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| The evangelistic newspaper of the modern Jesus Army | 2001 |
DO I NEED TO BE BAPTISED?
Answers from people who were recently baptised
YES! says Dave
One night, Dave prayed for his sister, who had a bad drug addiction problem
 As he prayed, he became aware that he did really believe in Jesus as the only answer to man's need. He became aware of his own sin, all the bad things he had done, the drug problem that he had too.
Following that quiet confession, Dave began to feel God's love and forgiveness.
"What I found that night was worth far more than winning millions on the lottery."
Since that night, Dave has found freedom from drugs, and the love and support of his new family in Christ. His baptism was a time of letting go of all his old hurts, and committing his whole life to following Jesus.
YES! says Lisa
When Lisa stopped doing all the dodgy things she'd been involved in since she'd been a teenager, her old friends started to call her a Jesus freak, but Lisa didn't mind because she really had found faith in Jesus.
Lisa came to visit a friend in one of the Jesus Fellowship houses in Northamptonshire. She wasn't interested in Jesus at all, but she enjoyed the visit so much she came to the Easter Alive Festival where she felt God for the first time in her life.
 That encounter with God changed Lisa and she felt she needed to do something with her life, not only for her sake, but also for her daughter Abbie who needed some kind of stability in her life too. The next step, she felt, in her walk with God was to be baptised.
With her new-found friends and family beside her, a portable baptistry was set up in the garden of her friend's house, and Lisa was baptised.
She said, "The water was very cold! But it was a time of great joy and power for me, a life-changing experience.
"For the first time in my life, I felt really clean inside, free to be myself and free from guilt."
YES! says Vicky
When one of her friends was baptised, Vicky began to search for God herself.
 Her parents' divorce brought things to a head and Vicky received prayer and asked God to come into her life.
Several of her friends have noticed a change in her. The wild teenager who once drank, took drugs and rode around in stolen cars was reading the Bible, asking questions about God, baking cakes and making friendships!
After her baptism, Vicky commented "I feel really clean."
This article has been extracted from Streetpaper, published by Jesus Fellowship
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