The Spencer Church had two big days recently. Members celebrated the growth of their church family with a baby dedication on September 15, and not one but three events on October 6: a second baby dedication, a baptism, and an afternoon of service.

Baby Dedications

On September 15, Wycliff Arasa and Elizabeth Makori, who had recently moved to Cherokee, Iowa and were attending the Spencer Church for the first time, asked if the church could have a baby dedication for their newborn daughter, Ashlyn. In the presence of family, friends and their new church family, Ashlyn was dedicated to the Lord.

Then, on October 6, Kennedy Ochogo Omare and his wife, Venic Nyanchama Ochogo, dedicated their twins, Joyden Kemunto Ochogo and Kayden Ogamba Ochogo. Kennedy and Venic were joined by their daughter, Madelyne Moraa, and Kennedy’s mother, Eunice Omare, for this joyous event.

Baby dedications are special in that the parents recognize their babies as a gift from God and enter into a covenant to raise them in the love of Christ. The church family also enters into a covenant to support the parents in their responsibilities. The Spencer Church is committed to helping both of these families raise these young children in the love of Christ and to His honor and glory.

Baptism

Jeremy Hase joined the Spencer Church through baptism on October 6. His son, Grant, joined with members in celebration.

Jeremy was introduced to the Seventh-day Adventist faith in 2014. He was living in Minnesota at the time, and was on vacation in Mitchell, South Dakota. There, he met Pastor Othinel Ianchcu, who showed him a life-size model of the Old Testament sanctuary.

Pastor Othinel and Jeremy became friends and stayed in contact, continuing to have discussions about faith. Jeremy, who was raised in the Catholic Church, began to read and understand the Bible in ways he hadn’t before. He became convicted about the Sabbath and began attending an Adventist church. He developed a passion for people who may not understand or even read the Bible and worked with Pastor Ianchu to develop a relevant series of Bible studies.

In 2017, Jeremy moved to Spirit Lake, Iowa and started attending the Spencer Church, where he found a church family who discipled and encouraged him further in his spiritual walk.

In March of this year, Jeremy and others from the Spencer Church attended an It Is Written Spark Evangelism Training workshop at the Ankeny Church. Jeremy learned new skills and came back to Spencer excited and eager to help with evangelism planning and Bible studies.

Although Jeremy had been in regular attendance and an active participant in church life, he had not made a decision for baptism up to that point. But the more he studied, the more he became convicted that he needed to be baptized. The Spencer Church is blessed to have Jeremy as a new member.

Loving Spencer

Following Jeremy’s baptism, church members visited the Northshire Care Center and delivered flowers to residents.

This is an ongoing outreach of Loving Spencer, a partnership between the Spencer Seventh-day Adventist and Bethany Lutheran churches. Along with the flowers, church members spent time visiting the residents and offering to pray with each one.

What a blessing it was to see a church family focused on ministry that impacts both the youngest among us and the elderly!