And the video has now gone viral.
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Jenis Grindstaff has lived his life to the full, including a career in the Navy as well as spending many years as an air traffic controller. However, as the octogenarian shared with WLTX 19, although during his lifetime he has always loved Jesus and read the Bible often, he had never been baptized. It was something he’d never got around to.
Grindstaff is receiving hospice care in his son Craig’s home in South Carolina, and wanted to demonstrate what was really important to him in his life: “He wanted to show he believed more than anything else,” explained his other son, Jim.
Grindstaff was determined that he wanted his baptism to be one of immersion, necessitating the help and support of Spartanburg Regional Hospice Home who are providing him with the out-patient care as he struggles with cancer. The hospice determined that the only way Grindstaff could be granted his dying wish was for him to be transported to the hospice and be baptized in their 60-gallon tub. To ensure the baptism could go ahead, the hospice used their special needs funds to transport Grindstaff to his baptism.
With the help of the chaplain, Terrell Jones, Grindstaff was finally baptized after so many decades of loving Jesus. He proclaimed straight away: “That felt good,” while onlookers clapped, as reported by Jessica Mouser in Church Leaders.
During his final moments on earth, the newly-baptized Grindstaff wants to spend the rest of his time drawing images of what he believes heaven looks like. His baptism is a moment for him to reach out to others: “If I reach one person, it’s a great deal.”
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