I have been living and serving in the Rogue Valley Church for two years. Since I moved here, I was invested in helping the youth in the church. My first focus was to help the oldest - David Skinner. David and I from day one were able to have fun. We shared many interests in sports, video games and chillin'.

I remember when I started to invest spiritually in David. He has always wanted to "study the Bible." So I began to do some studies with him on a regular basis. His interest level was minimal and the fruit of his response was nothing less than lack luster. His interests were in high school, sports and "stuff."

I remember having dinner with David one night and in some frustration with his lack of desire created an illustration for him. I placed the salt shaker on one side of the table, the pepper on the other. Then I asked him to place a sugar packet near the one he felt his life was closest to. The salt was godliness and the pepper was worldliness. I told him to be truthful, and that I too would be truthful with him. He place the sugar on the pepper side. I thought I was going to have to rebuke him for putting near the salt - which we both knew was untrue - but I was impressed by his maturity and honesty. It was then I knew that he just needed time. And I needed patience.

A year went by and he again asked to seriously study the Bible. I obliged and we began with a seeking God study. From this first study I knew something was different. His heart had changed. In visits to his families home he acted different. He treated his siblings different. I had been a regular in the Skinner house every week for the past two years and I saw clear change. We progressed through the studies.

Teen camp came and David was excited - he came out of that week focused and determined to be right with God. When we got back I wanted to test his zeal to see if true faith and love for Christ was at the root. When I asked him why he would want to get baptized I was surprised with his responses frustration, almost anger. "Because Jesus died on the cross out of love for me and there is no other response that I could have!" Oops, I think I hit that point already. He had the right motivation. The rest of our studies were all about being a disciple.

In the discipleship studies I was amazed by David's maturity. He faced his father to be open about sins and to apologize for things he had said, done and was doing. He also would regularly share his faith with his mom during our evangelistic campaign week. He was a disciple. And Jesus command was to baptize him in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

On August 2, 2009 I along with Kyle Allison, David's father Rob and mom Pam baptized him into Jesus at Lake of the Woods, Oregon. It was a tremendous day filled with joy and tears as his parents long awaited dreams came true. There is something incredibly special about seeing a family reunited in Christ! It was a day I won't soon forget and a day that reminded me of a young teen boy in love with sports and fun who found a love for "Having fun loving God, making disciples."