On Sabbath, October 22, eight year old Jayden Gonzalez was baptized at the Racine Seventh-day Adventist Church. Pastor Jeanmark A’Kessler, who performed the baptism, recalls “Jayden excitedly requested to be baptized. He told me, “I wanted to have what the church family has!”

Pastor A’Kessler reports that they “had a blast” studying the Bible together using the It Is Written, My Place with Jesus study guides. He shared that Jayden said, “I love reading and I love Jesus, so reading the Bible is just the best!”

At his baptism, Jayden read from Psalm 23 and shared the love and care God gives to him, and the relationship he aspires to have with Jesus. As they got down into the baptistry, pastor A’Kessler invited family members who wanted to take pictures to come up to the platform. Jayden’s good friend Sammy, was ecstatic to see his buddy get baptized, and stood beside the baptistry with an ear-to-ear grin. “I want to be baptized too!” Sammy told pastor A’Kessler after the service concluded. He then hugged Jayden, who was standing with the pastor at the sanctuary door, and the pair of eight-year-olds share the brotherly bond of Christ.

 

Jeanmark A’Kessler, pastor of the Racine Church