John C Park

John C. Park is an Associate Professor of Science Education in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at North Carolina State University. His research includes investigations of student interactions with instructional technology while exploring topics in science.

Before coming to N.C. State in 1985, John was a high school science teacher at Ridgement High School in Ridgeway, Ohio. John and his wife, Lory, have three children: Katie, Nate, and Sarah. They are members of Triangle Community Church in Apex NC.

Personal Story

Born for a Purpose

My father and mother were sharecroppers, working a small grain and animal farm in west-central Ohio. After their fifth child was born in 1953, my mother began to have some physical problems.

At age 32, she went into surgery and had her two ovaries removed. In early 1955, she began to have additional physical problems. The doctors determined that she had a growth, and they were concerned that it was a tumor.

Wisdom In Waiting

Unsure of what the exact problem was, the family doctor, Doc Thompson, thought that my mother should wait to see if there was any change in the growth before contemplating surgical removal. There was a dramatic change in the growth, and in September of 1955, I was born. My parents decided that my middle name would be Charles, after the good doctor who showed wisdom in waiting. Since the early days, I knew that I was born for a purpose.

Farming was what my father knew best, and he had either worked on a farm or been a sharecropper since he married mother in 1940. He had no land of his own, and had a difficult time making ends meet. He was involved in agriculture groups, was a member of the local school board, and was a member in a small church.

Mom and Dad were godly people, and since they were involved in our country church, my one brother, four sisters, and I also participated. Mom and Dad made sure that we all knew the major stories of the Bible, specifically stories about God and Jesus. Even when doing chores, or running errands, Mom would talk to me about God and His importance. Being the youngest child, Mom and I spent a lot of time together doing farm work while the other children attended school. And she continued to teach me.

Being involved in church for a long time meant that we grew up with other children in the church and established strong friendships. Our closest friends were those not at our school, but at our church. For me, church attendance became a time for social events, a time to see my friends.

It Began To Fade

Then the idea that I was born for a purpose began to fade. I was hearing the same old stories at church, and I was good at acting like I was focused and interested, but my mind was on other things. My interests began to change –  being directed towards events at school, such as music, sports, and of course other students.

On a Sunday in the spring of 1969, I went to church as was my common practice. But something was not right inside of me. I knew that my own interests were controlling my actions. I was becoming quite selfish. I was not heading towards God with this attitude, but I was ignoring Him, as if He did not exist. I was doing the mantra of the late 1960s, doing my own thing. But my own thing was leaving a gap inside that could not be filled.

I began to realize that there was more to life than my own desires. As the church service began, I could not wait for the minister to stop talking –  because I needed to talk to someone about living for God instead of myself. I needed to have all of my selfish wrongdoings forgiven and removed. I prayed for God’s forgiveness and I dedicated myself to live for Christ.

My life did not have any of the dramatic, outward changes that most people could notice. I was still involved in music, drama, and sports in school. I still enjoyed being with my friends. But the way my time was spent changed.

Forgiveness, But…

I became interested in how to apply the Bible to my life. I became more involved in various ministries at the church. I was open about my faith to my friends at school. God was renewing my heart and mind. I learned that God honors sincere prayers for forgiveness whenever I would “mess up.” I also learned that although God forgives my mistakes, there are always consequences of my selfish actions.

Since that time, God has done some amazing things in my life. He put me in a college in another state where He matured my faith. He brought me back to my home county where I married a girl who grew up seven miles from where I grew up. He placed me in a teaching position at a small high school for my own learning. He gave me three children, again for my own learning.

He put me in graduate school for a reason then unknown to me. He used these credentials to move me to a university in another state, and to establish a new community of friends. From that community, he sent me to India to teach about His church. He sent me to another community where I discovered that I really WAS born for a purpose.

Never Too Late

But this purpose was not a purpose that was unique to me, unique in the way that I was born. My mother was the special one. It seems that she has more organs than the average human. A surgery in her later adult life revealed that she had a very small third ovary that produced an egg in 1955.

So my purpose is the same as any other person’s purpose: To love and worship God, to love and fellowship with others, to become more like Christ by being a disciple, to minister to others within the church, and to tell others that it is never too late to be forgiven.