Lauren-Ashley Cross concentrates while awaiting her immersion in the pool by Reverend Dr Roy Owens at the Sanguinetti New Testament Church of God. - George Henry

The Bible tells us that we should 'train up a child in the way he should grow; and when he is old he will not depart from it'. Well, these words can be associated with the guardians of Lauren-Ashley Cross who has been growing up in a Christian home at Sanguinetti in Clarendon.

Cross, who is a student at Spalding High School in that parish, has been with her grandmother, aunts and cousins for a number of years and has been feeding on a good diet of Christian teachings and principles, hence it was no surprise when she decided to surrender her life to Jesus.

Following her conviction, she decided to allow Reverend Dr Roy Owens, pastor at the Sanguinetti New Testament Church of God, and Deacon Glendon McDonald to baptise her recently, while fulfilling the commission of Jesus Christ for men to be saved and be baptised for the remission of their sins.

Cross, who was a picture of concentration when she entered the pool inside the worship house and in front of the congregation, could not allow her relatives to be saved, baptised and enjoying the blessings of the Lord, and she not having a good taste of the spiritual feast; hence her decision to 'go taste and see that the Lord is good' and to enjoy a good Christian life.

The young church sister became conscious of the fact that there is a Heaven and a Hell; and based on what she has seen in the Bible and what her Christian relatives have taught her about the two places, THE STAR'S Life and Times learnt that her decision to follow Jesus came because she wants to escape Hell to be with her Maker in Heaven when He returns to take His children around His throne.

While testifying before she was called in the pool by Reverend Owens to be baptised, Cross proudly told the congregation that she was happy to be identifying with Christ.

"The Lord has been good to me. He has brought me through all these years; and I have so much to give Him thanks for. Without Him I could not have made it; and I want to continue with Him. So I am asking you just to pray for me so that I can live for Him," testified young Cross.

She expressed that she intends to go to Heaven when Christ calls her home, but that she is aware that in order to make Heaven her home, she will have to live a life that is pleasing to her Maker. She wants all young people to surrender their life to the Lord, so they too can be in Heaven with Christ when He returns.

After she was through with her testimony before entering the pool, the pastor announced that upon the great commission given to him by the Lord Jesus Christ and with the authority vested in him as a minister of the Church of God, he was going to have her baptised.

"I now baptise you in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son and in the name of the Holy Ghost," said Owens.

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