Game Changer

Editor's note: This is one in a series of PE News articles on people in the Assemblies of God under the age of 20 who are making an impact in their communities.

At age 18 and with 20 hours of Advanced Placement credits racked up at the outset of his freshman college year, Jeremy Ryan Lee Farmer is poised to be a game changer.

He enrolled at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, this fall. Though registered for Exploratory Studies, the school’s path to help students decide a major, he says he is 99 percent certain he will pursue computer graphics technology — games studies.

His father, Greg Farmer, says Jeremy had a typical young person’s interest in video games, but he also was fascinated early on with how they work and why they look the way they do. Jeremy says he wants to help create games, to develop stories, and to develop characters. He likes combining technology with arts and music, and he wants to impact the culture.

“If I can make a game to tell the gospel or, even, put questions in people to help them to the truth, then that’s good,” Jeremy says.

The Denver-based Daniels Fund recognized Jeremy with a colossal $375,000 scholarship on the basis of demonstrated character, leadership, and willingness to give back to the community. He also received an $80,000 Purdue University academic scholarship.

Jeremy was president of the Latin club at his high school, vice president of the National Honor Society chapter, and salutatorian of his graduating class. He played piano and was co-leader of the worship team at CrossPoint Church, which his parents, Greg and Darla, founded five years ago in Grand Junction, Colorado. He helped organize a youth band, which still frequently leads worship for the church.

Jeremy was an integral part of planting the new church, even helping set up before and break down after services in a motel meeting room. CrossPoint started in 2011 with 11 people, including Jeremy and his parents. Average attendance at CrossPoint, now in its own facility, is nearing 80. Before moving to Grand Junction, Greg Farmer served 10 years as associate pastor at Connection Point Church in West Lafayette.

Through his high school years, Jeremy took part in Fine Arts Festival. He attended FAF, a discipleship tool of Assemblies of God National Youth Ministries designed to help students discover, develop, and deploy their ministry gifts, with other teens from the church three of the past four years.

Jeremy cites his levelheaded father as a primary influence in his life, a counterpoint to his own irrationalities. His dad offers a different perspective. Greg says Jeremy always has been sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Jeremy says his brothers Chris and Andrew, who both serve at Connection Point Church in West Lafayette, also have been a constant source of help to him.

AG roots run deep for Jeremy. His grandfather, Don Farmer, served 10 years as superintendent of the Rocky Mountain Ministry Network. Stephen Harris, superintendent of the Arizona Ministry Network, is Jeremy’s uncle.

Mel Surface

The late Mel Surface (1946-2018) was a writer, pastor, and former staff member at the national and North Texas District Assemblies of God offices. A journalism graduate of the University of Houston, he served as a newspaper and magazine reporter and editor. The author of two books, his writings regularly appeared in a variety of print and internet publications.