A few months after a co-worker shared some Scripture, a local man celebrated his newfound faith with family during a backyard baptism.

Corbin Bergen works in Winnipeg as a private contractor and lives in Steinbach, Man. with his wife. 

On August 30, Bergen celebrated his new faith when he was baptized by his brother and pastor in the backyard of a friend's house in Landmark. 

Bergen says, "It was kind of last-minute. My friend offered us his kiddie pool as a means of baptism and it worked out perfectly."

Even though Bergen had attended church growing up, it wasn't until this year that faith became real and personal for him. 

"The beginning of my whole transformation in life began earlier this year. One of the guys who baptized me started working with me earlier this year and he was sharing some scripture with me. I wasn't reading the Bible at the time. I had gone to church my whole life basically but never read the Bible for myself. When he shared, there was stuff I never heard about and I thought that I should read this for myself."

As the pandemic shut many businesses down including Bergen's, it opened up a lot of time to dive deeper into the Bible.

"I was at home and it was perfect timing for me. God totally revealed Himself through His Word to me. Throughout the whole COVID time, I was just in the Word and listening to sermons online."

Bergen and his wife didn't attend a church previously, but when church buildings started closing down because of the pandemic, the couple started watching it online. 

He says, "As soon as the ban was lifted on smaller groups of people we started going to a house church in the city. They treated us just like family, which was great."

Bergen's brother Cohle lives in Thompson, Man., where he runs a Bible Camp. It was Bergen's hope for some time that his brother could be involved with his baptism so when he heard his brother would be in the area for a few weeks in August, he seized the moment. 

"My immediate family, my parents, and my in-laws were there, as well as some of the church family. Afterward, we had a social distancing potluck."

For anyone thinking of getting baptized, Bergen says, "Spend time in God's word, seek guidance from elders, study the reasoning of becoming alive as a new creation in Christ. The most important thing someone can do is be born again." 

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