My name is Akie Hadeed. I’ve been a Christian since 1992. I am the husband of my beautiful wife, Susie. God has given us two precious little girls. I have no greater desire than to see Jesus magnified and glorified in my life, in my family’s life, and throughout the entire world. I love this promise of scripture and I pray daily and long for it to be fulfilled:
“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” (Philippians 2:9-11).
Before I trusted Jesus, I was under a cloud of depression and anxiety. As a child, I just remember not being terribly excited about life and the prospects of the future. Even though I wasn’t acquainted with the Ecclesiastes at that time, the words of the preacher resonated within my soul: Vanity of vanities. All is vanity.
In the 6th grade, my brother, Teddy became a Christian. God used a Gospel tract to bring the Gospel of Jesus to him. From the moment that he shared the Gospel with me, I believed it was true. I just wasn’t ready to embrace it. I wasn’t ready to surrender everything to Jesus. However, after roughly three years, that changed. I prayed often to God that I would love him and truly want to serve him because I love him and not just serve him out of fear. That moment came in the summer going into 10th grade. My heart was changed, and I truly believed the Gospel and wanted to live for Jesus because I loved him.
God has given me a new life through the power of Jesus’ resurrection. I spend at least an hour a day with God in prayer, and every day is exciting. I am learning more of who God is and learning more of how he is using me to glorify his name. Currently, I am working on an effort to cover the entire world in prayer by engaging Christians to rise up and surround their neighborhoods in prayer.
The reason I’m getting baptized is plain and simple: I am getting baptized because I want to honor Jesus’ command to be baptized and encourage others to do the same.
Baptism at Grace
During all worship gatherings on Baptism Weekends, we celebrate the very reason we exist as a church: Christ’s mission to make disciples, baptizing and teaching in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28: 19-20). We share testimonies of how Jesus changes lives now and for eternity. And the best part… we baptize with a joy that’s out of this world!