After wrestling with the concepts of Tradition versus God’s word she came to the decision that she wanted to make Jesus Lord and that she would do so at the upcoming Campus Retreat at YMCA of the Rockies. She chose this to propel others who were studying the Bible to make the amazing decision to follow God as well. The day of her baptism, as she finished her letter to God, she got the phone call that the original plans had fallen through. The pool that she was supposed to be baptized in had been closed for 24 hours due to a child mistaking the pool for a toilet. As the group of about 60 moved from the pool the search was on to find a new location.
On this cold March 6 day where winds were blowing, snow still coved the ground, and the waters were frozen over, Stephanie was asked what she would like to do. The options: find a local hotel pool or find a local lake. Stephanie immediately answered. Let’s go find a lake. As the news quickly spread, students packed into cars and headed into the town of Estes Park to Lake Estes.
Upon arrival, the parking lot was filled with cars. As Stephanie and the disciples parked they realized that they had arrived at the Lake on a day when a herd of Elk decided to take a drink and wade in the water. They found a spot that further out from the massive Elk group and waited for the car loads of people to arrive. Yet the Elk continued to make their way closer and soon were waiting beside the Disciples. As Stephanie prepared to walk into the waters of Baptism, Elk were walking in alongside and ducks waded nearby. It seemed as if all creation knew that Stephanie was about to be married to Christ. As soon as Stephanie came up out of the water, the group erupted in loud shouts of joy immediately stirring the Elk to stampede away. God has truly used Stephanie’s heart and his creation to allow for an epic and memorable Baptism.
We look forward to you all taking part of the ICMC of 2011 in Colorado at the YMCA of the Rockies. We had an amazing experience and can’t wait to see how God moves at the future ICMC were thousands of students will be ready to experience God in new ways.
