Weekly Missions Focus - Week of October 16, 2011

Each week we focus in on updates and prayer for one of our supported missionaries.

This week is: Pastor Jong and Janet Park (The Redemption Church)

Pastor Jong served as an associate pastor at CFC for 11 years before moving to the Chicago suburb of Naperville to plant The Redemption Church (TRC). He and his wife Janet are blessed with four children: Esther, Mordecai, Mark, and Lydia.

Dear CFC,
It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since our family of six moved to Naperville after eleven happy years in Urbana-Champaign. By God’s grace we were able to start The Redemption Church (TRC) shortly after our arrival here. It was (and still is) our conviction to help people in their journey of faith in their post-college years. It’s been exciting to see the people God has been sending our way to grow in this vision. Some people who’ve been coming have been familiar faces from the past—i.e. former CFC members—but some have been people we never could’ve imagined: a recent divorcé in depression, a churchless family struggling to live out their faith, and nearby medical students who showed up by word of mouth. It’s been a joy to see these people transform right before my eyes, from depression to ministry, from churchless Sundays to excitedly coming to worship and serve. These are people we never could’ve reached on our own. Jesus is building His church (Mt. 16:18).

As we move into year two of TRC, we currently have four LIFE groups (small groups), each averaging anywhere from 12-20 people. Our Lord’s Day services have been averaging 45-50 adults and 10 children. In some ways, it feels like the church plant is just starting as we gain traction in our relationships with each other and the Lord. This year, we want to develop our leadership training and discipleship as well as making a concerted effort to continually develop a prayer culture at TRC. Although we have a long way to go, we are confident that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion (Phil 1:6).

Things have been busy on the home front as well. Thankfully, our four children have adjusted well. They still talk about their friends in Champaign. Esther just started junior high, Mordecai is in 4th grade, Mark is in 1st grade, and Lydia is in pre-school. We are very thankful for their positive experience in CFC Sunday School. They look forward to church just as they did down at CFC.

We trust you had a great revival weekend. Please continue to pray for us. More than anything, that’s what we hunger for.

Pastor Jong Park for The Redemption Church

Please pray for:
1. TRC, that we would continue to reach out, grow together, and live missionally in our local context, with a mission-mindedness for the whole world. Please pray that we will live in and connect others to His redemption story.
2. Our LIFE groups in Naperville, Midwestern University (med and pharm schools), Schaumburg, and South Loop. Several people in our groups serve at other churches but have nowhere to be fed and connected to other believers during the week. Please pray discipleship and growth will take place here.
3. Team Park that God would protect, strengthen, and use us. Please pray for our children—their school, friends, and relationship with God, for Janet as she works as a 1st grade teacher, and for me that I would be a servant-leader to the family. We want to be a family full of His love and grace.

The vision of CFC is to train each member of our church to become Christians who will not only remain faithful to God, but who will work and live for His glory. We desire to be a missions-minded church, with a congregation that is actively involved God’s work all over the world. To this end, 50% of all finances are devoted to missions. Listed here are various seminarians, ministries, and missionaries that CFC supports, financially and through prayer.