This Sunday, November 6, is Membership Sunday at Prairie Flower Baptist Church. We are overjoyed to have David & Amber O’Dell, along with Paul & Emma Diment join us in formal church membership. Welcome to the prairie, O’Dells & Diments! Below are the salvation and baptism testimonies of all four individuals seeking membership at our church…
David O’Dell: “Well, my testimony starts when I was six. My Dad led me to Christ as we were going to Wednesday night church. Mainly I didn’t wanna be left behind, however, as I grew older, I started to get an idea of my faith. I’ve had multiple baptisms. The first one was when I was 10 or so, and I did it for the wrong reasons. Later on, as a teenager, I did a rededication. Really meeting Amber has kept me with a solid foundation. And then driving back-and-forth to work a little later in life, I began listening to godly men, such as David Jeremiah, Greg Laurie, John MacArthur, and such others. Up until recently, I realized it wasn’t by my works that my salvation is ensured. It is through the blood of Jesus Christ alone. Jesus saved me! That’s primarily my coming to know Christ.”
Amber O’Dell: “I asked the Lord into my heart when I was 8 years old. I was outside in my driveway, playing with my best friend at the time (who lived right across the street) when she told me she didn’t want to be my friend anymore and she was going home; and she left. I stood there, shocked and feeling all alone. I remember hearing my Sunday School teacher’s voice saying when you accept Jesus into your heart you will never be alone again. I kept getting memories about other camp experiences and other Sunday School classes about how God is always there and loves you no matter what. As I stood there in my driveway, I looked up and said something along the lines of: ‘I’m tired of being alone and you say you’re always there if only I repent and turn to you. I’m sorry for all the wrong I have done and the way I act sometimes; please forgive me of my sins and come into my heart so I’m never alone again. Help me to be more like you and to take this loneliness away, in Jesus’ name, amen.’ I remember in that moment of finally feeling complete and like someone was there with me even though I was standing there all by myself.
A few years went by, and I remember reading, ‘repent and be baptized’. I knew I had Jesus in my heart, and I knew that it was time I was baptized. So, one Sunday after a service, I went up to the pastor and said I need to be baptized. He replied with, ‘You’re a little young yet.’ I said, ‘No, I feel like God is telling me to be baptized.’ The pastor looked at me and said that he would allow me to go through the Baptism Classes and at the end he would decide whether or not I was truly ready to be baptized. He was amazed by my faith and my conviction and how well I already knew the Bible. So, he agreed to let me be baptized.”
Paul Diment: “Hello, Prairie Flower Baptist Church. This is my testimony…As many of you know, I grew up going to Bethel Baptist Church in Oskaloosa. I grew up believing that I had been saved around the age of five. I knew the plan of salvation very well and could quote to you many verses and the ‘Romans’ Road’. But as I grew, it became more and more evident that I had no personal delight or love for these things.
At about the age of 15 or 16, I was at a store in Oskaloosa where I was caught stealing by my godly mother who told me that she forgave me and that the Lord could forgive me too. This brought conviction into my life because I had been an expert at masking sin under a cloak of religiousness. At home that day, I was reading the book of Ecclesiastes and came to the last two verses which says, ‘Hear the conclusion of the whole matter…In the end, God will bring every secret work into judgment whether it be good or evil.’ That is when I knelt down and broke down and trusted the Lord as my Savior. Some months after this, I was baptized at Bethel Baptist Church.”
Emma Diment: “My full name is Carmen Emanuela Diment, but just call me Emma. I met our Lord Jesus when I was very young. I have memories of holding Grandma’s hand and going to Prayer Meeting. I had heard that the Communists [in Romania] were burning Bibles in public. So, I asked Grandma if Bibles could really burn. She said they were made of paper so, yes, Bibles did burn. My family was part of the Underground Church in Romania. Both of my parents were believers and they raised us in the Christian faith. I have a brother who rejects the Lord, but I will never give up praying for him. His name is Emanuel. He has a wife and two young children. They live in Ireland. As for my father, he is now with the Lord, but my mother still lives in Romania.
My journey with the Lord started when I was little. Since then, He has been my Savior, my Redeemer and my King. He chose me, though I am undeserving. He continues His work in me and will never let go. Praise His name for being so patient and not giving up on me!! I am saved not because I deserve it, but because of His grace. Indeed, I understand that I am a sinner saved through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am grateful to Him. I am His creation. Through His blood on the cross, He gave me the gift of eternal life. I am a work in progress until He comes, or He takes me home. As for my baptism, I was baptized at age 13 in Romania during Communism…Paul Diment is my wonderful husband and we have three blessings: Darius (8), Petra (6), and Sarah (2). Darius is very severely handicapped and lives at ChildServe, a pediatric nursing facility in northeastern Iowa.”