Why Drive Thousands of Miles for Two People?
- Matt & Ruthie Staley
- Aug 15
- 6 min read
From Texas to Montreal, Quebec—because two people were ready to follow Jesus
“Why would you drive all that way just for two people?”
It was a fair question—and one we heard more than once.
Our journey had already taken us from Texas all the way to Saskatchewan, Canada, where we had gone to help with a conference. From there, we traveled partly through the United States before crossing back into Canada and continuing east toward Ontario, Montreal, and Quebec.
Why go so far?
Two people wanted to be baptized.
They weren't strangers we had just met. This couple had been joining us through Zoom for more than a year. Across all those miles, we had been able to teach, minister, and build a relationship with them.
Now they were asking to be baptized.
So we went.
Jesus said:
«“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?”
— Luke 15:4 KJV»
Sometimes we look at numbers.
Jesus showed us the value of one.
Arriving in Montreal
We were in Montreal, Quebec, from August 6–12, 2026.
Montreal was an interesting place for us to visit. French is everywhere, though we also found English alongside it in many places. The city is filled with beautiful older architecture and has a character very different from many of the places we had traveled through.
But sightseeing wasn't why we had come.
The couple welcomed us into their home and allowed us to stay with them.
After more than a year of seeing each other through a screen, we were finally together in person.
There was also something special about the people God had connected us with there. All four people who would eventually be baptized were originally from Mexico, and they know ASL (American Sign Language), LSM (Mexican Sign Language), and LSQ (Quebec Sign Language).
For Signs of the Kingdom, with our heart for reaching Deaf people through sign language, it was beautiful to see people whose lives crossed different countries, cultures, and sign languages gathered together in one home.
We had traveled a long way to reach two people.
Before the week was over, there would be four.
This Was About More Than Getting Wet
Before baptizing the first couple, we spent time ministering to them and teaching.
We wanted them to understand that baptism wasn't simply a religious ceremony or something to check off a list.
We talked about repentance, a changed life, and entering into covenant with God.
Following Jesus means more than adding Jesus to the life we were already living. He calls us to turn from the old life and follow Him.
Jesus said:
«“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
— Matthew 16:24 KJV»
The couple understood what they were doing. They repented and made the decision to follow the Lord.
Now there was another question:
Where were we going to baptize them?
When a Bathtub Becomes the Baptistry
We would have loved to baptize them outdoors in a river or lake, but we couldn't find a nearby place where it could be done safely.
There was another important consideration.
The husband cannot walk without using a walker or wheelchair. Getting him safely into a river or lake would have been difficult.
The best solution was already inside their home:
the bathtub.
It wasn't the setting we might normally picture for a baptism, but what mattered was their decision to obey Jesus.
There in their home, after more than a year of meeting together online, they were baptized in water.
Afterward, we prayed with them to receive the Holy Ghost.
We weren't trying to manufacture an experience. We simply prayed and trusted God.
They experienced the presence of God as they received the Holy Spirit.
One moment especially stood out.
The wife began speaking in tongues for the first time.
It was beautiful to witness.
More than a year of Zoom meetings had led to this moment in a home in Montreal.
But the story wasn't finished.
The Next Day, Two More People Came
The following day, the newly baptized couple invited another couple to their home.
We shared the Gospel with them.
We spent time together teaching and explaining what it means to turn from the old life and follow Jesus.
We had traveled to Montreal because two people wanted to be baptized.
But now two more people were hearing the Gospel.
Later that day, both of them decided to turn their lives to the Lord.
Suddenly the trip that people had questioned because we were traveling so far “just for two people” wasn't about only two people anymore.
Now another couple wanted to be baptized.
Two Became Four
Once again, the bathtub became the baptistry.
The second couple repented and was baptized in water.
Afterward, we prayed with them to receive the Holy Ghost, and they also experienced the presence of God as they received the Holy Spirit.
There was no church building.
No platform.
No large crowd.
Just people gathered together in a home, hearing the Gospel and responding to Jesus.
Sometimes ministry happens in front of many people.
Sometimes it happens around a television in someone's living room.
And sometimes the baptistry is a bathtub.
What matters is not the size of the building or the size of the crowd.
What matters is people responding to Jesus.
Was It Worth Driving That Far?
That question looks very different to us now.
We traveled to Montreal because two people who had been with us online for more than a year wanted to obey Jesus and be baptized.
That alone was enough reason to go.
But after arriving, two became four.
Four people repented.
Four people were baptized in water.
And we prayed with them as they received the Holy Ghost.
We didn't know when we began driving what would happen in Montreal.
We only knew there were two people asking us to come.
And once again, we were reminded that Jesus does not measure the value of a person by the size of the crowd surrounding them.
One person matters.
Two people matter.
And obedience to Jesus is worth the journey.
From Mexico to Quebec—and Three Sign Languages
There is another part of this story that continues to stay with us.
All four are originally from Mexico, and they know ASL, LSM, and LSQ.
American Sign Language.
Mexican Sign Language.
Quebec Sign Language.
Their lives have already crossed countries, cultures, and languages.
As a ministry with a particular desire to reach Deaf communities, we cannot help but see the opportunity before them.
We don't know exactly what God will do through their lives, and we don't want to get ahead of Him. But we can pray.
We can pray that as they continue growing in Christ, their lives and testimonies will point other people to Jesus—including Deaf people around them.
The people we traveled so far to reach may now have opportunities to reach people we have never met.
That is why discipleship matters.
Please Pray for Montreal
Leaving Montreal doesn't mean the work is finished.
In many ways, this is where the work begins.
Please pray for these four believers—that they will continue following Jesus, growing in His Word, walking in obedience, and learning to live by the Holy Ghost.
Pray that what God began in their lives will continue.
Pray for their families and friends.
Pray for the Deaf community around them.
And pray that the Gospel will continue spreading from person to person.
Thank you to everyone who prays for us, follows these ministry updates, shares them with others, and helps make these trips possible.
If you would like to support Signs of the Kingdom, your support helps us continue going where doors open—preaching the Gospel and the Kingdom of God, making disciples, praying for the sick, ministering deliverance, baptizing believers, and reaching Deaf communities through sign language.
Sometimes that means going to a conference.
Sometimes it means crossing borders.
Sometimes it means gathering in someone's living room.
And sometimes it means driving thousands of miles because two people said, “We want to be baptized.”
We went for two.
Before we left, there were four.
And those two would have been worth going for even if there had never been four.
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