By Carla Mobley
Faith Community Church in Huntington has been refocusing on the mission of reaching people for Jesus and discipling them. In partnership with Indiana Ministries, Pastor Micah, along with wife Carla and their family, became pastor in June 2017. Since then, Pastor Micah and Carla have been modeling what it looks like to build relationships with people disconnected from God and to share Christ with them. Here are a couple of moving stories from some of the 10 persons who were recently baptized.
Faith Community Church met and celebrated on the evening of Saturday June 22, when ten people were baptized into Christ in a remote farm pond in Huntington, IN. Pastor Micah Mobley; Children’s ministry leader, Keely Oswald; and worship leader Troy Oswald all collaborated to baptize individuals into Christ, and it was a wonderful night of fellowship and celebration for church family and friends.
Ninety-three percent of the time if the patriarch of a family gets saved first the family will follow under his leadership. This statistic proved true for the family of Chris and Regan. Chris and Regan are a young couple with a blended family of four children. After struggling to heal from past relationships, they started coming to church regularly, trying to establish a healthy family culture and positive traditions. Chris started attending because of a deep friendship with two strong Christian men in the church, and he quickly became friends with Micah as well. This friendship grew deeper and more open, and eventually Chris accepted Christ. Regan soon followed and surrendered her life as well. Once Sunday and mid-week attendance became the norm for their children, each of them followed their parents and children’s ministry leaders and made personal decisions. Tonight our church family rejoiced with the Hoffmans as the entire family, six in all were baptized together in their pond.
Their story doesn’t end there. Once Regan’s mom witnessed the radical transformation in her daughter’s family, she wanted to experience Jesus, too. She started attending church at times with Chris and Regan, and she started socializing with the church friends they have made. So tonight Regan’s mom was baptized beside her son in-law, daughter, and four grandchildren.
Trent’s baptism tonight is an amazing God story. Six months ago, in a pit of depression and pain, Trent made a life choice that cost him his job and possible jail time. A long time friend
of Trent’s who plays in the worship band at Faith Community was quick to reach out to Trent and invite him to church. Instead of casting judgment and scorn, Joe sought out Trent and made sure Trent knew he was loved. Since that invitation, Trent has missed church only one time, and that was due to a scheduled out of town trip. When small groups kicked off, Micah made sure Trent was a part of our life group, and Trent and Micah have been meeting together regularly as well. On Thursday of this week, when Micah and Trent were together, Trent made a commitment and followed through this evening with baptism . Small investments of time or a simple invitation truly can change the course of someone’s life. At Trent’s lowest point, instead of being met with judgment, an extended hand of grace and love was offered. This simple act had eternal significance, not just for him, but his parents having been joining in worship every single Sunday as well.
Troy and Keely Oswald faithfully serve on staff at Faith Community, and to close the evening Troy had the opportunity to baptize Keely’s brother, Jason. On New Year’s Eve of 2017, Keely’s family and Jason’s were meeting for dinner with their parents in Fort Wayne, IN. The family was gathering to celebrate the fact that the next morning three generations of men from Keely’s family would be baptized into Christ. Kent, the patriarch of the family, was scheduled to be baptized the next morning, along with Jason and Keely’s son, Cameron. Tragically, Kent died before arriving home that evening. In the middle of the night, Micah baptized those three men in a private hospital room. Tonight Jason wanted to publicly declare his decision and set an example for his young sons. Keely delighted in the special moment not only because she got to witness her brother make a public declaration, but she also had the privilege of baptizing Luke, who had been a part of her children’s ministry his whole life.
Extending grace, investing time, offering simple invitations—these are small acts that truly do change lives. Jesus still saves. May we all be his hands and feet and add more to the Kingdom.
“Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am with them” – Jesus Matthew 18:20.
