By Tessa Littlejohn,
Contributing Writer
If you have the pleasure of meeting Elaine and Ray Park on a Sunday night as they greet people entering the church, you will immediately notice their enthusiasm. And if you talk to them for a minute, you’ll hear their excitement and gratitude over the things God has done and is doing in their lives.
It wasn’t always this way. In fact, at one time they were both dead. When Elaine was born, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and she wasn’t breathing, so her Catholic parents had her baptized immediately. When Ray was about a year old, he was accidentally hit on the head with a metal pipe and doctors pronounced him dead. Like Elaine, he too proved the doctors wrong.
Elaine didn’t have a happy childhood. She didn’t feel loved at home, so she left. She says, “I was looking for love in all the wrong places,” she says. “After two failed marriages, I felt sure there could be no forgiveness or salvation for me.”
Ray didn’t have an easy childhood either. With undiagnosed dyslexia, school was torturous for him. Also, his family were strict Jehovah Witnesses, so he couldn’t participate in birthdays, holidays, and singing “O Canada.”
“I felt like an outsider at school,” Ray says, “and I was teased constantly. I left home at around age16 and ended up on the streets. Becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol made life even harder.”
When he was twenty, Ray got married and returned to the temple. Despite having two beautiful girls, his marriage failed, and things really began to get out of control.
“Partying and drinking became a daily routine,” says Ray. “If I had stopped to admit it, my life was pointless.”
In 1987 Ray and Elaine met. “He was exciting and reckless, living the biker lifestyle,” Elaine recalls. “We had many wild and crazy times living totally focused on worldly things. Still something was missing that fast times could not satisfy.”
Eventually the lifestyle began to catch up with Ray’s health. He tried to quit drinking cold turkey and wound up with seizures. Their doctor prescribed medication to deal with the seizures; but unfortunately, due to a dosage error, Ray ended up like a puddle on the floor. Elaine came home from work and found him there.
Emergency doctors were amazed that Ray was still alive, given the amount of drug in his system. Doctors believed he would never fully recover and would have the mental capacity of a twelve-year-old. Again, Ray proved them wrong, although he did suffer some permanent damage.
After this, Ray announced one morning that he needed to deal with his spiritual life and walked out the door. Instead of heading up the hill as per usual, he felt drawn down the hill and found himself at the new Central Campus, which he never knew existed. Ray met Pastor Greg and came to realize that Jesus was the answer.
Elaine was a different story. She could see the amazing changes in Ray’s life and was happy for him but felt certain that she was unforgivable. For seven years she came to church for Christmas, Easter and Ray’s birthday but felt guilt and shame. For seven years Ray prayed daily for her.
One day, quite unexpectedly, Elaine lost her job working for a big oil company downtown. Looking back, she can see that she had many idols, chief among them was her prestigious job. She spent three days crying inconsolably.
Ray, on the other hand, was thrilled about this turn of events. On the third day, Sunday, he asked her to go to church, and she agreed. He prayed hard that Pastor Greg would be there, and he was! After a long chat with Pastor Greg, Elaine gave her heart to
Christ. Now she says, “If I’d have known how much fun it is to be a Christian, I would have done it a long time ago!”
She was like a sponge—volunteering, attending three Bible studies, soaking in all the love of God. She no longer felt ashamed. “Although I’m not necessarily proud of some things in my past,” she says, “they no longer define me. I am a new creation in Jesus!”
Elaine prayed that God would give her a job and surround her with others who love Him. She was quickly embraced by others and within a month was hired by the church.
Around this time Ray was diagnosed as having issues with his gallbladder. Like a good wife, Elaine googled it and put him on a gallbladder diet: apple cider vinegar and lots of roughage. As it turns out, the poor man had an ulcer, and the diet was most certainly not ulcer friendly! The ulcer ruptured, landing Ray back in emergency.
Even in this, God was working all things for the good of these two who loved Him. While doctors were dealing with the ulcer, they discovered Ray had a type of lymphoma which responds very well to chemo if caught in time. If you miss the window of opportunity, however, it is almost certainly fatal. If it hadn’t been for the ulcer, Ray would have missed that window of opportunity. Clearly it was not yet God’s time for him to go.
All during the time Ray was in hospital, both he and Elaine were joyful and at peace. They trusted God with the outcome, knowing His will is best. Many others noticed and were amazed. During that time they had many opportunities to “give an answer for the hope” that they had.
Also at this time, it was discovered Ray had Hepatitis C. Doctors told them about a new, experimental treatment, but it cost $80,000. Totally out of reach!
They didn’t worry. They just started praying and left it in God’s hands. They had discovered He could be trusted. Sure enough, two days later, they found out one of the doctors had recommended them for an assistance program, and the whole cost was covered. Not only that, but the company that shipped the drug to them had a loyalty program, and the amount they received each month was the amount in increased insurance premiums they were now paying.
“God has been so faithful to more than meet all our needs,” Elaine says. “The more He gives, the more humbled I feel that the Creator of the Universe chose me—despite scars, chips and cracks—chose me to love.”
Ray and Elaine have many more examples of God working. As Ray says, “People have suggested I should write a book.”
They now serve with Compassion Ministries, which they now see God was preparing them for all along. It is their passion to walk with the marginalized and through building relationships, introduce people to Jesus.
God is so good. Referencing the poem, “The Master Weaver’s Plan,” Elaine says, “We catch glimpses of all the things God is doing, but I feel that we are looking at the back of the tapestry and the front is more incredibly beautiful than we can possibly imagine!”
"My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me;
I may not choose the colors–
He knows what they should be.
For He can view the pattern
Upon the upper side
While I can see it only
On this, the under side.
Sometimes He weaves in sorrow,
Which seems so strange to me;
But I will trust His judgment
And work on faithfully.
‘Tis He who fills the shuttle,
And He knows what is best;
So I shall weave in earnest,
And leave to Him the rest.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned."
-- Author unknown