Getting to know…The Park Kids

Micah, Hannah, and Jacob Park have literally grown up before the eyes of long time members of the Community Church of the Santa Ynez Valley. All three were prayed for by their Community Church family throughout their mother’s pregnancy with them, their baby dedication ceremonies, through surgeries, and through difficult and painful years when their faith and their mother’s faith was tested and stretched.

As their mother will say, nothing is perfect, and yet she has so much to be thankful for. God has had His kind eye set closely on the Park kids and He has been faithful to protect and guide, prepare and provide for these three all these years.

Micah is 16 years old and is a sophomore at Providence Hall High School in Santa Barbara. He loves his job working at Manny’s Restaurant on the weekends and is active on the debate team, in student council, serves the homeless men and women of Santa Barbara through the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission, and he starts on his school’s basketball team. For fun, Micah plays guitar, runs, and surfs.

Micah received Christ as his Savior at age 7, yet he feels he began to understand what salvation means in 8^th grade and is continuing to learn more and more. He has developed more of a Berean mind and a yearning to learn more about the nature of Christ firsthand.

Micah is learning a lot about Calvinist theology this year, about his faith and what it means to love Jesus. This year, he has really felt a bent towards evangelism and is patiently awaiting God’s call while attempting to take advantage of any opportunities He offers in the meantime. Micah’s desire is to study medicine in order to enter the mission field better equipped to be used by God.

Micah’s family would request prayer on his behalf as he prepares for another leg lengthening surgery this spring.

Hannah is the second born, the only girl in the family, and the quieter one between two vocal brothers! She is a freshman at Providence Hall High School and can usually be found on the basketball or volleyball courts. She is running track this spring for the first time and is quite an athlete according to her coaches. For fun, Hannah likes to read, longboard, surf, and help her mother with the cooking.

Hannah began to think about what her early childhood confession of Christ as Savior meant when she was at Hume Lake in 6^th grade. The instructor taught about the character of Christ and how much He loved her and it drew Hannah nearer to her Savior.

Hannah feels that God has blessed her with the opportunity to go to her school because it is strict and helps her to stay on the right path, and with a family and friends who don’t lead her astray. Hannah became interested in the field of law when she viewed court proceedings early this year, and loves zoology and the wonder of creation that can be found in the variety and beauty and uniqueness of animals. Her favorite verse is Prov. 31:30 "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."

Jacob is the youngest of the three Park children. He is a 7^th grader at the Santa Ynez Valley Christian Academy and is having a wonderful year of growth in Christ and learning that God made him to be an individual, not to blend with the crowd, and that God gifted him uniquely for the purpose that He has prepared for him.

Jacob likes reading and playing video games, designing websites, and writing songs, poems, and stories. He has made some new friends at school and is thankful for their faithfulness in holding him accountable whenever he fails. Jacob quotes Paul: If you think you’re standing firm, be careful that you do not fall.

Jacob became a Christian at age 9 when praying the salvation prayer with his mom at home. He says that he did not know at the time, however, that salvation was more than just praying the prayer. In 6^th grade, he began to understand what it means to be a Christian and that "Faith without works is dead." Jacob says that if he just has faith and doesn’t follow what the Bible says, his faith doesn’t account for much. God is teaching Jacob that he should not fear man, that we were created for a continuing love relationship with God, and that "jumping on the bandwagon" Christianity is not pleasing to God.

When he grows up, Jacob would like to be a journalist and would like to review computer software and video games in a magazine like PC World.

Written by Anjie Park