“Do you know God’s purpose for your life?”
This was the question Pastor Zaid was asked in his 20s that set him on a path he didn’t expect to walk.
“When I was approached with that question, I didn’t have an answer,” Zaid recalled. “That caused me to really fast, pray, seek God, hear his voice, and then to follow in that direction.”
It was in this moment when Zaid felt God first spoke to him about ministry. First he ministered to young people at his home church, then as a youth pastor in Orange County, which ultimately led to his current role, pastor of Philadelphian church in Long Beach.
His calling was confirmed this spring when he was ordained to the gospel ministry at the very church he grew up in and has served as lead pastor in since 2013.
Zaid’s ordination service was full of the love and support the Philadelphian church is known for. Through uplifting music from the Philadelphian praise team and dance group Anointed Feet, moving words from ministry colleagues, it was an afternoon celebrating God’s work in Zaid’s life. Zaid was deeply humbled and took time express gratitude for what God has done and to everyone who has shaped his ministry throughout his life—family, friends, and colleagues.
Zaid shared about an early time in his ministry when he was at church preparing for a Friday night praise program. The sun was shining through the stained-glass window and cast a light in front of the pulpit when he felt God’s presence and realized, “If God could use anybody, He could use me, and I simply would say ‘yes,’” he recalled. “It means the world to me that the ordination could happen in the same spot where I stepped into the light. Whether it’s five years, 13 years, or 37 years, I just want to be used.”
Zaid steps into his calling honored to serve. “God saw in His mercy and His grace to use me,” Zaid added. “I will continue to be that one who will bring God my two fish and my five loaves and ask God, ‘How can you multiply this today?’ Because every time someone is fed and someone is served, I say to myself over and over again, ‘Thank you, God, for using me to transform lives and to push and pull as many as I can into the kingdom.’”