AX Christian Scuba Diving
~ Our Story of Faith ~

Aquatic Xtremes was founded in 2003 by two friends who wanted to put our own thoughts, words, and designs on a few Scuba Diving shirts. We didn't know what the future held for us or the company, but we were driven to make something work. But this was just the beginning, Chapter 1, the Genesis, if you will! Along the road there were a few major set backs and hardships in the lives of both of us as owners. Within the first year of AX's existance, Rick's grandfather went from a nimble, free spirited old man to an amputee due to his diabetes while Tony watched his father loose his fight with Lukemia. Aquatic Xtremes took a back seat for a long while so we could recollect ourselves and our company. When we attempted to get back together to rebuild AX, we realized it was missing something. Something big that we didn't have before.

By 2007 I was looking into what exactly that 'something' was. And what I found was something I should have seen from the start of it all, the Lord! AX was destined for more, much more. But it couldn't get there without Him. So I moved forward, incorporating the Lord into my thoughts and designs, but more importantly, I prayerfully included Him into the every day workings of the business. As I moved forward with developing the new AX I knew the target audience had changed drastically, but what I learned through some extensive marketing research was both discouraging and disheartening. There wasn't a large market for Christian Scuba Diving T Shirts at all on the internet or in free standing buildings that I could find. So, I went to the Lord in prayer, asking Him for guidance. After all, how do I maintain a business with no group to market it to?

As always, He showed me the path that I needed to take AX as a company. At first the path was cloudy and vague as to what He was showing me, but in all His greatness, He cleared the way. The most memorable moment the Lord showed me all of His glory was done while I was researching on Scubaboard.com to read the thoughts of other Scuba Divers on Christian Scuba Diving. I ran into a post where another Scuba diver was inquiring the thoughts of the other divers on the issue of Creationism vs. Evolution. It was (and still is) my personal belief that this diver was searching for guidance and wisdom with this burden laid on his heart and he desparatly felt the desire to be led to the Lord. Instead, what he ended up with was a posting that spanned over 2 years and 1000's upon 1000's of comments from a diverse group of divers. The most unfortunate thing about all of this is that only a small percentage of the posts on the board were positive. The largest percentage of them spoke of earlthy beliefs and anti-God messages. But the one that spoke to me the most and led me to where I needed to be spiritually was the post that stated ever so simply, "god has no place on this board or in Scuba Diving". Was I really reading this? Had I put this much time and effort into re-creating a business all in vein? My human instinct was to immediatly give up this idea of running a Christian Scuba Diving T Shirt business if there is no profit in it. But the Lord truly had a hold of this situation and had something else in mind. I was meant to see that post. And I was meant to feel weak and beaten down. Because in my weakness, he shows Himself as the all powerfull and mighty God that He is.

What I learned over the next few days of prayer was that Aquatic Xtremes was no longer a business solely for profit, but instead a ministry to our Lord and Savior. He showed me loud and clear that it isn't about the money we make here on earth, even if it is in His name, but instead it's about the lives we touch and win over for the Kingdom of God. Each Aquatic Xtremes Christain Scuba Diving Shirt that is worn on a dive boat, to a dive club meeting, or anywhere in public, is witnessing to a group of people who desparately need Jesus Christ in their lives. We no longer market to Christian Scuba Divers, but instead to the lost divers that dive along side of them. My prayer for you is that you don't think of our merchandise as a 'shirt' or 'key chain', but rather as an instrument and tool used in spreading the Word of God.

From us here at Aquatic Xtremes, Thank You!

And may God Bless your every breath.