Ex-Witch Baptizes 200 on Florida Beach
- Michael Foust Crosswalk Headlines Contributor
- Updated May 07, 2024
More than 200 people were baptized along a scenic Florida beach on Easter Sunday as part of a worship service hosted by a revivalist who once dabbled in the occult before she was freed by Christ.
Jenny Weaver, a revivalist and senior leader of the Core Group mentorship organization, organized and led the service, which featured communion, singing and baptisms under the sunny skies of Clearwater Beach. More than 200 were baptized, according to CBN.
Weaver’s Instagram account is filled with pictures and videos of the event showing hundreds of people gathering in the water and on the beach and pier, as joy-filled individuals -- one by one -- are baptized.
“We’re taking back territory that Satan stole,” she wrote on Instagram.
She described the scene as “something out of the pages of the Bible or a movie.”
“It was so surreal to see this massive crowd gather and mind you they had to walk through a magic show at the entrance of the pier to get to where we were and the people were drawn in by the presence of God to walk away from the magic show and come to the water of baptisms and many watched and cried,” she wrote. “THIS IS A MOVE OF GOD!!!”
Samantha Virella of Esther Awaken Ministry attended the event and said it “changed my family and me.”
“This is just the beginning of what I believe is a revival for the nations,” Virella wrote. “God is renewing us, setting us apart for such a time as this. As we emerge from the waters, we are reminded of the new life and purpose He has for us.”
Before Weaver was a Christian, she was a self-described witch. She was also addicted to drugs and living on the streets, CBN reported.
“You would feel demon spirits literally walking by you like a human being was walking by you,” she told CBN. “Touching you. Scraping the wall. It went from, ‘Oh, this is gonna be really fun,’ into, ‘I'm gonna choke you out until you die. I'm gonna take your life.’ All the time. Constantly tormented."
After she became a Christian, she formed Core Group as a mentorship program for women, although it has since grown to include men and children.
“People are so used to going to church, hearing a sermon, high-fiving their neighbor, walking out, but sometimes there is no real transformation and actual change,” Weaver told CBN. “"In these groups, the women come in and they expect to meet with God.”
The mass baptism service likely will not be the last one, she said.
“Revival is HERE!!!!!” she wrote. “I’m praying about where to do the next one.”
Images credit: Jenny Weaver/Core Group
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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