By Shaunda Bernhart

Hi, my name is Shaunda Bernhardt, and I am very proud and honored to say that myself and our 2 daughters, Caitlynn and Olivia, got baptized in 2023! Our eldest daughter Caitlynn got baptized on March 12, and Olivia and I got baptized on July 13. All 3 experiences were absolutely amazing, extremely proud, and emotional moments for all of us.

I feel very blessed that our family found Mount Carmel. I grew up in the Catholic church. When Greg and I started dating, I started attending church with him and his family. Greg was baptized as a preteen, and was baptized at his church’s youth summer camp. Greg and I had numerous discussions about me being baptized, and so I started praying for guidance. Fast forward to January 2020, we decided to try Mount Carmel Christian Church. It felt like family as soon as we walked through the doors, the welcoming arms of many members made us feel like we truly mattered, and decided this would be our new church. We went from having 2 shy little girls who never wanted to leave our side, to 2 girls who were over the moon with excitement to go to church. Covid-19 soon hit, and the shutdowns occurred. Although we were not able to attend “in-person services”, the girls were still so excited to “attend” church online. The girls even still had all 4 of us dressed in our Sunday best to watch online. Mount Carmel did amazing through it all, and we all eagerly awaited going back to church in person. As we all worked through the pandemic, their love of the church grew stronger by the day, thanks to the amazing outreach of the church, especially Lisa Davis.

We started discussing baptism with Caitlynn in 2022 and continued praying for guidance. Caitlynn became more active with 45 Connect and ultimately made the decision that she wanted to be baptized. Both of the girls took the baptism class and soon after Caitlynn decided that she wanted to give her life to Christ. We have never been more proud of her decision. In July of this year, Greg and I volunteered for the Woodland Lakes Camp, as cabin leaders. It was one of the most memorable decisions of our lives. Working through the week with the kids, for me, was profoundly emotional and amazing. Watching the kids transform and learn about the Bible and the Lord was such a great blessing. Olivia was able to attend as a staff child, and we are so glad that she was able to. Watching her grow in her faith and love of the Lord and her peers was the most amazing and rewarding experience. She had been talking before camp about wanting to be baptized, but experiencing camp really pushed her into wanting to give her life to Christ as well. Camp was an equally momentous experience for me as well. Watching, learning, and experiencing the full grace of God was very emotional and life-altering. I too made the decision to get baptized at camp. The decisions that were made by all 3 of us, make us all very proud to be completely devoted to God and all of his glory.