News > North America

For the 5 last years, Dr. Liz and I have been closely observing Sam’s growth in wisdom and stature. One day when he was just 5, he said that Jesus is God and that he decided to believe in Jesus. What followed after this experience led us to believe that Sam is growing in a personal relationship with God. First, he talked with his classmates about Jesus. He found out that one of his close friends believed that the Greek gods were real and that Jesus was not the real God, but a man-made story. Secondly, one day he came home and said that another friend’s father smoked and drank alcohol. Thirdly, another time Sam asked the mother of his friend whether she went to church on Sunday. Four months later, the same lady stopped by my house and was eager to report to Sam that she indeed went to church on Sunday!

This past February, Sam said that he wanted to be baptized. He started memorizing the Ten Commandments. This was a hard task for him because he was not used to memorizing such a long passage. But during this period of time, something clicked in his mind. One day he said that he wanted to burn his entire Pokémon card collection. Upon asking why, he said, “Pokemon games are not from God.” Our entire family organized a Pokemon card burning ceremony in our backyard. While burning the cards, Sam stated that Satan will be burned in hell like these Pokemon cards. To witness this card burning ceremony remained a memorable event in my mind. Three months into the preparation for the baptism, I asked Sam for the first time why he wanted to be baptized. He said he “wanted to know God more.” The fact that he was ready to be baptized was based on the evidences that he finished reading his Children’s Bible from cover to cover on his own initiative and he memorized the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed perfectly. He also memorized the Ten Commandments well enough to pass the test. Best of all, he confessed that he was a sinner saved by grace and that he decided to follow Jesus DAILY. This personal commitment to follow Jesus by faith was made public in a written testimony based on Samuel 3:19. After a thorough examination by the Board of Elders, he was found to be ready and was recommended to be baptized. Upon his personal confession and on the recommendation of the Board of Elders, I, Pastor Abraham Lincoln of New Haven UBF, baptized Samuel Abraham Lincoln on Saturday, August 13, 2011.

We celebrated this grace of baptism with the people of God from New York, Lehigh, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Mont Claire, Trenton, Yale, and West Loop UBF in Chicago. We are thankful that Sarah Barry and Anna Yang from the Chicago headquarters were able to visit us to join this solemn celebration. We acknowledge that this baptism rite does not mean salvation, but this will be remembered as a spiritual milestone in Sam Lincoln’s life journey.