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The Navy stationed my dad in Hawaii when I was about 5 years old. We had always been regular church-goers, and we continued our church attendance in Hawaii. The church services were long and uninteresting to me as a little boy, but there wasn't anywhere else for me to go on Sunday or Wednesday nights. Sometimes I listened to the sermons for a few minutes, but usually I was lost in daydreams.
One night, I heard a visiting preacher say that everyone is a sinner, and everyone is already condemned to Hell. He said that sin is like a disease, but Jesus is the inoculation for sin. All that a person has to do to be saved from an eternity in Hell is ask Jesus Christ sincerely for His gift of eternal life. Anyone who has not done that yet needs to do it. I knew that I hadn't done it yet, so I knew that I needed to do it. I asked my mom what an "inoculation" is, and she explained to me that it is a shot. I was very afraid of shots, so I did not go forward when the preacher invited the congregation to come forward and ask Jesus for Salvation.
Two weeks passed, and every church service I wanted to go forward during the invitation. I knew that I would not actually see Jesus if I went forward, but He would be there, and He would hear my prayer. But, I was too afraid of the shot I thought I would get, so I stayed next to my mom.
Finally, during an invitation, I decided that I must ask Jesus for His gift of Salvation, even if it meant that I had to get a shot. I went forward, and was taken into an adjoining room, where several other people were talking in small groups. I was taken to a chair for me to sit in, and a man sat down across from me. He had a concerned look on his face as he began asking me questions. I answered him honestly and politely, as I had been taught by my parents, but I didn't pay too much attention to what he was asking. I thought he was there for the same reason I was. I thought he was just making conversation until we got our shots.
After a while, the man talking to me paused for several seconds. He seemed to be making a decision as he looked at me, still with a very concerned look on his face. He told me that I needed to pray to Jesus for the gift of Salvation, so we bowed our heads and prayed together. I told Jesus that I knew I was a sinner, and I was sorry, and I asked Him to forgive me. I asked Jesus to give me His gift of free Salvation, and take me to Heaven when I die.
After we finished praying, I looked around me. A woman came towards us. I decided that she must be a nurse, and was going to give me the shot. I was very surprised when the man told me that Jesus had given me His gift of Salvation when I asked for it. I got very excited. I had the gift of eternal life and would go to Heaven, and nothing I had feared had happened to me! I was very happy.
That church taught that baptism is a sign to the world that I have died to my old life and am beginning a new life in Jesus Christ. Immersion in water symbolizes the burial of the old life, and rising from the water symbolizes the new life. Most people who went forward in the church service were several years older than I was. The normal procedure was for these people to be baptized soon after asking Jesus for Salvation. The people who scheduled the baptisms decided that in my case, I should wait a few weeks. Someone (I think it was my mom) said the church didn't have baptismal robes in my size.
Two weeks after I went forward for Salvation, I was standing in line for baptism. We were instructed to hold our breath and allow the pastor to bend us backwards in the water. The pastor would then lift us back above the water. Several people walked into the baptismal tank before my turn. I was so small that when I got in the tank, I had to swim to stay above water. The pastor later commented that there wasn't much of me to bow; I just needed to be dunked.
As the pastor grasped the back of my neck, I tightly shut my eyes and held my breath. As he lowered me under water, I saw water rushing down onto me. I was surprised because my eyes were tightly closed, but I saw the water as though my eyes were open. When the pastor brought me back up, I swam to the side of the tank and got out. I didn't know why I saw what I saw, but I wasn't going to worry about it, either. No one else had anything to say about it when I asked them.
I began paying more attention in church now that I was a Christian. As I grew up, I tried to have a close relationship with God. I tried to avoid sin and do the right thing. This commitment has been the foundation of my entire life. Before you can understand me, you need to understand my commitment to God.