back to index2021-01-10 Ron De Los Santos Baptism
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Hi, I'm Ron, and my wife is Sarah, who serves in SEEDS, and this is my testimony. 00:00:11.240 |
It's pretty much by default in the Philippines. 00:00:13.880 |
I grew up in the Catholic Church all the way through the early parts of college. 00:00:18.960 |
Many things happened that made me question the sanctity of the Catholic Church, and by 00:00:22.720 |
the time I graduated college, I was no longer Catholic. 00:00:31.560 |
I dropped my major and joined a fraternity where I began, or where I picked up drugs 00:00:38.360 |
I was failing in college, and in order to recover, I started taking ADHD drugs, which 00:00:44.200 |
helped me go from a 1.34 GPA to Dean's List by the time I was a senior. 00:00:53.600 |
I had a success story, and that's all that mattered. 00:00:56.680 |
That success story continued into my career in construction. 00:01:01.360 |
In my first job, I went from making copies and filing documents to project manager within 00:01:06.600 |
six months, but I continued to use drugs to help advance my career. 00:01:12.400 |
I had a list called the "How to be a Marketable Bachelor" list, and it was my vision to be 00:01:21.500 |
Over the years, I started checking off the boxes on the list, but drugs always played 00:01:27.220 |
I worked on the list for 10 years, and at the age of 33, I was making more money than 00:01:32.300 |
most of my friends, cultured in the arts, good with my hands, a nice haircut, no cavities, 00:01:38.180 |
low cholesterol, wearing designer jeans, and I could sail a boat, yet I didn't have a 00:01:43.740 |
girlfriend to sail a boat with, and was addicted to drugs and feeling completely empty. 00:01:48.700 |
But one day, I got an email that changed my life forever. 00:01:54.620 |
I was selling something on Craigslist, and during the transaction, the buyer invited 00:01:59.180 |
me to a program that was just starting at his Korean church in Irvine, introducing nonbelievers 00:02:06.840 |
One of the items on my list was "Man of God" because of my Catholic upbringing, so I decided 00:02:15.520 |
And I drove to Irvine from Manhattan Beach for this eight-week program. 00:02:20.320 |
During this program, I began to realize that the very manner in which I accomplished the 00:02:25.120 |
things on that list was tainted with the existence of drugs. 00:02:34.780 |
I was trapped by addiction, and I feared that if I stopped, I wouldn't be able to continue 00:02:43.400 |
Each one of the items on that list was a mask that I put on, thinking it was going to make 00:02:49.520 |
me someone of value, so I can be accepted and maybe someday loved. 00:02:58.400 |
The very person who I made myself to be was a product of sin, and I just wanted out. 00:03:04.000 |
Working on my "How to Be a Marketable Bachelor" list took over my life for 10 years, and many 00:03:10.000 |
years before that was merely preparation to accomplish the list. 00:03:14.000 |
I was a slave to the idea that I was in control. 00:03:17.680 |
In 2 Corinthians 5:21, it says, "He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so 00:03:25.720 |
that we might become the righteousness of God in him." 00:03:30.960 |
God provided me my only way out by sending me Jesus. 00:03:37.160 |
When he died on the cross, he took my sin with him, and his resurrection is my new life. 00:03:43.480 |
During that eight-week program, it boggled my mind that about 20 to 25 people gave up 00:03:47.440 |
their Sunday night for me and two other unbelievers. 00:03:56.880 |
Why did they do all that for me and ask for nothing? 00:04:03.760 |
What is this secret that they all seem to hold that I can't seem to find?" 00:04:08.680 |
I realized their desire for me to meet God was authentic. 00:04:13.340 |
They were weird and kind because they served with this unnatural joy. 00:04:18.340 |
The secret I thought they all seemed to hold was, in fact, the very thing they had been 00:04:26.360 |
I wanted to know the source of their unnatural joy. 00:04:29.640 |
In witnessing their relationship with God, I realized I didn't really know God. 00:04:34.040 |
So on the last day of the program, I prayed earnestly to meet him, and I wept for the 00:04:38.400 |
first time in my life when I finally met God. 00:04:42.200 |
From then on, I drove hundreds of miles to attend this Korean church in Irvine. 00:04:46.720 |
Although I met God at age 33, I am amazed when I realize God's hand in the events of 00:04:51.400 |
my life in the past, right now, and as it unfolds. 00:04:55.920 |
I believe there is a beautifully curated life that God has in plan for me. 00:05:01.800 |
Many times I have reflected on the events of my past, then realized how they affect 00:05:05.440 |
me today, and I am comforted that God's love for me has no concept of time. 00:05:10.720 |
I believe the very reason why God brought me to Irvine was to find Sarah, and then here 00:05:17.880 |
I believe it all happened in perfect timing, and I'm excited to see the perfect plan God 00:05:22.320 |
It's been close to 10 years since, but I was never baptized, so here I am to be baptized 00:05:28.520 |
into Christ through immersion as the symbol of my union with his death and resurrection. 00:05:34.720 |
>> You can understand Ron, and you want the water, you're hearing his heart's intent, and 00:05:41.720 |
when you come out, you're in harmony with his resurrection life. 00:05:48.720 |
I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.