These student testimonies are unedited. I am sharing them just as they wrote them.

Carter Garcia

I was raised in a Christian family by my parents, Stacy and Luis. For many years, my family and I attended Gloria Dei Church, which has always been a very special place to us. My grandparents were married there, my mom was baptized there, and my parents were married there as well. Growing up, we regularly attended church services, celebrated Christmas and Easter together, and I received my First Holy Communion at Gloria Dei.

I was also baptized at Gloria Dei as a baby. My godfather is Uncle Fred, and my godmother is Aunt Jackie. Pastor Brandt baptized me, and according to my parents, I smiled the entire time and never cried once.

Through church, Confirmation classes, Church Camp at Bethel, and reading the Bible, I have learned that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. These experiences have helped strengthen my faith and better understand what it means to live as a Christian.

Jesus Christ is important to me because He guides me to live a good and meaningful life. He reminds me to be kind, helpful, faithful, and caring toward others. I know I can always turn to Him for support, comfort, and guidance during both good and difficult times.

Having faith in Jesus Christ affects my daily life because it gives me someone I can trust completely. I believe He helps guide my decisions and leads me down the right path. Knowing that He is always with me gives me confidence and strength every day.

Confirmation is especially important to me because it represents my personal decision to continue following God and living in faith. When I was baptized as a baby, that decision was made by my parents. Now, through Confirmation, I am choosing for myself to continue growing in my relationship with God and living as a Christian.

My favorite Bible verse is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. I memorized and recited it in front of more than 100 people at my cousin Ava and Mike’s wedding. I love this verse because it beautifully describes the power and meaning of love, especially God’s love.

Love is patient and kind.
Love does not envy or boast.
It is not proud or rude.
It does not insist on its own way.
It is not irritable or resentful.
It does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things,

believes all things,

hopes all things,

endures all things.
Love never ends.

Braydon Garafola

I was raised in a Christian home and taught about God and Jesus from a young age. Faith has always been an important part of my life. I was baptized as a baby, which was important to my family because they wanted me to grow up knowing God and being part of the church. Even though I was raised in a Christian household, my Sunday mornings were not always spent at church. My faith is still important to me. Most Sundays were spent, and continue to be spent at hockey rinks, baseball fields, or volleyball courts. We also spend a lot of Sunday mornings around the same kitchen table my mom sat at when she was a child. My grandpa makes Sunday morning breakfast. Family is one of my biggest values.

I learned that Jesus Christ was my Lord and Savior through my family, prayer and Confirmation classes. As I got older, I started to understand more about who Jesus is and how He helps people through difficult times. I learned that he is with me at all times and I can always turn to Him for guidance, strength, and comfort.

Jesus Christ is important to me because He gives me strength and someone to lean on when life is difficult. I know that I can pray to Him during hard times, but also during good times. I pray for my family, all the people I love, my pets, my sports games, and for each day to be a good day. Knowing Jesus is with me helps me feel supported, safe and grounded.

My faith in Jesus Christ affects my daily life by helping me try to be kind, thoughtful, and respectful to others. It also helps me stay positive and work hard in school and sports. I try to remember that God is with me no matter what happens, and whether I win or lose.

Confirmation is important to me because it allows me to grow stronger in my faith and my relationship with God. I love God and am a supporter of God. It is also important because I am choosing to continue my faith journey for myself. Church is where I reflect on myself and grow stronger. Confirmation helps me better understand what it means to live as a Christian.

One thing I learned in Confirmation that sticks out to me is reading and understanding Scripture. I enjoy learning about the Bible and hearing stories that teach lessons about faith, strength, and helping others. I am able to relate the scripture and bible verses to my own life. It has helped me think more deeply about my relationship with God.

My favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This is my favorite verse because it reminds me that I am never alone and that God gives me strength during challenges. When I am down on myself, I remember this bible verse. I also relate to it through sports because it reminds me to work hard, stay confident, and trust in God.

Ashley Herold

I was raised by Christian parents and they raised me using their spiritual support system. We attended religious services weekly and consisted of going to religious instruction on Wednesdays at St Elizabeth.  I also learned to say my prayers at night. I was baptized in a small church in Glendale, Queens named Sacred Heart.  My godparents are my aunt and uncle.

I learned about our Savior Jesus Christ at religious instruction. In grade school I learned how he died for us and that part made me want to learn more about his life.  The belief hit harder around 5-6th grade when more hardships came. I realized faith in him was nice and good to have, and it made me feel safe.

Jesus is important to all of us because of how he cares for us unconditionally.  He is important to me because I knew he would always be there. I also knew I could always talk to him and he would be supporting us in prayer, all the time. I need Jesus in my life as one of the ways to maintain balance and health.

Jesus affects my daily life positively. I know he is always with me and watching me, no matter what. I know he always loves me and he helps me feel supported, even when it feels like nobody is there and around for me.

Confirmation is important because it is a part of being a Christian’s journey. I want to finish my Christian journey and complete what I have to. This includes confirmation, to be confirmed.

Confirmation helps strengthen a person’s faith. This sticks out to me because I know I want to do exactly that—keep faith. As I have said, I want to continue even after being confirmed, and want to be confirmed to continue my Christian journey.

My favorite verse is one of the verses we have done, John 14:6. It reads, “I am the way and the truth and the life”. This is important to me because as much as it is a fairly popular one, it holds significance in how Jesus is the truth.

Dominick Lipari

I was raised by Christian parents. I grew up learning about God and Jesus my whole life starting from when I was baptized as a baby.  I heard Bible stories growing up, went to religion classes, and also made my communion in the 2nd grade.  Church, faith, and family values are a huge part of my life because my parents taught me the importance of all of these.

I learned that Jesus Christ was my Lord and Savior through Church, prayer, the Bible, and from my parents.  From listening in church and reading the Bible I have learned just how much Jesus sacrificed for all of us.  He died for all of our sins which gives us hope and forgiveness.

Jesus Christ is important to me because he reminds me that I am never alone.  I can always find hope, strength, and courage when I pray to Him.  It is because of Him that I have learned to believe in myself and in the things that I do.

My faith in Jesus Christ affects my daily life by teaching me to always help people and put others before myself.  It also helps me to be an honest, respectful, and compassionate person. Praying also helps me to calm down when I am stressed out and need help or guidance.

Confirmation is important to me because it has helped to make my relationship with God stronger.  It has helped me to learn about the things that God and Jesus have done for us.  I have also learned more about the Church and what it means to be a Christian.

One thing I learned from Confirmation that sticks out to me is how Jesus rose from the dead after he sacrificed his life for our sins.  Another thing that I learned is that God is with me no matter what especially during the difficult times he is right by my side.

My favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13– “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

This Bible verse has taught me that I am never alone and I just have to believe that God is always with me.  It also makes me want to keep trying even when things are difficult in my life.

Caleb Meis

Christian parents raised me.  I was baptized on June 2, two years ago at Bethel by Pastor Fred.  I spent my Sundays at the church, especially because my Dad played in the band.

I learned that Jesus Christ was my Lord and Savior through Confirmation.  I learned that by going over it in the Bible.  I also learned that Jesus Christ was my Lord and Savior through His death and resurrection.

Jesus Christ is important to me because he has taught be how to push through hard times in my life.  I need in my life because he has taught me to forgive, love, teach, and accept.  One other way that I need Jesus is to show me that nobody is perfect and that we show be treated and treat others with respect.

May faith in Jesus affects my daily life because he has shown me how to go the right way when there are two different paths.  My faith in Jesus also affect my life by teaching me how to handle the not nice people who want to annoy me.  And, the last affect of Jesus in my daily life is to remind me that faith isn’t also perfect but it is His forgiveness that matters.

Confirmation is important because it is something that I can do on my own and can’t be told what to think or do.  I can have my own thoughts and realizations.  One other thing that makes Confirmation important to me is that I can have questions and have them answered.

One things that sticks out to me in Confirmation is that you always have a choice to choose the good side.  One more important thing is that you can always have grace.  You can have grace with siblings, teammates, classmates, teachers, family, neighbors, and more.

My favorite Bible verse is Proverbs 3.5-6.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

  and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

  and he will make straight your paths.

This is my favorite verse because it teaches me how to go through hard times.  One more thing about this verse is that it tells me that there is always a right choice, no matter what, and God is trying to guide you to the right path.