17 Dec 2025, 14:16Ps Weiers Coetser; edited by SM CommunicationsAberdeen, Aberdeen City, Scotland, United Kingdom
Aberdeen Church Celebrates Seven Baptisms
Honouring journeys of faith from different backgrounds, the Sabbath service on 13 December at Aberdeen Seventh-day Adventist Church brought shared joy as seven people were baptised before a gathered and online congregation.
Sabbath, 13 December, was a day of remarkable stories and shared joy at Aberdeen Seventh-day Adventist Church, as seven people were baptised. The congregation gathered both in person and online to witness powerful testimonies of how God has been at work in the lives of individuals and families who have found a spiritual home in Aberdeen.
Moving Testimonies by the Candidates
At the heart of the morning service were three testimonies tracing very different paths to the same Saviour. Farid, from the Middle East, shared through a translator how the death of his father from leukaemia left deep questions in his heart about God, suffering, and hope. As he sought answers, he began to explore Christianity and discovered in Jesus a God who meets human pain with compassion and offers assurance of eternal life. By the time Farid arrived in Aberdeen in October this year as an asylum seeker, a group of Persian-speaking Seventh-day Adventist Christians had already guided him through almost all his Bible studies, and they were watching the baptism service online as he took this public step of commitment.
Emily's story began much closer to the church building, but also during a time of personal crisis. Walking on the beach during a difficult season in her life, she encountered a member of the Aberdeen church who offered a listening ear and an invitation to worship. That simple gesture led her to attend services regularly and to begin exploring faith more intentionally. For Emily, baptism marked not only a new chapter in her relationship with God but also a deep sense of belonging within a caring church family.
The final testimony was given by Naila, speaking on behalf of her whole family, five of whom were baptised together. Originally from Mozambique, the parents in the family came from Muslim and Catholic backgrounds, but over time they became increasingly aware that something was missing spiritually and began searching for deeper meaning and direction. A relative in Mozambique encouraged them to look for the Seventh-day Adventist Church when they moved to Aberdeen, assuring them that the church would "take care of them." Since walking through the doors, they have experienced precisely that kind of care.
A Call to Wrestle and Surrender
These testimonies set the tone for a service that combined honest struggle with joyful surrender. During the main worship service, guest speaker Christopher "Chris" Khuoge, an elder from Southend-on-Sea Seventh-day Adventist Church, preached a message centred on Jacob's night-long wrestling with God in Genesis 32. Reflecting on Jacob's new name, Israel, often understood as "one who struggles with God," Khuoge spoke passionately about the kind of battles that truly matter: the moments when people bring their failures, pain, and past decisions before God and recognise that they cannot win the fight alone.
Khuoge invited the congregation to see these inner battles not as signs of God's absence, but as opportunities for transformation when they end in surrender to God's power and grace. Just as Jacob limped away from the encounter with a new name and a new future, so the speaker encouraged worshippers to allow God to give them a new identity and a fresh start.
Following the sermon, Pastor Coetser led the baptismal service, guiding each candidate into the water as the congregation celebrated in song and joyful anticipation. The significance of the moment was written clearly on the faces of candidates and church members alike: this was a defining moment in each candidate's life, a public declaration of trust in Jesus and a desire to walk with Him within the fellowship of the church. At the close of the service, the newly baptised were welcomed with warm applause, hugs, and small gifts, and the church expressed a shared hope that more young people and families would soon choose to make the same commitment.
Honouring journeys of faith from different backgrounds, the Sabbath service on 13 December at Aberdeen Seventh-day Adventist Church brought shared joy as seven people were baptised before a gathered and online congregation.
Sabbath, 13 December, was a day of remarkable stories and shared joy at Aberdeen Seventh-day Adventist Church, as seven people were baptised. The congregation gathered both in person and online to witness powerful testimonies of how God has been at work in the lives of individuals and families who have found a spiritual home in Aberdeen.
Moving Testimonies by the Candidates
At the heart of the morning service were three testimonies tracing very different paths to the same Saviour. Farid, from the Middle East, shared through a translator how the death of his father from leukaemia left deep questions in his heart about God, suffering, and hope. As he sought answers, he began to explore Christianity and discovered in Jesus a God who meets human pain with compassion and offers assurance of eternal life. By the time Farid arrived in Aberdeen in October this year as an asylum seeker, a group of Persian-speaking Seventh-day Adventist Christians had already guided him through almost all his Bible studies, and they were watching the baptism service online as he took this public step of commitment.
Emily's story began much closer to the church building, but also during a time of personal crisis. Walking on the beach during a difficult season in her life, she encountered a member of the Aberdeen church who offered a listening ear and an invitation to worship. That simple gesture led her to attend services regularly and to begin exploring faith more intentionally. For Emily, baptism marked not only a new chapter in her relationship with God but also a deep sense of belonging within a caring church family.
The final testimony was given by Naila, speaking on behalf of her whole family, five of whom were baptised together. Originally from Mozambique, the parents in the family came from Muslim and Catholic backgrounds, but over time they became increasingly aware that something was missing spiritually and began searching for deeper meaning and direction. A relative in Mozambique encouraged them to look for the Seventh-day Adventist Church when they moved to Aberdeen, assuring them that the church would "take care of them." Since walking through the doors, they have experienced precisely that kind of care.
A Call to Wrestle and Surrender
These testimonies set the tone for a service that combined honest struggle with joyful surrender. During the main worship service, guest speaker Christopher "Chris" Khuoge, an elder from Southend-on-Sea Seventh-day Adventist Church, preached a message centred on Jacob's night-long wrestling with God in Genesis 32. Reflecting on Jacob's new name, Israel, often understood as "one who struggles with God," Khuoge spoke passionately about the kind of battles that truly matter: the moments when people bring their failures, pain, and past decisions before God and recognise that they cannot win the fight alone.
Khuoge invited the congregation to see these inner battles not as signs of God's absence, but as opportunities for transformation when they end in surrender to God's power and grace. Just as Jacob limped away from the encounter with a new name and a new future, so the speaker encouraged worshippers to allow God to give them a new identity and a fresh start.
Following the sermon, Pastor Coetser led the baptismal service, guiding each candidate into the water as the congregation celebrated in song and joyful anticipation. The significance of the moment was written clearly on the faces of candidates and church members alike: this was a defining moment in each candidate's life, a public declaration of trust in Jesus and a desire to walk with Him within the fellowship of the church. At the close of the service, the newly baptised were welcomed with warm applause, hugs, and small gifts, and the church expressed a shared hope that more young people and families would soon choose to make the same commitment.
