Only light can defeat darkness

Sebastian Stakset is currently an evangelist, artist, humanitarian, and founder of the aid organization Heart Sweden. He loves Jesus and people more than anything else, and is passionate about helping those who cannot help themselves. He wants to share the gift he has received with those who are suffering.

Raised in Bagarmossen, Stockholm, his childhood was marked by bullying and social exclusion, which meant it didn’t take many years before his life took a destructive turn. This exclusion led him down a path of hatred, alcohol abuse, guns, serious crime, violence, prison sentences, suicide attempts, cocaine, and a soul filled with anxiety. At the same time, he became the frontman of the gangster rap group Kartellen.

Although this struggle between life and death tormented Sebastian for over a decade, one day he was saved. He encountered Jesus and experienced grace and forgiveness for the first time in his life—which changed everything. When all ties to darkness were severed, he stepped into his new life as a free man. Since then, he has served as a role model and helped people who have lived in the same darkness he once did. And this newfound love for life has led him to places ranging from maximum-security prisons to medical supply missions in war-torn Ukraine.

"Nowadays I wake up some days and cry with gratitude for the life I have been given. I look at my sleeping children resting in safety, I see in my wife's eyes that they are completely free of worry, and I see the looks of my mom and dad testifying to the peace they have gained in their lives, thanks to my rescue.

One cannot receive a gift like this, completely undeserved, just by grace, without being filled with an enormous sense of gratitude which in turn generates a desire to do good. A desire to see transformation in many more people's lives than just mine. The Bible says that what you receive as a gift, you should give as a gift, and that is why we are working to spread hope in a country overwhelmed by darkness." 

Sebastian Stakset, Founder of Heart Sweden