On a Sunday morning in August 2025, Yussel was out walking and meditating. He was asking for guidance from a higher power on how to deal with a family situation. He walked by GC Lemon Grove and felt led to come inside. He ended up staying for the worship gathering. English is his second language, so one of our leaders helped translate any words or concepts he did not understand.
After Yussel had attended for a few weeks, Reyna Stutz (one of our leaders who is bilingual), gave him a Bible and led him in a surrender prayer to Jesus. Over the following weeks, we spent time with him discussing God’s nature, forgiveness, prayer, relationship with God, and baptism. And we answered other questions Yussel had.
One day our cajon player was not there and Yussel jumped up for the last song and started playing. He has good rhythm and has been our cajon player every week for the past few months.
After more prayer and discussion, Yussel decided to publicly proclaim that he is aligning his life with Jesus through baptism. With the entire congregation surrounding him, he was baptized on Easter! We gave him an English/Spanish parallel Bible and put a customized name plate with his baptism date on the front.
By Anne Stapleton, Pastor
Lemon Grove, California, US
Congratulations Yussel!!! Welcome to the body of Christ.