Baptism 04.21.2024
Amanda Groff
My name is Amanda Groff. My husband is Jeff and we have one son, Lane, who is in kindergarten. I am a Civil Engineer. I grew up going to church, attending several different churches over the years. I gave my life to Christ when I was in youth group in high school, but looking back, it wasn't a deep connection or a close personal relationship with God. At college, my faith increased as I was more involved with a campus ministry and surrounded by fellow Christians that challenged and encouraged me. After college, we got married and moved back to Lancaster County.
I started coming to LEFC about 9 years ago, shortly after I changed jobs, since my new commute went right by the church, and I felt called to see what LEFC had to offer. I hadn't found a church that I attended regularly after college, and I missed that, but I was also looking for a place to make friends. I was fortunate to get plugged into a life group right away and have been blessed by the friendships and spiritual growth that I have experienced.
God has blessed me and our family and has been there with us through struggles and challenges. He sustained me and supported me as I came to church alone for awhile, and I was fortunate to be welcomed into a community that accepted me and prayed for me and my family. There are many times that I doubted God and struggled to pray, wondering if Jeff would ever come to church. Through God's grace, Jeff made many changes, and God changed my heart and my understanding of His love in the process. I have also seen that He works when we don't expect it and in His timing, which is a much greater plan than I could have imagined. He is regularly reminding me to be patient and to seek Him first when I get overwhelmed. He also reminded me that no temptation is greater than I can bear and that He will help me endure.
Jeff Groff
My name is Jeff Groff and even though my wife, Mandy, has been attending LEFC for roughly 10 years, it took me until December of 2022 to finally join her. We have been married since 2012 and have one son named Lane.
I grew up attending church on Saturday nights/Sunday morning and youth group Sunday evenings through High School. After starting college at Virginia Tech, some guys in my hall started telling me about this ministry they attended called CRU. This sounded interesting to me because I was trying to figure out where to connect and grow some friendships, so it sounded like a good place to start. This is where I began to learn about how many people had more of a personal relationship with Jesus and would read actually read the Bible and study what it meant. I attended CRU for a while and even led a Bible study for a period of time until I was playing dodge-ball and met my now wife at the BCM(Baptist Collegiate Ministries). I started attending BCM regularly with their large group meetings on Tuesdays at 6:33pm (Matthew 6:33) and their weekly small group bible studies and felt more connected and developed many close friendships and grew my relationship with Christ.
After college, Mandy and I moved back home to Ephrata, starting our new jobs and life as a married couple. We struggled to connect with any local churches and with me starting to work Sunday mornings in the restaurant business, church and my relationship with Christ took a back seat. I started to turn to alcohol to help numb my mind and deal with the anxiety that I was experiencing and using that to fill the void, bring me joy, and build "friendships" with those around me. In 2018, after we welcomed Lane, I could tell I was spiraling down the wrong path but I wasn't feeling convicted enough to change my drinking, and I started to believe that I couldn't change. My drinking went from something that I didn't want to change to something I didn't think I could change.
February 9th, 2022 I woke up scared and in new territory. I had dumped the rest of my alcohol stash down the drain the night before and finally decided I wanted and needed more. I started to pray some and hope that God would finally help me to kick my habit and help me change my ways. It felt like God had flipped a switch overnight. I started to realize how many people were praying for me, including my wife, and how God had meant so much more for my life and that He wasn't finished with me yet. It still took me a few months to attend our small group again and until December to come to church, but I immediately felt right at home and welcomed. I started reading the Bible again, clinging to Proverbs 16:3, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans." Knowing God is in control and where he has brought me has changed my faith, marriage, and fatherhood, and I'm excited to continue my growth here at LEFC.
Kevin Perigo
My name is Kevin Perigo. I was born in a small town in Western PA and raised in one of the few churches in town. I attended church every Sunday and the holy days of obligation and participated in the sacraments. Most impactful though, was witnessing my Dad spend every day in the Word and apply it to every part of his life. As a believer in Christ at an early age, I thought I was on the right path to be saved. However, I hit a plateau for many years, especially in my early adult years, growing very little in my faith.
In those years, my path was the exact opposite of Romans 12:2, "Do not conform to the pattern of this word, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will." I was selfishly focusing on conforming to my will, focusing on career advancement, comfort, leisure, happiness, and even retirement plans so early in life. My attention, instead, should have been on the Word of God, which could redirect me to His will (good, pleasing, and perfect) with a focus on my eternal destiny.
Then, God placed Erin in my life. Getting married to her and then having kids is when I came off the plateau. With the added responsibility of being a husband and father, my new life in Christ began. I began to dig more into scripture (reading cover to cover which I never did before) and compare the teaching of scripture to the world around me. My new life in Christ (although I fail frequently as a sinner) is now on marriage as one flesh (Genesis 2:24), stop trusting in myself and walk in wisdom (Proverbs 28:26), live by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7), surrounding myself with wise and faithful people, and starting our girls off on the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). My girls, Myla and Maci, have been such a blessing, and I learn from their love for Jesus every day.
C.S. Lewis once wrote, "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." I declare today the need to bury my old ways of self, stop treating Christ as moderately important, and declare my love for Him and all that He has done for me, and begin a new life in Him.
Kathryn Seitz
I live in the Manheim area with my husband, and we are expecting a baby girl this September. I currently work for ELIC, an organization that sends English teachers to the unreached regions of the world. I did not grow up going to church and did not have a personal relationship with Christ. Due to childhood struggles and a lack of Christ in my life, I developed an empty space in my heart that I attempted to fill by seeking value in others, my own image, and other unhealthy habits. In my teens, these habits and relationships began to take over my life. My choices brought on a season of despair and hopelessness. I felt completely alone and lost.
Around age 16, I began to experience a lot of spiritual darkness. Eventually, I reached a point of extreme fear, loneliness, and emptiness, and God worked through a family friend to lead me towards the power of prayer and ultimately Jesus. Despite my weak faith, I found immediate peace from darkness that had been covering my life. While this experience began shaping my faith, I still remained in a place of emptiness. A major turning point for me was attending a friend's youth group. In this place, I found a place of belonging, people who deeply cared for me, and a God who loves at all times. It was evident that God's hand had always been present in my life, pursuing me and lifting me out of my sin.
Since then, it has been a joy to deeply know and experience the Lord and His character. I've learned to cherish the Word of God, abide in His presence, and grow in a passion for evangelism. It has been a theme throughout my life to continue to return to the Lord's truth, presence, and purpose for His people. Over the past few years, I have experienced many extreme transitions and painful losses. When things became very difficult, I came to a crossroad and realized that I had to make a choice to trust - in the Lord's promises through scripture and evidence of God's work in my life. These choices have shaped my faith, allowing me to trust in God's character despite my circumstances. In each season of life, I am continually in awe of God's faithfulness to me. What a blessing it is to serve a faithful Messiah.
After 11 years of following Christ, I am excited to seek baptism as both a proclamation of my faith and act of obedience of God.
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23
Ethan Wittneben
As I look back throughout my life, I can clearly see God's providence, sovereignty, and sufficiency. Early in my life, there were many issues in my family's home, and my parents divorced when I was young. I was old enough to remember the moment, but I was young enough to only know what it is like growing up in a split family. Despite negative aspects of my upbringing, I was still able to gain knowledge of and cultivate a relationship with God out of his mercy and goodness. I knew and believed that which was of first importance: that Christ died for my sins, was buried, and rose again (1 Cor 15:3-4).
Although I became a Christ follower at a young age, I did not fully understand what a relationship with Christ meant, and my perception of God was mostly moralistic. Initially, my understanding was that Jesus's main concern was for us to be better people.
What I was thirteen, my older brother invited me to a Bible camp run through the organization he volunteered for at the time. It was there that I first learned of many Christian realities. It was my first experience with someone's testimony, intentional worship, and true community. I learned that Christianity is not just about doing the right things; Christianity is about living in right relationship with Jesus, becoming more Christlike, and living out our roles in participation with him in his kingdom.
In the time following, I slowly started to get more plugged into different ministries. This was largely due to my former youth pastor, who encouraged me to get involved in the relatively new church I had been attending. As the years progressed, I experienced growth and became more involved in serving through leadership and organization. I gradually developed a passion for ministry and discipleship growth, to live out the commission given to all God's people (Matt 28:18-20).
Eventually, I developed an urge to pursue a vocation in ministry. However, there came a time in high school when I became more pressured by the culture around me. Where I grew up there were two main groups: those who thought one should work in physical labor, and those who thought one must go to school to achieve so-called "Success". Because of this, my plans shifted towards various career paths. During the transition between high school and college, my family went through a deeply impactful family situation, and it was during this intense season that I could no longer cling tightly to my stubbornness.
In the days following, I found an opportunity to attend a Bible school in Colorado. Knowing that I had made a mistake, I immediately dropped out of the engineering school I had been enrolled in and moved to pursue the call to ministry. There was no guarantee that I would remain for the entire year because of my financial situation. However, God provided every opportunity to allow me to finish. After my year in Colorado, I transferred to Lancaster Bible College (LBC). Throughout my college experience, I have had the opportunity to learn, grow, and serve in tremendous ways. Although there remains the constant pressure to act according to my desire and pressures, Christ taught, showed, and continuously reminds me that I ultimately belong to him through him, and that I can trust in and depend on him because he is trustworthy, sovereign, and good.