Fathers and Sons Together (FAST) is a registered trademark, and the non-profit organization which also bears the same name is a 501c3 corporation based in Irvine, California.  The underlying FAST principles for spiritual maturity and a basic understanding of what a real man looks like are discussed in the book “Fathers and Sons Together: Exploring Life’s Most Important Relationships” by John Kain.  Lesson plans, “biblical portraits” of Christian men and women, and a group start-up guide are available on this website.  Permission to use the website materials is routinely granted to individuals and organizations who embrace the core concept and programming emphasis of FAST.

FAST has partnered with Eric Wolf of Global Service Associates (GSA) to expand the FAST program to churches and other community networks in Colorado and throughout the United States.

JOHN KAIN

AICP, President of FAST and author of “Fathers and Sons Together – Exploring Life’s Most Important Relationships”, shares the wisdom gained during his more than thirty years of volunteer Christian service.  John started the contemporary music worship ministry at Voyagers Bible Church (Irvine, CA) in 1978, and he was the deacon for local outreach from 1980 to 1983.  He then served as a church elder from 1983 to 1989.  John was involved in various ministries to children before starting Fathers and Sons Together (FAST) with several other dads in 1999.  Since that time, John has prepared resource materials for FAST leaders and encouraged the start-up of similar father/son networks at other churches in Southern California.

Currently president of Urban Crossroads, Inc., which he co-founded, John has worked in transportation planning since 1975.  In addition to planning transportation networks for over forty major new communities in California and Colorado, he has managed the updates of more than twenty city transportation plans.

John received a Master of Science in Administration from UC Irvine, where he specialized in transportation systems evaluation.  He is a certified professional urban planner, a Fellow in the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE); and a member of the Advisory Board for the UC Irvine Department of Planning, Policy and Design.

John lives in Irvine and Laguna Beach, California, with his wife Jan.  His adult children — Ina and Michael — also live in Southern California.

MIKE SCIARRA

Mike is Senior Pastor of Grace Church of Orange, California, where he has served the Lord since July 2006. He has over 23 years of pastoral experience serving as an associate pastor prior to coming to Grace in the areas of adults and families as well as children’s ministry. His greatest joy in ministry is seeing entire households engage in worshiping God, building up believers and reaching others for Christ.

Mike came to know Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord in 1982.  Mike lives daily with the knowledge that apart from Jesus he can do nothing (John 15:5) but can do all things through Christ who strengthens him (Phil. 4:13).  Mike loves to teach the Bible, share Jesus with others and be an encouragement to others as they grow in Christ.  He seeks to trust the Lord to live His life through him every moment (Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27) and encourages others to do the same.

Mike received both his Masters of Divinity (1989) and his Doctorate (2000) from Talbot School of Theology. He was ordained in 1990. Mike has contributed to seven books and has written columns for a number of publications.  Mike is a founding board member and Senior Pastor liaison of NAFM (National Association of Family Ministries).  He is on the Christian Education faculty of Talbot School of Theology.

Mike has been on missions trips to Irian Jaya, Indonesia; Germany, Estonia, India, Nepal, Japan and Mexico.  He enjoys family times, sports, writing and going to garage sales. He and his wife, Angela, have five children, Alexandra, Michael, Ariana, Savannah and Sophia.

MARK HUMPHREYS

When his youngest son was about to enter sixth grade, Mark saw a need and stepped forward to help fill it.  Having been previously involved in FAST with one of his older sons, Mark knew the value of the program, so he started praying.  The FAST group he started and continues to lead at Voyagers Bible Church in Irvine, CA, is thriving.

Mark’s leadership of a FAST group is just one way he has served the Lord. A gifted administrator, leader, and teacher, he is also the deacon of Voyagers’ FAST Ministry. In the past Mark has served as chairman of his church’s board of deacons, Agape Ministry deacon, an adult Sunday school and young marrieds’ leader, a worship team singer, and the founder of a men’s ministry.

Professionally, Mark has been involved in aviation for over 30 years. He first was an airline pilot then moved to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1981. Among his responsibilities are test-flying new airliners and business jets during their FAA certification and establishing the FAA’s pilot training requirements for those airplanes. He has also worked as an air traffic controller, and is a licensed airplane mechanic.

Mark has been married to Gail since 1981 and God has blessed them with three boys: Adam, Daniel, and Brandon. In his free time, Mark enjoys photography, geology, and auto repair. He is also involved with his son Adam in Special Olympics basketball, cycling, and floor hockey.

JOSEPH PARKER

After graduation from BIOLA University in 1992 Joseph served as a children’s and youth pastor in Palm Springs, CA for three years. 

In 1996 Joseph moved into the skid row community of Los Angeles, where he worked out of a local church and homeless shelter, building intentional relationships with the families there. Six years later he married his beautiful wife Kelly, and together they continued to serve and minister in Skid Row for the next two years. 

Due to a lack of financial resources at that time Joseph soon found a job working for the Los Angeles Conservation Corps’ After School Program.  He immediately became responsible for nearly 1,000 middle school students everyday.  Three years later Joseph was promoted to Program Manager of Training and Academic Enrichment for all 22 LACC elementary and middle school campuses. 

In mid 2005, KidTrek's Board of Directors approached Joseph about taking the role of President/CEO. In February, 2007 Joseph was officially named KidTrek’s President/CEO where he served faithfully until late 2009, before being called by the Lord to return to full time ministry within a church context.

Since August, 2009 Joseph has served as Children's Pastor at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, CA, developing a dynamic children's ministry focusing on the diligent discipleship of its children, shepherding the church in its role of partnering with parents to know and love God with all their heart, soul and might (Deuteronomy 6).