DBU REPORT 30 Students who were baptized include Evan Lupo, Ethan Michael, Patrick Banich, Carlos Hernandez, and Garrett McGee BAPTISM SERVICE AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA Despite the cool temperature in December, it was all smiles among the group of men who publicly gave testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ before an intimate crowd of friends, family, and supporters. DBU Men’s Soccer player and junior Nicolas Barros baptized five of his teammates at the new Pool of Bethesda, inspiring an entire campus as the exciting news spread via social media. The baptisms were the culmination of a movement of God that began this fall when the Soccer team chose 1 Corinthians 15:58 as their theme about remaining steadfast. “God has a never-changing, consistent love for us no matter what,” Jess Jobe, Men’s Soccer Head Coach, explained. “We used that to parallel the student-athlete experience and encouraged each other to be steadfast in our efforts to pursue the right thing. We talk about that a lot as a program—who we want to be as people and the type of program we want to be. Everyone on our team falls somewhere on that spectrum.” Barros spearheaded many spiritual conversations with his teammates throughout the season, often volunteering to lead prayer before and after training sessions. He even leads a Bible study called “More Than Champions” in Ford Village where he lives. “Nicolas has an incredible heart for Christ and for being able to steer every conversation to the Gospel somehow,” Jobe explained. “And so you’ll hear him on the bus. You’ll hear him at team dinners. You’ll hear him asking very intentional questions. He played a huge part in what happened.” Paul Hason, Assistant Coach, also helped lead the men on their spiritual journey, supporting Barros and others in their intentions to talk to their fellow players about Christ. As curiosity grew among the team about what it means to walk with Christ, the coaches issued a casual invitation to those who had questions to talk it out and eventually take the next step. Ultimately, five men accepted Christ as their Savior at the end of the season, and a plan was made to be baptized on campus at the newly opened Pool of Bethesda. Two other players, Cason Berg and Gavyn Rosales, decided to get baptized at their home church with their family. Others are open to pursuing a deeper relationship with God at different levels, and Coach Jobe looks forward to furthering those spiritual conversations with all the players this spring and fall. Barros’ mom and dad, who is a pastor in Brazil and a former professional soccer player, joined their son at the baptism event at the Pool of Bethesda. Pastor Barros shared his testimony in Portuguese as his son translated. Other students heard about the impromptu baptism service and helped lead an informal time of praise and worship as the sun set over the horizon. “I think there are lots of students who need prompting to take those next steps in their faith,” Coach Jobe said. “We were just blown away by God’s faithfulness. As coaches, we know is this is a priority for our athletic department—to be discipling our student athletes in this way and having these kinds of conversations. It was just really cool to see all that play out. It’s been a team effort.”
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