Lovie Algarin was baptized into the Gladstone Seventh-day Adventist Church on Nov. 6, 2021 after years of struggling with her spiritual life and breast cancer.
Algarin was raised in an Adventist household and grew up attending church with her grandmother. However, as Algarin got older, she grew less interested in God and stopped attending church on her own.
During occasional visits to her parents’ home, Algarin would attend church with her parents, only wanting to make them happy. Her mother always lovingly encouraged Algarin to strengthen her relationship with God and accept Him as her personal Savior. Algarin, however, said she wasn’t interested in making their religion her own.
In 2015, Algarin was diagnosed with breast cancer. With uncertainty of the future, Algarin moved to Venice, Florida with her parents. There, Algarin started to reconsider her position on religion and began attending church for herself. Each time she went, Algarin said she felt the words of the Holy Spirit telling her to let go of her troubles. Algarin later became cancer free.
However, in 2020 she was diagnosed once again, this time with stage four metastatic breast cancer. It was then that Algarin listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit and surrendered her troubles to Him.
Fainer Benjamin, pastor for the Gladstone Church, studied the Bible with Algarin for almost a year. During these studies, Algarin decided to be baptized.
When Algarin was baptized, church members were happy to support her decision to make a lifelong commitment with God. Algarin said she is now fully committed and devoted to God for the rest of her life.
— Written by Blen Mengistu, communication director for the Gladstone Church
