Meet the Voices of Micronesia #9 - Jake James

I was told today that some of the churches that support Pacific Islands University are printing out these profiles of our VoM Team from this blog and putting them on the church bulletin board so that the church can pray for these students individually. This is a tremendous encouragement to us. We can tell that many prayers are being siad for is as we see God working in mighty ways in and for the team. We are thankful that we have raised about 75% of the needed $40,000 for the trip. We still need prayers that vans will be provided to move us around on the Mainland but we are confident that God will continue to supply. Thank you and let me introduce you to another member of the team...

Jake James
  Home: Uman, Chuuk Federated States of Micronesia 
  Age: 19 years old, Jake is a 2nd year student in the Associate of Arts in Biblical Studies Program and is the main keyboard player for the team.

Jake was born in Portland, Oregon and lived there with his grandparents until his high school years. At the time he thought that his grandparents were actually his parents, and he says, "They taught me everything!" His favorite thing to do as a young boy was to play basketball. He was the only 6th grader on his 8th grade team, but his grandparents would not let him stay out after 7 PM. So he had to sneak out of the house to practice. That year his team made it all the way to the league semifinals, but he had to miss the final games to attend a funeral. When it was time to go to high school, Jake moved to Chuuk to live with his parents and go to Xavier High School, and he graduated from Saramen Academy. 

Jake's grandfather was the senior pastor of his church in Portland and, every time the doors of his grandfather's church were open, Jake had to be there, whether he wanted to or not. But when he moved to Chuuk he was not required to go to church and did not for some time. But he remembered his grandfather's words, "wherever God is now, go seek him." These words led Jake to apply to Pacific Islands University and he has found that the devotions, chapel, fellow students and staff have helped him to come closer to Christ. At PIU he has learned to see God provide and says "I want to show people what God is doing inside me and give people a picture of Christ and how he is working in my life."


Jake wants to continue his studies after he completes his AA but he is still trying to figure out his future plans and he asks that you pray for him as he seeks direction for his life.