{"id":5671,"date":"2024-03-25T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=5671"},"modified":"2024-04-01T08:19:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T13:19:08","slug":"jamil-khan-living-and-leading-by-example","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2024\/03\/25\/jamil-khan-living-and-leading-by-example\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamil Khan: Living and Leading by Example"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 42 years old, Chaplain <\/span>Jamil<\/span> Khan has served <\/span>in the military <\/span>for over 10 years and <\/span>just celebrated his <\/span>P<\/span>inning <\/span>C<\/span>eremony last month<\/span>,<\/span> making him a Navy Commander<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to his time in the chaplaincy, Jamil was a senior pastor for 10 years<\/span>,<\/span> successfully leading a church that offered both Korean and English services to hundreds every week.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jamil is also husband to <\/span>his wonderful wife<\/span> of 20 years<\/span>, Jessica, <\/span>and dad to their four children: Jeremiah, Caleb, <\/span>Tirzah<\/span>, and Joshua.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jamil\u2019s four children: Jeremiah, Caleb, Tirzah, and Joshua<\/p><\/div>\n

However, <\/span>getting to this point in his life has not been easy. Jamil shares, <\/span>\u201cIt is amazing how everything has worked out. As a child, I saw all of the struggles and didn\u2019t realize I needed those trials to develop my relationship with God. God says He wants us to have faith, and He\u2019ll communicate with us because He wants to. Growing up I constantly reached out to God, and it drew Him closer and closer. It is the greatest blessing to know I have a heavenly <\/span>F<\/span>ather who loves me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As a son to a Korean mother and <\/span>a <\/span>Pakistani father, Jamil\u2019s childhood was split between his mother\u2019s faith and love and his father\u2019s abuse. After his mother had a dream of Jesus calling out to her, she found College Park Pentecostal Holiness Church. It offered English and Korean services and was only three miles from their home. Jamil\u2019s Muslim father would abuse his mother because she gave too much to the church. <\/span><\/p>\n

At 11 years old, Jamil did not think there was a God. He would cry himself to s<\/span>leep wondering, if there was a God, why would He give Jamil an abusive father<\/span>?<\/span> One day, Jamil left his baseball items on the floor by the door, so his dad chased him around the house with his bat. <\/span>Another time, <\/span>he chased him around<\/span>,<\/span> threatening <\/span>him <\/span>with a butcher knife<\/span>. Yet another time, he<\/span> tied him up with an extension cord<\/span>,<\/span> threaten<\/span>ing<\/span> to throw him in the Potomac River. Jamil contemplated suicide. If he was gone, then his father would not hurt him or his mother again. He continued to struggle with his relationship with God. How could a loving God let him end up in a situation like this when others are so happy?<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span>s he grew up, Jamil\u2019s mother encouraged him to attend the English services <\/span>at their church <\/span>so he would have somewhere to grow. <\/span>As time went on<\/span>, Pastor Russ<\/span>, from the College Park Pentecostal Holiness Church,<\/span> became Jamil\u2019s dad in every way that mattered. Pastor Russ and his wife could not have children of their own, so they \u201cadopted\u201d Jamil<\/span>.<\/span> It was during this time that his mother shared that she knew he would be a pastor<\/span>; this was also when he met his future wife. <\/span><\/p>\n

At 16 years old, Jamil realized that he was meant for ministry, so he asked God, \u201cwhere do you want me?\u201d At the time, Jamil was considering being a local pastor, military chaplain, or missionary. God confirmed that he would be a local pastor. His father did not approve of his choice and chose to leave their family with Jamil\u2019s college savings. How was Jamil supposed to attend college without any money? His mother said, \u201cI pay my tithe. God will provide.\u201d Jamil attended Emmanuel College, just like his \u201cdad\u201d, Pastor Russ, from 1999-2003, and after becoming a senior pastor at College Park PH, the Board paid off Jamil\u2019s college loans.<\/p>\n

While in college, Jamil and Jessica were dating, but they had not spoken about marriage, and especially not children. However, while cleaning up after his roommates, God revealed, \u201cYour first child will be a boy, and his name will be Jeremiah.\u201d Jamil ran to the campus\u2019 computer lab, logged in, and IMed Jessica: \u201cGuess what? I got the name for our first kid.\u201d She responded with \u201cJeremiah?\u201d She had been doodling the same name, and that was Jamil\u2019s sign they were meant to marry, and they were after graduation in June 2003.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jamil and his wife, Jessica<\/p><\/div>\n

At 22 years old, Jamil <\/span>was now a husband<\/span>, and when Pastor Russ was elected as the Conference Superintendent, he became the <\/span>senior pastor of College Park PH. His biggest worry was destroying what his dad had built for the last 28 years. He served as the senior pastor for 10 years before God confirmed that he was meant for even more.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 24 years old, Jamil\u2019s father told him for the first time, \u201cI\u2019m proud of you.\u201d He also said, \u201cLook at what your God did. I thought I was going to destroy your life when I left and took your <\/span>money but<\/span> look at what your God did.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 29 years old, while on a trip to Israel with his church, he and Pastor Russ were roomed together. Out of nowhere, Pastor Russ asked, \u201cHave you thought about joining the military chaplaincy?\u201d Jamil could not believe what he said because he had never told Russ that it was something he wanted to do. He called Jessica from Jerusalem: \u201cI think I\u2019m meant to join the chaplaincy.\u201d She fully supported him, and he began his <\/span>master\u2019s degree in Divinity<\/span> at Liberty University.<\/span><\/p>\n

With everything going on, Jamil told God, \u201cWe\u2019re done having children.\u201d <\/span>But God told him, \u201cDo not kill my purpose.\u201d And, again, Pastor Russ came in with a confirmation: \u201cYou need to have more kids.\u201d \u201cI know,\u201d Jamil replied. <\/span>Two months later, God spoke to Jamil again and reminded him, \u201cI am your provider.\u201d Soon after, Jessica revealed she was pregnant with their third child: a daughter they named Tirzah. <\/span><\/p>\n

At 30 years old, Jamil tried to reconnect with his father but could not reach him, so he<\/span> did what most people do: he<\/span> googled his father\u2019s name. A huge, beautiful home popped up in the search, but Jamil <\/span>knew <\/span>that could not be where his father lived. However, he continued his search and found a phone number. When he called, the woman who answered revealed she was Jamil\u2019s sister-in-law. That would mean he had a brother, and she confirmed: \u201cYes, a brother and three sisters.\u201d Jamil was shocked, <\/span>and<\/span> he decided to <\/span>take his two sons with him to visit<\/span>,<\/span> unannounced. W<\/span>hen they arrived, his father hugged him<\/span> and t<\/span>ried to give the boys money, but Jamil refused. They talked for about an hour<\/span>, and while walking around, he spotted a photo of his father on the mantle. Ironically, he also remembered when the photo was taken; he and his mother were just outside of the frame. They <\/span>made plans to <\/span>see each other again, this time<\/span> with Jessica and Theresa<\/span>, but his father\u2019s wife would not allow it<\/span>.<\/span> T<\/span>hey have not seen each other again.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 32<\/span> years old<\/span>, Jamil joined the chaplaincy. His first duty station was San Diego, California. While there, God <\/span>again <\/span>challenged Jamil\u2019s obedience. Their family chooses an annual <\/span>B<\/span>ible <\/span>verse, and for 2015, it was Hebrews 11:7: \u201c<\/span>By faith\u00a0Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith<\/span>.\u201d<\/span> In essence, Jamil\u2019s family knew they needed to \u201cmove with godly fear\u201d with respect and reverence for who God is. But, when Jamil had a dream about having another child, he argued with God. \u201cNo, this can\u2019t be right,\u201d he claimed, but God asked, \u201cI thought you were going to move with godly fear?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chaplain Jamil Khan leads soldiers in a service.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

With this revelation shared with his wife, Jamil\u2019s next duty station became North Carolina instead of Japan. He wanted to stay close to family since they would have another child. In October of 2015, Jessica found out she was pregnant. Nine weeks later though, she had a miscarriage. Jamil could not understand why God would do this, and he was incredibly angry. God revealed to Jamil that \u201chis growth was not her growth.\u201d \u201cWe do not grow at the same level, so we have to figure out our own faith with fear and trembling,\u201d Jamil reveals, and he realized it was Jessica\u2019s time to grow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jessica held onto God\u2019s promises of another child, and just months later, she revealed to Jamil that she was pregnant. Their youngest son, Joshua, is now 7 years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a chaplain, Jamil has the opportunity to share God\u2019s truth with servicemen around the world. \u201cChaplaincy is great because I\u2019m away from the pulpit walking in others\u2019 spaces and am able to pour into people\u2019s lives who aren\u2019t Christians,\u201d Jamil exclaims. He has helped Wiccans, Agnostics, Hindus, Muslims, and more because \u201c<\/span>T<\/span>he military has a way of breaking people, and when people are that broken, they look for something that is real.\u201d <\/span>Jamil<\/span> feels like David standing among pagan kings<\/span>,<\/span> commanding officers <\/span>who are like<\/span> Nebuchadnezzar, but Jamil knows that God has placed him there for \u201csuch a time as this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jamil plans on returning to the states after his time in Japan is finished because his <\/span>three oldest children<\/span> plan to attend Emmanuel University<\/span>.<\/span> W<\/span>hen he retires at 52, Jamil plans to become a missionary. \u201cI won\u2019t have to worry about raising funds because I\u2019ll have a government pension for the rest of my life,\u201d Jamil states. <\/span><\/p>\n

Growing up, Jamil questioned whether God was real and where he was meant to serve. Throughout his life, God has prove<\/span>n<\/span> himself and provided for Jamil and his family. Now, <\/span>Jamil declares, <\/span>\u201cI have a God who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords over my life<\/span>. S<\/span>eeing the struggles and pain that I had to go through makes me realize that pain has become my greatest blessing and allowed me to develop a relationship with our living God. Our greatest pain becomes our greatest blessing<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":5673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5671","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"entry"},"title_es":"","content_es":"","author_name":"Kelleigh Knight-Whitten","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/03\/khan-and-wife-copy-e1711371460858.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-1tt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}