greetings from little rock, arkansas, my name is zach parish and i just recently turned 29. every day that passes i become more and more excited about this trip. anyways, i grew up in the dallas, texas area in what i would consider to be a non- christian home. the real spiritual leader of our family was my grandmother on my dad’s side. growing up with a healthy knowledge of Christ was so important to my grandmother that she changed church membership because the kids programs at the former church were lacking. her decision to change churches would have a profound impact on my life.
like most ignorant kids do, i just kind of floated along doing the church thing because i knew it was expected of me. when i was a freshmen in high school a man walked through the doors of the youth room that would lend a big hand in assisting me in becoming the man i am today. He demanded a lot from us in our walk with Christ and challenged us in ways unknown to us before and he spent countless hours pouring into our lives. He would eventually move to little rock, arkansas after my senior year. At this point, you are probably sensing a pattern- i live in little rock and one of my mentors lives here as well. the story of how i ended up here is one of Christ’s redemptive work in my life and a man willing to give me a second chance in life.
my senior year in high school marked a stark change in my life. i gave into peer pressure and temptation and started using drugs. for 2 years i said no. then one day i cracked and it would be the start of a tumultuous 6 years of life. soon we graduated and it was clear that my main priority was feeding this party life that i had been introduced to. this would lead to me dropping out of college twice and bouncing from one dead end job to another and one town to the next. when things hit rock bottom, i was living in a motel room with 3 other people and at 23, a guy had shown good promise in high school was frying chicken at a truck stop. it was at my lowest that God started to work me over. i had no idea where to turn but the fact that my life was on the audobahn to hell gave me enough incentive to start looking for God. I went to the church that (the mentoring youth pastor) and the moment he said yes, i knew i had a starting place to begin my quest. i called the church here in little rock and lo and behold another guy that i had looked up to had finished seminary and was here in little rock as well- it had to be a sign. he invited me up for the fantasy baseball draft (i did not need a reason to come, watching paint dry would have been enough to get a yes response from me). i came, i saw, and about 6 months and a few more visits, i packed up my car and moved here with the hope and expectation that my life would change for the better.
now to the happy part of my story. God never gave up on me. looking back i find it amazing that God uses broken down individuals to achieve His glory. i became involved with the youth of the church here and in doing so i have gotten to travel the states on various missions projects which has led to a stronger desire to do missions. one of my favorite authors is John Piper and of the many books he has written, “Don’t waste your life” has been very influential. that book title has become somewhat of a personal mantra for me. I want my life to count for the kingdom of God. Anyways, i also went back to college and did quite well graduating with a degree in history and a minor in philosophy. that is about all for now.
my interests include sports (notably the Dallas Cowboys (and every other dallas team) and the duke blue devils in college basketball. i enjoy chess, reading, writing, ping pong. I also have a special love affair with good coffee (not starbucks!) black, no frills from ethiopia is my favorite!
