Hayley Van Batavia has chosen to be baptized because she wants others to know that she loves Jesus and is whole-heartedly following Jesus with her life. Hear her testimony of God's faithfulness in her life.

"I grew up in a Christian household, but church was something we only occasionally attended for my grandparents. Throughout my teenage years when things got tough and I was faced with more adversity and hardship, I questioned my faith more than once. But no matter how hard things got, that's when I found myself praying more and I realized that there was no scenario in which God didn't exist, and I was fooling myself for ever thinking differently.

As I entered my twenties, I still maintained my faith, but I wasn't actively trying to live for God. I married a pastor's kid and as soon as we had our son, God completely changed my perspective on life. We lived in Seattle, which is a very God-less area, and we grew to be appalled in the environment in which we brought a child into. We felt God's pull to finally make the jump and leave the state. We made the decision to move to the 'Bible Belt' as we wanted to raise our child in an area that won't chastise you for mentioning the name Jesus and where the way of life was based with more of a religious foundation and represented similar beliefs to what we shared.

After we moved, we faced many obstacles with finding employment and maintaining it as this pandemic started to unfold. There were many times where I felt so low and discouraged, thinking maybe we made the wrong choice, but through every obstacle God provided a way out. When my husband lost his job, I was offered one. When I lost my job, my husband was offered one. God gave us the life vest needed to keep our heads above water in a time of such great uncertainty. That drove my desire to get more involved, and we immediately began exploring churches. It became the utmost importance to find a church and start actively living our lives for God. I believe God used my son to help push me to Him. As a parent, I want what's best for my son, and I want to raise him in a solid Christian household. As I focus on living for God, I also focus on the example that I provide, not only to my son, but others throughout my life. Baptism symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and is the best way to symbolize and proclaim my starting anew, washing away the old me and bringing life to the new me that actively spends my days trying to live more for God."