John Markum

18 Baptized in a Single Day!

As God has been blessing our ministry at Life Valley Community Church, we have been passionately and urgently calling people to give their lives to Jesus Christ and be baptized into God’s family. This past Pentecost Sunday (June 8), we were able to lead 18 people to take this public step of faith in Christ!

But what was particularly incredible was that we only had 12 people that we knew were prepared to get baptized! In partnership with Baptize America, we coordinated this baptism Sunday with thousands of other churches across the country, to proclaim the Gospel message and call people into believer’s baptism. Two people found us because of Baptize America, and another handful of people responded to the message, received Christ as their Lord and Savior, and were baptized that day, just like the first Pentecost Sunday.

I know that not every pastor or church is warm to the idea of “spontaneous baptisms” who come forward for baptism that day, but we have found that there is an appropriate way to do it. Additionally, every example we see in Scripture of baptism, it was what you might consider “spontaneous”. There are two major considerations for having successful baptisms for people who come forward Day-of a Baptism Sunday.

  1. Spiritually prepared. We want to make sure that everyone getting baptized at LVCC is doing so because they have trusted in Jesus Christ death and resurrection for their salvation. Because of this, we generally do an entire message on baptism for that day, so that we have given plenty of attention to the doctrinal concerns of people’s motives. We also have counsellors to talk to before getting baptized, so that we know we are all on the same page about why we are baptizing someone. The counselling process usually only takes 5-10 minutes after we had an entire message, and occasionally we do need to tell someone “Not today, but we would love to talk more with you so you can be ready for a future baptism day.”
  2. Physical considerations. If you’re going to offer baptism to people who did not come prepared to get baptized, at least you and your leaders should be prepared! For this, we have plenty of extra towels, a t-shirt they get to keep, as well as undergarments and gym shorts of every size. We also walk through how they will get baptized when they meet with our counsellors.

We had set a goal of 20 baptisms at Life Valley in 2025, and with an earlier baptism, we are already at our goal! What is particularly exciting to me, is that we are also only halfway through the year! And with others in our church who have recently received Christ or indicated a desire to be baptized, we have 10 more people currently needing to be baptized.

To all of you who partner with our ministry, thank you for serving Jesus with us. 2025 is shaping up to be our most amazing year yet!

Blessings,
Pastor John

In Memoriam: Arihant Kanwal

In the first two months of 2025, our church has had to say goodbye to three people. And while each loss has been difficult in its own respective ways, nothing is harder than losing a child. 7-year-old, Ari Kanwal was the center of much prayer, tears, anointing, and pleading to God for deliverance from a terrible disease. Despite a full year of our sincerest prayers, and the best medical decisions his family knew how to make, we had to all say goodbye to him at his memorial on January 11 at our church, Life Valley Community Church of San Jose. Below is a eulogy I wrote for him, with the help of Ari’s mother Chavi. For those who knew him, may God continue to heal our hearts as we carry his memory with us…


In Memoriam: Arihant Kanwal

Arihant Kanwal (“Ari”) was born November 16, 2017 in Mumbai, India, and passed from this life December 27, 2024 in San Francisco, CA. While he was only with us for 7 short years, that time will leave a lasting impact on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. Born as a twin, Ari spent his life alongside his brother, Rudy. While Rudy took to sleeping in his crib early, Ari would often stay up with mom, laying in her lap as she worked at her computer. These precious moments are one of many examples of the love Ari had for his mother, and he would cuddle her until he could fall asleep.

Ari found academic education exciting and engaging. He became focused, and grounded through learning. He thrived on creativity and academic excellence. He was very structured and meticulous – anything he worked on had to be a very organized, specific way. He enjoyed the praise of teachers, parents, and others for exceling in school. He loved solving large puzzles, building incredible Lego structures, and of course… all things Mario! When Ari went to a chess class for the very first time, he managed to grasp the concepts and intricate movements and strategic patterns of the game within an hour.

As a boy, Ari was very sensitive to conflict or tension. He seemed to be more self-aware than many other kids his age, picking up on emotional stress, even among the adults in his life. And this seemed to make Ari even more sweet, sensitive, and kind at heart. He was affectionate, giving hugs and high-fives, and was always mom’s cuddle-buddy. And, like mom, he loved Bollywood music.

It was Ari and his brother Rudy who brought their mom to church. Meeting Pastor Pat Boyd on our church campus, they came to a Candlelight service, Christmas Eve, 2021. And would later get deeper connected to the church family between Easter of 2022 and the following July. Ari loved the Scriptures, especially the Psalms, learning Bible stories, participating in children’s ministry, Sports Camps, and so much more. He came to know the story of the Gospel, and had believed on Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. We would often get “Connect Cards” from him where he would fill out his own information, and would write out “I love Jesus!” by himself.

Sadly, everything began to change just over a year ago, when, on Christmas Day 2023, we found out that Ari had a serious disease that was threatening his little life. And although many of the medical expertise suggested that Ari might have only a few short months, Ari fought bravely, and stayed with us for another full year. During that final year, so many from the church, school, and medical community rallied around Ari and his family, celebrating milestones, cheering on his strength, and making the best memories we could while hoping and desperately praying for a miracle. Even as the disease progressed, Ari was a gentle and kind boy. At his birthday party at school, even while he was losing much of his vision and mobility, he wanted to personally hand out the gift bags to his friends and classmates, thanking them for their love and kindness toward him on his birthday. He remained a kind, thoughtful, and sensitive young man.

His last year he got to see Legoland, take beach trips, lake trips, camping, and more – making memories with those who loved him. Among the many high points we will carry with us from Ari was when he chose to get baptized this past September 2024. Demonstrating publicly that he knew Who he had believed in. We will forever be grateful for those memories, and so many others.

While we are grieved to say goodbye to him, the world is a better place because we had Ari for the time that we did. Only Heaven knows what his sharp mind and kind heart could have accomplished, had this terrible disease not taken him from us. And yet, our confidence is in the potential that still remains with us, as we honor his memory. We continue to keep his family, church, and school deep in our prayers as we carry the memory of his life, and grief of his passing with us always.

2024 in Review

This past year was been crazy! There is a lot for my family and I to celebrate as we look back over this year, and I’m proud of the work my family and I have collectively put into achieving a number of accomplishments. Here is what the recap of 2024 looks like for us:

  • I graduated from Mission University with my Master of Arts in Church Ministry.
  • Tiffany completed her Associate of Arts in Early Childhood Education.
  • Emilee graduated high school, moved, and began her freshman year at Mission University.
  • Me, Kali, and Emilee all went on a missions trip with our church to Kenya, in partnership with REAL4Christ Ministries. Go sponsor a child here
  • Josiah went on his first missions trip to Mexico with our church family.
  • Tiffany started a new job that she loves as a Senior Childcare Specialist.
  • Emilee and Kali both earned their drivers licenses.
  • Tiffany and I emceed for the Mobilize Impact Conference in San Leandro, CA.
  • I was invited to preach at Global Surge Worship Center, in Pasig, Manilla, Philippines, and speak at the S4 Conference hosted by Global Surge, and visionary leader, Dr. Greg Lyons.
  • Tiffany and I were able to visit Cebu as we celebrated our 20th Anniversary. There, we got to swim with whale sharks, and hiked, swam, and jumped through the canyons of Kawasan Falls.
  • We led our church family through the entire story of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation in a year.
  • I published my third, 8-week Bible study, which you can find here.
  • I read no less than 20 books, and parts of hundreds more in my studies.

And while 2024 certainly included its challenges, my family and I are looking forward to everything this year has to offer.

As we get into 2025, there have been many more challenges and opportunities we look forward to overcoming. I should finish my Master of Divinity (MDiv), Tiffany is well on her way to completing a Bachelors, Kali will graduate high school, and Elijah (our youngest) will be entering high school! In addition, our growing church family is moving to two services on March 2, and we are praying to baptize 20+ people this year. I have a few works I hope to complete including a book on building a worthwhile marriage, and a pastor’s field manual.

What are you goals for the new year? Comment below!

Blessings,
Pastor John

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