Today, on the 5th of June, six brothers and sisters from Lviv and Chervonohrad were baptized during the service at Gethsemane Church. The service started with a solemn song Hallelujah to the Lord the common praise group from Lviv and Chervonohrad.

The deacon of the church Viacheslav Vorovchenko greeted the church with the baptism day and the 1st anniversary of Gethsemane church Chervonohrad. The brothers and sisters of Gethsemane Church along with the friends and relatives came to the Church to praise the Lord Jesus Christ and support the new brothers and sisters.

Before the service started, the senior pastor of Gethsemane Church Marchenko Valeriy preached about the meaning of baptism for a Christian. “As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” (Ac.8:36,37)

Six young people will come into covenant with the Lord Jesus. The Lord says in His Word: “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Rev.3:5)

Before the baptism started, senior paster of the Gethsemane Church Valeriy Marchenko prayed for the brothers and sisters. The water baptism started with a prayer of blessing for people and asked for special touch of the Holy Spirit. The fitst person to be baptized was Sviatoslav Havryshkevych. The brother Sviatoslav believed in Jesus via witnessing of the colleague who adviced him to join the church. Coming out of water we are born for new life (Romans 6:4)

Sister Anghela believed in the Lord Jesus via witnessing of the grandfather and felt call from the Holy Spirit to do “all truth” and come to the covenant with the Lord.

The siblings Andriy and Kateryna Maridko from Gethsemane Church Chervonohrad were baptized together, the same way as their brother and sister Bohdan and Sofia, and grandmother Alla Maridko, who were baptized at Gethsemane Church last year.

Sister Chrystyna Kolomiets, the younger daughter of Vira Kolomiets. The mother and older sister Anna came to support Chrystyna on the very important day of her life.

Sister Viktoriya Biliovska believed in the Lord Jesus Christ through the service of Children Club in Chervonohrad. She understood the word of God “Who believes and will be baptized, will be saved” and came into covenant with the Lord.

On Thursday, on the 2nd of June all Christians celebrated the Ascension of the Lord Jesus. The deacon of the Bible school Marianna Petrova shared the word about the event and it’s meaning for us. After the baptism, the pastor of Gethsemane Church said the word of mentorship for newly baptized people and church members. Pastor Valeriy Marchenko said the sermon about the everlasting issue “Why God allows evil”. The issue was opened through the Word of God, what is evil and good from the sight of the Lord.

After the preaching pastor gave the call for repentance. The young man Dmytro was touched by the Word of God and he preayed with pastor of ritual service. The greeting of Baptized people Baptized brothers and sisters witnessed about their impression after the baptism and their testimony.

The testimony of sister Anghela: “I thank the Lord for coming into covenant with the Lord Jesus”. The brother Sviatoslav: “Now I have peace and comfort in my soul”. The senior pastor and pastor of the Ritual service performed the prayer of blessing for everyone who was baptized.

The best present for a Christian is Bible, the Word of God.  “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” (Jos.1:8)

Everyone got the presents, namely baptism certificates, photos and Bibles. We greet sister Anghela We greet the oldest son from Maridko’s family. After the service finished, the home groups greeted their members with the baptism day! The homegroup of Olena Markheva greets brother Sviatoslav with the baptism day. The photo to remember “Water baptism, 5ht of June 2011”. Pastor Valeriy Marchenko with a big Maridko’s family. Today all family members, except for the youngest son Vitaliy, reconciled with the Lord and became strong church servants.