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The testimony of water

When we bear witness to someone’s baptism, we’re called to remember our own. When I remember mine, I think of my grandfather, mi abuelo, who baptized me.

I was young, a preteen. Papi was a deacon at his church, part of the Vineyard movement in Southern California. He stood in the water, at the shallow end of a swimming pool. As I stepped in, he offered me his hand and I took it, wrapping my arms around his arm. Then he dunked me, saying, “En el nombre del Padre, del Hijo, y del Espiritu Santo.” He baptized me into the people of God, his God becoming my God.