on Earth.

I'm very thankful to Jesus for His sacrifice, dying on the cross to pay for my sins, for His Love, for His Mercy, for His Grace, for His Forgiveness, for His unending desire to be with us, to guide us, protect us and to be our Savior. I have asked for forgiveness for my many sins, known and unknown, and I have chosen to rededicate my life to Him and to live for Him for the rest of my life.

When I was 7 years old, my parents got divorced and we moved to Florida. I started going to Church with my grandma who introduced me to Christ.

Around the age of 10, I realized my need for forgiveness, and I received Christ as my Savior.

Jesus has always been there for me. He’s helped me find the right direction and make the right choice in my relationships and my actions.