Hi, my name is Candace and today I will be sharing my story of how I came to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I grew up in a Christian household, going to church every Sunday, and I had a great community. But I often treated church as a place to hang out with my friends and learn about fun stories. It was simply another place I had to go, it was part of my weekly routine, so I didn’t think too much of it.

When the pandemic hit, it was the first time I truly reflected on why I go to church and what Christianity meant to me. Since we were all isolated and confined in our houses, I lost contact with some of my friends from church so I never saw a point in going back. I started to doubt if God even existed and what life would be like if I didn’t believe in Him.

But things started to change when I was in grade 7 and my parents forced me to go to Teen’s Conference, a place where students gather to worship and learn more about Jesus during March break. I wasn’t thrilled to be going, but I convinced myself that even if I didn’t like it, it was only 2 days then I could go back to my normal life. However, after experiencing this conference, my mindset began to change. I could see how God had changed so many people’s lives and I was able to see how powerful he truly is. This made me reconsider my decision whether or not to follow him. After this encounter, I started paying attention to services and to discussion in youth groups in hopes of getting to know God better.

As I started to think more about baptism, I felt a lot of fear about the tiny details. I thought I needed to have sufficient knowledge before taking this public declaration to follow him. I thought my testimony needed a life changing twist. I thought I needed a moment where I was certain God truly spoke to me. But when I voiced my worries to God, He showed me, through other people’s baptisms, that it wasn’t true. I didn’t need to be perfect to declare my faith in him, all I needed was my acceptance and trust in Him. One verse that has helped me to trust in Him and his plans for me is Matthew 6:33-34 which says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

I would like to thank my family for giving me constant support through my journey and never giving up on me. Thank you to all my friends who has shown up for me and encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone. I also want to thank my small group leaders, Grace and Clark, for encouraging me to take this step forward and helping me to learn more about Jesus. I am forever grateful to all those I met at TC, from my captains, to coaches, to other attendees who made my experience so positive. Thank you for listening.