Jonathan: Jonathan Gavrilenko grew up as the third oldest in a wonderful family of 9 with 7 children. Around 21 years ago in Portland, Oregon Jonathan was born on October 18, 2003 into a missionary family. His father, who is currently serving as a pastor, prays over all of his children in hopes that one day they would each grow up to love and serve the Lord in leadership positions. His parents made sure that their children knew and understood the Bible from cover to cover. When he hit his teenage years, he thought he knew everything that there was to know about God, until he turned 16. While working on a roof with his older brother (Timothy Jr), Tim started to ask Jonathan questions about the bible. Johnny tried to answer everything that he was taught to remember from his childhood but was told by Tim to stop “reciting” what he heard and start answering with what he knew. That was when Johnny quickly realized that he really did not know anything about the bible; he was only repeating the answers he was taught to say. Tim told Jonathan about Summit International School of Ministry and what kind of place it was. Summit was a special place where you can seek and find God for yourself and come to understand His will for your life. A year later, Johnny applied to Summit and got accepted into their 2 year program. During the summer of his freshman year, Johnny stayed for the summer and volunteered to be a camp counselor for Sky Camp at Summit. Upon completing the two years, Johnny graduated from Summit and was called home to Portland, Oregon to find work and ministry. Within 6 months, Jonathan was able to find work as a countertop fabricator and would then be requested to be the teens leader at the Bible Church PDX.


Jennifer: 24 years ago in Mae Sot, Thailand on July 2nd, 2001 Jennifer was born as the eldest child and only daughter to MooLer and Grace, she is the older sister to Jefferson and Jonathan (Wah). At the age of 4, her parents took her, her newly born baby brother, and what little they had that could fit in a bag to flee to the United States in hopes of refuge and a better future. The hopeful family found themselves in Carrboro, North Carolina where Jennifer had lived the majority of her life. Reflecting back throughout her lifetime, Jenny has been able to recount the numerous times the Lord has been faithful and mighty in her and her family’s life. As a curious young child, Jenny had so many questions about God and life after the passing of her grandmother and watching her father give and rededicate his life to Christ. One late evening, after classes, Jenny found herself clinging onto her chest. After the sixth hour (around midnight) of painful rapid heart beats, she went to her parents and was rushed to the emergency room. The doctors and ER staff started piling into her room in shock of her abnormally fast heart rate and spent the next few hours running tests and EKGs. It was then confirmed that Jennifer was diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). She was given options to move forward and chose to schedule an ablation. Her recovery, after an effective ablation, took place amidst the covid pandemic. This was the loneliest she had ever felt in her entire life. Covid stripped away her motivation and sent her down a deep depression where she came to the painful decision to back out of her psychology career. With her educational journey on hiatus, she spent the next few weeks contemplating her life decisions and her future until one faithful day she received a phone call from a friend. Her friend June told her about considering Summit. Their God-centered environment and policies to limit distractions (unplugged) struck something in her heart as someone who wanted to go deeper in their relationship with God. She didn’t hesitate to start her application process. After two years as a traditional student and one additional year interning as a barista, she moved back to Haw River, North Carolina where she took on and successfully completed a 16-week CNA program. She has hopes of continuing her studies and has served in children’s ministry at her home church (Htee Moo Church).

Our Story: On the way down to the campus cafeteria after being released from his isolated covid quarantine, Jonathan’s eyes were caught by a shirt from a show he liked. He proceeded to compliment the girl wearing the shirt being unaware of the school’s policies on interactions between students and in return he was met with a hasty and hesitant “thanks” before the girl continued walking towards the cafeteria doors, leaving him confused. The interaction left Jonathan baffled for months and to this day, he still doesn’t understand what he did wrong (he did not understand ratio*). Three years later, that same girl goes on to become his fiancée. During their time at Summit, Jonathan and Jennifer partook in similar areas of ministry and both enjoyed serving their community and volunteering with the student council. After graduation, both Jonathan and Jennifer moved back to their respective home towns and have since been navigating work, school, ministry and long distance dating; their circumstances would have been considered unfavorable to some but ultimately through God’s grace and His faithfulness towards the couple, they both were able to have faith and endure every challenge, trial, and obstacle together. The hopeful pair is ready to embark on this next chapter together as their path continues to unfold in front of them.