My Blue Sweatshirt and a Homeless Man

When those who know me well consider how I came to know the Lord, they usually mention three things.

1) The fall retreat my freshman year of college
2) My backwards hat
3) A navy blue Wisconsin sweatshirt

I was the kid who got up at the end of the retreat and talked about how I had experienced God that weekend and how I had given my life to Him the night before.

And for some reason, I too always think of the navy-blue Wisconsin sweatshirt that I had been wearing that weekend.

That sweatshirt followed me to Panama City, FL that year, my first experience sharing my faith. It traveled to East Asia that summer on my first "mission trip." And to North Myrtle Beach, Boston, back to East Asia with me this year, and many places in-between.

In many ways, that sweatshirt and the wear and tear that it accumulated has served as a souvenir, or a keepsake, that is a visible reminder of how God has changed my life and of the incredible adventure that He has planned for me.

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The past few weeks have been really difficult. Ministry here is challenging, but it's also been rewarding and fruitful thus far.

But sometimes, life is just plain hard.

One roommate has had to deal with some hard things, another had his appendix taken out a couple weeks ago, and our team as a whole has had plenty of obstacles thrown at us - all of this on top of the usual cultural pressures that come with being here and missing girlfriends, friends, and family.

Though I miss Amy a lot and don't always go through the day on a full stomach (you try eating one kind of food for three straight months...), I thought I was doing pretty well all things considered and mostly exempt from the hard things going on.

In many ways, I almost felt like I had to hold our team together.

Turns out, the past few weeks have taken a bigger toll on me than I thought.

During that time, it was really easy to be distracted by everything that was happening and to just nix spending time with the Lord. Days were long, I was tired, and there never seemed to be enough time in one day between trying to take care of roommates, keeping in touch with Amy, and doing ministry on campus.

One Tuesday afternoon a couple weeks ago I was walking around on campus, no appointments scheduled, searching for something to do, someone to talk to. It was very windy, and very cold. Sometimes the afternoons can be frustrating since most students are in class and the athletic fields are closed-off due to gym classes.

So I started praying.

I mean, really praying, in a desperate kind of way.

For the Spirit to lead me. For me to EXPERIENCE God and what He wants to do in my life and on this campus.

I was sick of afternoons spent wandering around looking for something to do. I was sick of feeling distant from God, even through all that was happening.

I had never been to the West campus before, so I decided to head over there. On the way over I got a text message from one roommate asking me to pray for him and something he was going through. Several minutes later, I received another text message from another roommate telling me he was going to the hospital to have his appendix taken out.

With everything going on, I just stopped to pray. Should I go pray with my roommate? Should I try to hurry back to go to the hospital with my other roommate before he and our team leader left?

But something was still telling me to walk to the West campus. So I went.

In order to get there, you have to walk through an underground crosswalk to get to the other side of the road. Once on the other side, I walked around the West campus for maybe 10 minutes, continuing to pray as I walked. There wasn't much happening so I headed for the crosswalk to go back to my side of campus.

On the way through, I saw a middle-aged homeless man sitting on a cushion, huddled over trying to keep his 4-5 year old son warm and out of the wind.

I instantly knew that this man, trying to keep his son warm, was the reason I felt led to go to the West campus.

I walked out of the crosswalk to the other side and stopped in the sunlight to pray about what I should do to help this man. I knew I should do SOMETHING, but I didn't know what.

Eventually I decided that I should give him my sweatshirt to keep his son warm.

But as soon as I decided that, all I could think about was when I would buy a new sweatshirt...and then about all of the other things I would need to take care of and buy once I returned home...and then about how living expenses would increase next year but I'd have the same salary...and then about how I have almost no money, and so on, and so on.

Finally, I took my sweatshirt off from underneath my winter coat and tried to just put all of those things aside and head back for the man and his son. But with every step I took, another financial concern popped into my head. It was almost as if there was a physical force trying to push me backward to prevent me from speaking to this man.

After I stood over the man and his son for a few seconds, he looked up and I crouched down to talk to him. In his own language I asked him his name and told him mine. In a whisper that I could barely hear or understand, he told me his name. I then held out my sweatshirt and told him that I wanted to give it to his son. He again quietly thanked me and took the sweatshirt. Still in his own language I told him, "Jesus loves you," handed him some money and walked away.

During all of this I hadn't noticed that all of the people in the crosswalk had pretty much come to a standstill. I guess it's not every day that a foreigner stops to talk to a homeless man and his son. In fact, on most days, most people, myself included, just walk by.

As I got up to leave, they began to start walking again. One man smiled at me and tried to say something to me but I didn't understand what he was saying.

Once I got out of the underground crosswalk, my heart beating a million miles an hour, tears started a consistent stream down my face.

Here was this man, whose only goal was to keep his young son out of the wind and cold. How must he have felt, as a man and as a father, feeling the responsibility to provide for his family, yet finding himself begging for money in a crowded crosswalk?

And then there was me, trying to do something out of love, and all I could think about was myself and my own financial situation. It was disgusting and it hurt, but it was also one of the best feelings I'd had in the past three months.

Because I wasn't just crying due to my selfishness and sin, and not just for this man and his son who I felt a deep compassion for that was certainly not mustered up from my own heart, but because for maybe the first time in three months, I felt like I had experienced God - His love, His grace, and His working in my own life - in a real way.

I felt in my heart how much God loves this man and his son. I felt the Spirit's leading in the day's events. I felt God's conviction of the sin in my life. And it was wonderful.

And as I walked home, I broke down knowing that there are so many people in my life right now that need love and support, and there's only so much of me to go around. I only have so much time to pray, only so much energy to put forth, and only so much love to give before I hit a wall.

And hit the wall I did.

(I hope it's clear that I'm not just writing about this interaction because it's a "cool story" or to bring glory to myself, and I too realize that we unfortunately can't do this for every homeless person we meet, but I write this to tell of how God has met with me and revealed Himself to me.)

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I spent the next 24 hours in a hospital room trying to support my roommate yet hold myself together at the same time. When I returned home late at night after my stay at the hospital, I tried to tell this story to my parents and broke down once again (sorry mom and dad!).

Luckily, a few days later, Amy came to visit Thanksgiving week on a vision trip with a bunch of other friends from UW-Madison.

As I sat there processing through things with her from the past couple weeks, I again broke down, this time more than the last (this is becoming a trend at this point!).

I was tired, my emotional gas tank was at about -10, and at the end of the week when we'd have to say goodbye again, they all got to go back to American food, the Packers, sports on TV, fresh air, Christmas gatherings with friends, and family, and I stayed here, still having to work through the stresses, frustrations, and trials of the past few weeks.

I was truly at the end of myself, and I wanted to go home.

But as He always does, God has met me in my weakness and brokenness and allowed me to connect with Him and be comforted by Him. I have a renewed sense of focus for the ministry here and He has realigned my priorities to truly try to cling to Him the best I know how.

And He's forced me to move out of the way and make this ministry, my relationships, my life - all about Him.

I'm going to lean into Him, asking HIM to move on this campus, HIM to love my team and help me to love my team, and HIM to be glorified through me - that people wouldn't see Chris Kopp walking around but a weak, broken man, filled with God's Spirit and love.

Ministry is still overwhelming, my relationships are far from perfect, and life hasn't just immediately stopped being busy, but just to get ONE glimpse of who He is, ONE experience of His Spirit working in me, ONE day in His presence, is completely worth whatever else is thrown at me.

And as much as I loved that navy-blue, Wisconsin sweatshirt, its time in my possession came to a fitting conclusion and it got the ball rolling for a much-needed one at that.

-CK

Dwell

I heard this song for the first time only a few weeks ago, and in some ways, it's helped me to connect with and experience God since then. Not only do I listen to it at least once every day but it's kind of become my prayer that I sing to myself during the day when I lack all other words to talk to God.

Here's a really cool video of the song that I managed to find, performed by Vineyard. I think it captivates much of the wonder and mystery that should fill our hearts and minds when we consider the Spirit of God.

This campus doesn't need Chris Kopp. My team doesn't need Chris Kopp. My girlfriend doesn't need Chris Kopp. My family doesn't need Chris Kopp.

They all need Jesus.

Working in and through me.

I am weak and broken. I will mess up everything I am entrusted with 10 times out of 10 - without the presence of God in my life.

For me, this song is a plea to God to take me out of the equation and to fill this shell of a man with Himself. Would this campus, my team, Amy, and my family all see not me, but Christ in me.

"Dwell in the midst of us
Come and dwell in this place
Dwell in the mist of us
Come and have Your way

Dwell in the midst of us
Wipe all the tears from our faces
Dwell in the midst of us
You can have Your way

Not our will but Yours be done
Come and change us
Not our will but Yours be done
Come sustain us"

-CK

Update on Gameboy - A commentary on the Church

It's been an eventful couple of weeks so expect a number of new posts in the next week or so as I have time to process through things and write down my thoughts. My roommate Tom's been in and out of the hospital and my girlfriend, Amy, came to visit for a week on a vision trip with 19 students from UW-Madison. But for now I wanted to give everyone a quick update on Gameboy.

This past week, one of our fellowship students Will and I met up with Gameboy over lunch. We talked about how Thanksgiving was coming up soon and how Amy was here visiting. Eventually we transitioned into talking about church and about how God uses the Bible to teach us and speak to us.

Gameboy wants to believe in Yahweh as the One and Only True God and Jesus Christ as His Savior but he seems to be waiting for an experience.

An experience with God.

Actually, Gameboy's desire to experience God before he "believes" is a common one here in this country. Heck, all of us want to experience something or "feel" it before we give our lives to it.

Will and I explained how we experience God on a day-to-day basis in the decisions that we make, what we choose to do with our days, etc.

Gameboy's next question was an interesting one:

He said, "But the Bible is unchanging. The decisions you make change. So how does God speak to you through the Bible in different kinds of situations?"

We explained that when we have the Spirit of God living inside of us, He teaches us not simply by gaining knowledge from Scripture but by actually teaching our hearts and our minds through what we read. The three of us could read the same story in the Bible but all learn something different from it.

But I wanted to clarify that certain things are always true, and some things should be true of all Christians.

All Christians should care about the things God cares about, love others, and try to become more and more like Jesus. No exceptions.

Next, when Gameboy asked how Will or I had practically experienced God in our decision-making, I told him two stories. The second of which was how I ended up in East Asia.

I told him, "Even though the words in the Bible always stay the same, from beginning to end it is clear that God cares about the entire world and wants Christians to show Christ's love not only to the people close to them but people everywhere. There were many things I could have chosen to do after I graduated but I felt like through the Bible, God was telling me that it would be good to go to East Asia, learn the language, experience a new culture, and make new friends and love them well in the process."

There are certain students that just "get it," and when they do, it often makes for interesting commentary on the Church because they are able to see things for what they really are, no excuses. They see how things are supposed to be if we're truly following the Bible and then how things really are in the world.

It's black and white to them.

If we truly believe in this God that we preach, our lives will reflect that and we'll live according to God's Word.

And they're quick to notice when there's a discrepancy.

Gameboy is one of those students.

In a single phrase, Gameboy begged a question that should pierce the hearts of Christians everywhere. He said,

"If the Bible tells Christians to show Christ's love to people all over the world, why aren't more of them doing it?"

He genuinely does not understand why, if God loves people all over the world and commands His followers to do the same, more people are not taking action.

All I could say in response was, "They probably should, shouldn't they."

But I also tried to assure him that even if Christians all over the world aren't picking up and moving to different countries for extended periods of time, many invest their time praying for the nations of the world and releasing financial resources to those in need.

But I couldn't help but leave that conversation with a bitter taste in my mouth.

The truth is, most "Christians" probably do little, whether through praying, giving resources, or just picking up and going abroad to help show the love of Christ to people outside their borders.

It's the "super-Christians" that do that sort of thing. The "super spiritual" ones who give their money or their time to minister to the needs of others around the world.

But as Francis Chan emphatically points out in a recent sermon, "Show me in the Bible where there's this distinction between unbelievers, Christians, and 'super-Christians.' You either are, and you whole-heartedly follow God, or you're not."

But the problem goes even deeper.

There seems to be not only a lack of compassion and action globally, but also domestically.

In a country where an estimated 3.5 million people will experience homelessness in a given year and only about 9% of churchgoers tithed at least 10% of their income in 2004, something has to give.

I'm by no means saying that one of these statistics is causing the other, but it's certainly not helping either.

Maybe I'm preaching to the choir, but even for myself, I need to constantly be re-evaluating how I'm doing in this area. What am I doing to help others experience Christ not only to the students in this country, or the needy I walk by every day in this country, but also to those in need all over the world?

Am I praying for those losing their jobs all over the world due to the current economic crisis? Am I praying for those who have lost loved ones in India? Am I using what resources I have to give to my local church or to those in need?

We serve a God who loves the world. He loves justice. He cares for the oppressed.

And He's chosen us to be His ambassadors to a broken and hurting world.

It's high time we DO something to live up to that calling.

-CK

*Please pray for Gameboy! At the end of our conversation, he said, "I know how important and significant this decision [to trust the Lord with my life] is, so I do not want to rush into it." I told him that I agreed and it meant a lot to me that he would take it seriously.

At this point, words have done all they're going to do and it's just a matter of waiting for our living God to breathe life into Gameboy and allow him to experience Him. It's only a matter of time until we have a new brother!

A Conversation with Gameboy (a student, not the gaming device)

It's been kind of a long week for reasons I'll elaborate on in another post, so on Thursday instead of trying to meet someone new, I sent a message to a guy I've met with a few times, Gameboy, and was really excited about back in October. I hadn't had much interaction with him since because he's been very busy, but I figured even if the rest of his day is full, he has to eat lunch. So eat lunch we did.

I was stressed and had a lot on my mind throughout my lunch with him and wasn't really focused on making the transition to talking about spiritual things. Bu as we got up to leave I knew that I hadn't been very bold and that God had FINALLY given me an opportunity to meet up with this guy and I didn't take advantage of it.

So on our walk back to the basketball courts after lunch I finally just asked him, "So have you thought any more about the stuff we talked about last time?"

His answer, "I think I am starting to believe, but I need to read the Bible to learn more. Maybe we can study it together and if I have questions you can help me?"

Um...yes.

The last time we had gotten together, I had the opportunity of bringing two of our fellowship students with me to help share with him and they had told him about our gathering at the end of the week.

He asked, "All of your friends that get together to talk about the Bible, they are all Christians?"

When I answered yes, his response was, "And they all learned from you?"

Ha! Not quite. I explained to him that most of them were Christians before I even came here, but the next part of our conversation floored me and is the reason I'm writing about my time with him.

He asked me, "Why did you tell me about Jesus?"

As I prepared to give him my answer, he began to answer his own question.

"Is it because I have guilt in my life and need to be saved from it so that I can go to Heaven and have a relationship with God? Is it because you love me very much and want me to be able to experience the same thing that you have?"

Though I still can't fully comprehend this conversation and the weight of his words, I hope that I never forget what he said.

I've heard it said that in this country, most people hear the words "I love you" only twice throughout their entire lives. When they get engaged and when they get married. So that Gameboy even mentioned the word "love" to describe our relationship completely blows my mind.

Clearly the Gospel is doing something in him that is way more significant than words that I tell him or writing on a sheet of paper.

On my own I am completely incapable of loving this guy that I've met only 3-4 times. But praise the Lord that even amidst the junk in my life and the mess that this week has been, Gameboy didn't see me but the love of Christ shining through me.

CK

Worship Leading

I had the opportunity to lead worship at our international church here this morning. Six songs, two services, and an early morning - but that's par for the course with worship leading.

Nothing too out of the ordinary. I think it's universal that people refuse to clap and move around a little bit until they're "given permission" to do so. (It's also universal that people are always late to church!) From what I'd seen of this particular congregation in previous weeks, I really didn't think they had it in them when nearly everyone in the room started clapping and smiling after a little encouragement to do so!

The music was far from perfect but we had fun and I think the church was able to meet with God during the musical portion of worship and left encouraged.

One of the cool parts of leading here that you don't always experience in the States is that, not only is the congregation very diverse, representing nearly 50 different countries throughout the world, but so are the teams that you play with. Today we had a vocalist from South Korea, a drummer from the Philippines, a guitar player from Canada, a Korean-American bassist from California, and a couple white guys from Wisconsin...(me and Tom).

Here are a couple pictures from this morning. God bless!

Counting the Cost

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." -Matthew 10:37-39

I'd always heard stories of believers in foreign countries that begin a relationship with the Lord only to have their families essentially disown them, but I've never actually come across this in my own relationships with any of the Christians that I have ever met.

Until now.

Last night, a third-year student in our fellowship and a friend of mine, we'll call him "Phil," had a conversation with his parents about how he was going to be baptized in a few weeks. His father didn't really understand "why" but also had no problem with it. "It's just a belief..."

His mother on the other hand was furious.

For generations upon generations in Phil's family, a certain tradition or culture had been formed regarding morals, values, rituals, and beliefs, some including Buddhism and ancestor worship. For someone in the family to depart from this tradition or culture is in many ways, to opt out of the family altogether.

Phil came to know the Lord last year and is the first Christian in his extended family. Even though I have run into many students whose parents and grandparents are Christians, his are not and believe that Christianity is something that has made the younger generation stray from their more traditional, cultural beliefs.

Phil is faced with a choice: Either give up or hide his faith in Christ that has drastically changed his life and that he is so passionate about or enter into a long, trying journey of trying to love his family despite their unwillingness to accept him.

Phil is choosing the latter. He will still be baptized in a few weeks and I will be there to support him.

Phil has hope for his family and trust in the power of God to change his family, to mend relationships within the family and to reconcile them to Himself.

I sat there praying with Phil about his situation and talking about our families and the hope that we have in God, nearly in tears at seeing his faith and trust in God's character to do something that seemed nearly impossible. Buddhism. Ancestor worship. Tradition. Culture. Phil has faith that God will overcome all of those obstacles.

In many ways, I have a lot to learn from Phil.

Go back to that passage from Matthew. I always thought that verse and ones like it were all about MY ability or resolve to be able to "give up" things or about my own strength and will-power to stick by Him even when people don't understand my faith or I go through seasons in my life that are difficult. But after last night I'm thinking it's about something completely different...

Trust.

If I trust that God is who He says He is and that He loves me and cares for me in the way that He says that He does, the "cost" of following Him fades into the background and there's nothing that I wouldn't do or "give up" to be with Him. It would just make sense to put Him before everything and everyone else.

Just like in a marriage relationship, first comes trust, then commitment.

May God reveal more of Himself to me so that I of little faith might be able to trust Him with ALL areas of my life.

CK

Election Aftermath

It's no wonder Gandhi said, "I like your Christ, but I don't like your Christians."

I must say that I've been really, REALLY disappointed with the comments and reactions from a lot of Christians proceeding the election results that made Barack Obama the next president of the United States of America. It was really hard to sit back and watch Facebook comments and updates as many Christians repeatedly reinforced negative stereotypes, over and over and over again.

Regardless of who you voted for (if you voted...if not, stop complaining), certain things will always be true. For example, God is not a republican. Obama does not encourage or enjoy killing babies. He is not the anti-Christ. Your money's not any worse off than before (you probably don't have to look into Swiss bank accounts). And America is CERTAINLY not racist because you believe that McCain lost because he's white. (Honestly!?) Sadly, these were actual comments that I saw throughout the day.

Imagine how this looks to people outside the Church. As if people needed any more reason to despise Christians and to paint them into the "White, middle-class, republican out fighting moral battles" corner.

I LONG for the day when Christians will be known for their love - not tolerance, LOVE of others.

I LONG for the day when Christians will be known not for their moral views but for their passion for Christ and His Great Commission as they strive to meet the physical needs of a hurting world and bring a message of love, peace, justice, and REDEMPTION.

One of the few bright spots in the day was seeing a comment by a like-minded believer who begged the question, "What if Christians were as passionate about the Great Commission as they are politics?"

Good question.

The reality is that if we want things to change - I mean REALLY change, we as individuals and as the Church are going to have to go DO something about it. Jesus didn't spend his entire life teaching us how to discern the best presidential candidate, He spent his entire ministry teaching us how to love others and commanding us to GO to the world.

So are you going to talk and complain, or are you going to DO something about it?

Give money to places that care for single mothers as an alternative to abortion. Volunteer at those places. Start one.

Go to the store and buy food to make sandwiches and give them to homeless people you walk by every day on the street. Give them warm winter clothes.

Do SOMETHING.

To anyone who has been hurt or insulted by "Christ-followers" today: I sincerely apologize on behalf of my fellow brothers and sisters for the ignorance and quite frankly, hatred, expressed by many Christians throughout America today. We're not perfect, far from it. Our opinions and desire to express them sometimes come out in very unloving ways. I have personally made mistakes in this area in the past as well. I am far from exempt from this.

More importantly, I beg God's forgiveness for the Church and that He would give us grace for representing Him poorly during this election process.

At the end of the day, I personally believe that God cares far more about our hearts and how we love people than who we voted for to be the next president.

Thank God.

CK

Go Vote!

Sometimes, several days during a week can pass without me consciously thinking about the fact that I'm in East Asia. Yesterday was NOT one of those days...

As a pitiful excuse for a political science major, I had pretty much given up hope of voting since I wasn't able to send in for my absentee ballot soon enough and it seemed like too much work to pursue other ways of voting. It would stress me out when I was thinking about it and taking away from my ministry here, so I said the heck with it.

Until yesterday.

"All we had to do" was print off our emergency ballot and get it to a certain FedEx store and they would overnight it for free. Sweet deal. Okay, I'm in. It's a straight shot there on the bus, simple.

Five hours and three modes of transportation later, we finally returned home from voting.

I'll spare you the boring details, but let's just say there was a lot of walking, some very packed rush-hour buses, a ton of wandering around city streets (and some rural streets...oops), and a very, very small, tucked away FedEx shop smaller than most dorm rooms.

Moral of the story:

Even though I think both candidates would probably do a fine job if elected as president and your vote barely counts in the scheme of things (let's just be honest...and no, I don't need a lecture on this, I know how the electoral college works), go to the polls next Tuesday and voice your opinion. We Americans love to give our opinions and what better chance to do so than in a democratic election.

And you'll probably have a far easier time at it than I did.

-CK

An Interview with Myself

Hi everyone,

I recently received an email from my cousin with a number of really good general questions about day-to-day living and I thought I'd post my answers on here since it's the kind of stuff a lot of people might be wondering about but that I've grown pretty accustomed to and wouldn't think to write a blog about. So here goes:

How's the food?

Thankfully, the food situation is much better than I thought it would be. I've definitely lost some weight already due in part to eating less but also because I haven't been able to work out as much. The food here really isn't "bad." There are definitely plenty of things that I have found to eat. Chicken wraps, sweet and sour pork, curry dishes, pineapple rice, lamb and chicken skewers, donuts, etc. There are too many good food items to list them all and pretty much every week I find a new guy on the street corner or something new that I really like. And of course there's always room in my diet for the occasional KFC or McDonald's. But I can even buy groceries and things like milk, bread, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, pasta, etc. One advantage is that it's REALLY easy to get fresh produce and it's REALLY good and really cheap.

The problem I run into is that we eat at the cafeteria EVERY single day since it's one of the main ways we're able to meet with people. Even the students get sick of the cafeteria. The other problem is that this country's food is good, but you're going to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you don't get creative. There's no variety like in the States where I can have Italian for lunch and Mexican for dinner. These kinds of places exist if you look hard enough but they're very expensive and just aren't the same. In short, if you want something bad enough, you can find it, but you may have to pay extra for it. In short, if you want something bad enough, you can find it, but you may have to pay extra for it.

How often do you get to chat with your family and friends back home via phone?

I have actually never used a phone to call home since arriving here. The online program, Skype, is free and I can even use a webcam to communicate. On some occasions I can use Skype on my computer to call landlines and cell phones in the States for very cheap, but it does cost money.

It's been more difficult to talk with my family than anyone else for the most part. Due to work schedules and me being pretty busy during times that they would have free, besides emails we usually only talk about once each week.

It's also been pretty difficult to communicate with many of my friends from home as many of them have gone off to different corners of the world to do ministry. Usually this is done through emails and the occasional Skype conversation, but it's pretty hard sometimes to find the energy to have a conversation with someone late at night due to time differences and all of the other things we have going on.

But I love technology. Amy, my girlfriend, and I have been able to use our webcams just about every day. Some stretches are busy for one or both of us and it's less than that, but there's usually not a day that passes without some kind of contact whether it's an email, quick message, or a conversation. This has been a HUGE blessing!

How many other students are there with you?

In total, there are 11 students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison but we are split into two different teams. On my team there are six people from the UW, two interns, a married couple who are our team leaders and the parents of an 11-month old daughter, Miriam, and a Korean-American girl. The other team has five students from Madison and two French students in addition to their team leaders.

What have you enjoyed most about your experience?

This is a really difficult question. I'm going to pick a couple things.

First, I'd have to say the students. I've absolutely loved getting to know the other believers in our fellowship that are from this country and having the chance to work alongside them to bring the Gospel to this campus. I've gotten to spend a lot of time recently with a student named Will who is a leader in the movement. I will be discipling him soon and training him how to lead a Bible study but in a lot of ways it's kind of weird to be leading him because I just consider him a friend, not a disciple or trainee or anything like that. If I had met him in the States I would genuinely just want to be his friend and hang out with him because I think he's cool! It's been a great experience getting to work alongside all of these students, worship alongside them, and continue to develop friendships with all of them.

It's also been a very "stretching" experience so far, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. My trust in God and His character is put to the test pretty frequently and I'm forced to cling to Him in a way that I would never need to do in the comfort of Madison, Wisconsin. I've already seen myself grow in character and seen God work in a ton of amazing ways, both in me and through me. More than anything else this year I'm excited to experience Him in ways that I never have before, to grow closer to Him, and to let Him continue to develop and change who I am.

I also got to go camping on the Great Wall and watch the sun rise over the mountains from a mountain peak...that was pretty sweet!

What do you miss most about home?

Easy. My family, friends, and girlfriend. Sure, I could say things like the food, the convenience of being in the States, watching sporting events on TV, etc...and I DO miss all of those things, but not nearly as much as the people in my life.

I miss getting to see my family and hanging out with my brother on campus. Not that some of those things happened a ton while I was in the States, but you start to miss them more when you're so far away.

I miss all of my friends from campus and the family and fellowship that I had there. Roommates, bandmates, Saturday morning football buddies, the guys that would sit around and talk about the deep things of life as "Peter the Great" looked on (inside joke), Bible study guys, our fearless Bible study leader and now, father. But I've been incredibly blessed to have some of my closest friends here with me! I can't imagine doing this without them!

And of course, Amy. Surprisingly, the past couple months have actually been REALLY good for our relationship, but the closer we get, the more dificult it gets to be apart. Technology has been very, very good to us and we're pretty lucky in that sense, but still, nothing can take the place of getting to see her face-to-face and to be there for each other and serve each other in ways that we just can't do right now. I can't wait to see her in a month!

Okay...the other random things I miss: applesauce, American candy (especially chocolate), burgers, The Great Dane, getting to be a part of worship teams at Blackhawk, church, convenience, good workout facilities, clean air, watching sports on TV, Dr. Pepper, live music, guitars, driving cars, and the Brewers in the playoffs.

General impressions of the culture?

The people here are very proud of their culture and their history, and rightfully so, it's a long one. They haven't had the best track record especially within the past 60 years or so but most of them are aware of that. The people here are very concerned with apperances and would never do anything to make someone "lose face." As a result, they're generally very hospitable. They are also very concerned with "harmony" and are generally fairly quick to avoid conflict.

My heart definitely goes out to the students here and what I've understood about their experience in life so far. Basically, they study, study, and study some more to try to do well on ONE college entrance test that will decide whether or not they fail or succeed in life, and there's certainly a lot of pressure in that, certainly from themselves but also their parents and the rest of society.

There are definitely a lot of cultural things that I wasn't use to at first (and probably still am not completely used to). Though some things are weird to me, that doesn't necessarily make them wrong...although there are a few things that have to be just plain wrong.

Some things that have taken some adjusting: People don't wait in lines for elevators or subways, they just push. Split pants...there's a "split" in young children's clothing so they can just pee (or the other thing) in the grass (or in a subway station...or on a subway on people. Not even kidding, I've seen it or heard stories of friends who have been peed on!). Car horns...not just for the person that pulls out in front of you. Nope, they're used just about every time a car passes someone...which could get really annoying if you live on a busier street (we do).



I hope that gives everyone a little better picture of what the details of my life look like. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me!

God bless,

CK

Freedom in Christ

Throughout the past month I've become pretty convinced that most of us Christians have little understanding of what it actually means to have "freedom in Christ." We probably have little understanding of what it even means to have a relationship with God in the first place...it's something I spend each day trying to figure out.

Ask most people what the point of this relationship is or why I should "ask Jesus into my heart" and I'd be willing to bet that most people would give some sort of response about being able to go to Heaven when they die. Fair enough, but there's far more to it than that. What we do with THIS life matters.

Others, myself included many times, would mention something about "fulfillment" and rightfully so, after all, God created us to know Him and it's only through a relationship with Him that we find our true purpose. But this response inevitably comes up short too because a relationship with God isn't about what WE can get from HIM - fulfillment, happy feelings, purpose, etc.

I recently had the opportunity to show the Jesus Film to four students this past week, and much of the conversation that resulted in the 90 minutes after the movie finished had to do with what it means to have a relationship with God.

Good luck trying to sum that up in 60 seconds or less using about half of the English vocabulary you possess in order to make it simple enough to understand.

It seems that the longer I walk with the Lord, the less and less I truly understand what it means to have a relationship with Him. We try to put it inside a nice little box that makes it easy and convenient for us to be in a relationship with God, but at the end of the day, a relationship with the Creator of the Universe and Author of our faith should not be as easy to summarize as we make it out to be sometimes.

I have had many other conversations since being here that closely resembled the one after watching the Jesus Film, but this time more than any other I left feeling like I could only tell them what a relationship with God is NOT, and not what it IS.

And when we can't wrap our minds around something we create rules, policies, procedures, and guidelines that make us feel more comfortable. "Don't do this, don't do that"...again, looking at it from the angle of what a relationship with God is NOT and not what it IS. If I had a dime for every person I've run into that thinks this is what Christianity is about, I'd be slightly less rich than if I had a dime for every time I've heard someone say they're going to Heaven because they're a "good person." (Show me where that is in the Bible...)

Or there are other things that we think we're supposed to do as good Christians, as if a relationship with God is like checking boxes on a list.

Read the Bible and pray every day and our relationship with God is doing well.

Share our faith once each week and our relationship with God is doing well.

Go to church every week and lead a Bible study and our relationship with God is doing well.

I've read over this passage many times, but it's continually jumped off the page at me the past week or so:

Jesus just finished the Sermon on the Mount a couple chapters ago where he lays out what can easily appear to be practical rules, yet he says,

"I desire mercy, not sacrifice."

Interesting...

Countless other places in the Gospels, Jesus returns to this theme.

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30

My point is, I think there's way more freedom in our relationship with God and our walk with the Lord than we as the Church can even comprehend.

It's easy to preach on Sunday mornings about living by the Word and the guidelines that God has set out for us, and while extremely important, that's not the Gospel.

The Gospel is that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us infinitely more than we can even imagine, passionately wants a relationship with us, and sent His son to die for us so that our lives WOULD'NT be all about rules and guidelines that we have to follow. He simply desires our love.

You can look all you want, but THIS type of relationship is not portrayed ANYWHERE else in our culture or any other culture, which is why it's so hard to fathom. Love that's given freely without having to earn it, grace and forgiveness to cover even the WORST, dirtiest parts of us, and a Father and Friend who wants only the best for us and who will walk with us every minute, every second of every day along the way.

Pray for me, that the Spirit would speak through me to convey these truths to the students here. Truths that I can't even fully comprehend or understand. Would the Lord give ME a better understanding of what it means to have a relationship with Him and would I live out and experience the Gospel this year in a way that I never have before!

How much it hurts

This country seems to magnify everything.

Stress, personalities, shortcomings, sin...

And sacrifice.

After a little over three weeks here, it's become even more clear just how much I've had to give up or sacrifice to be here.

Let me get one thing straight. I'm not complaining. It's hard and it's painful at times, but I knew what I was getting myself into and I'm not complaining.

I could list all the things that've been hard, all the things that've stressed me out, or all the things that I miss about home, but again, that's not my intention behind writing this.

The hardest part by far is picking up and leaving a place where I see so many needs and leaving Amy behind for a year. But where most people weigh the options:

1) Fill a need here at home and stay comfortable, around friends and family, girlfriend

-OR-

2) Pick up and leave everything behind including the most important relationships in your life and enter a world filled with discomfort and inconvenience.

Call me crazy but I obviously chose Option 2.

But as the days pass, I've realized just how hard it's going to be and how high the cost of "going" really is.

For example, Amy.

Fortunately, the longer I'm here, the better our relationship gets and the more I like her. Unfortunately, that also means that it becomes exponentially harder to be here and away from her.

Believe me, if it was possible to be with her without taking away from what I'm doing here, I would be on the first plane home. But it's not...

And the cost of that truth, the patience it requires, and the physical discomfort or pain that sometimes results continues to increase day-by-day.

Don't get me wrong, I love the people here and there are a lot of enjoyable things about this country, but my family, friends, and girlfriend come first.

If I were here for ANY other reason, whether business, studying, or even to make myself a better person or to grow, it would in no way be worth it.

I'm here because God passionately loves these people, I love these people, and He desperately longs for them to have a relationship with Him and to experience the life that He intended for us.

And He sent his Son to prove it.

In a lot of ways, I kind of feel like the Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians. I realize this is FAR from a perfect analogy, but given my circumstances, I can relate to what Paul was talking about.

"If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." -Philippians 1:22-26

*HUGE DISCLAIMER: I in no way mean to equate Christ in this passage with Amy or being back home. I'm only using this passage to make a point. I too, more than anything else in the world, long to be with Christ at the end of my life (and to walk with Him and experience Him in this life). However, God-willing, I am not at the end of my life. Paul was writing because he felt death approaching and his options weren't based on where he would invest his time but if he would be in Heaven with Christ or on earth continuing to do ministry.

I too am torn between two options. Two VERY good options.

But lately, instead of being stressed and discouraged about being so far away from home, I've started to look at things a little differently...

For instance, instead of looking at all the negatives, I've been convinced and amazed at how GOOD and FAITHFUL God has been to me. I get to go through this year with an amazing girlfriend and friends and family that are more than supportive, and I get to be a part of some of God's most amazing work in all of history! I have the best of both worlds!

The past three-four weeks and the next 9 months that I spend here are ABSOLUTELY worth the time that I have invested in it. And I am SO BLESSED to be a part of what's happening here.

In a span of only three days last week, I had the opportunity to share the Gospel with 15 students! I had opportunities to talk with a couple students who have even been struggling to read the Bible because they want to understand Christianity and figure out who this "God" is.

I had the opportunity to tell a student named "Gameboy" that, it is, in fact, possible to talk to God when he asked if it was true that I could communicate with Him. I got to tell him that he, too, could have Jesus as his "peng yo," his friend, and he could talk to Him anytime he wanted...and didn't even have to put his hands together when he did!

One student named Carl after learning that the Gospel was not based on good works and was instead based on God's gift of grace to us said, "[Christianity is] a little different than I thought!"

Students are beginning their spiritual journey toward a relationship with God and I, Chris Kopp, weak, sinful, unqualified, incompetent me, get to take part in God's love story with these students.

Where else in the world can I go out on campus and play basketball, football, frisbee, and ping pong to develop relationships and later in the day get to tell students who have never heard the Gospel about what Jesus has done for them and what He has done for me!?

Where else am I forced to CLING to God during every moment of every day because I'm absolutely convinced of the fact that I can't do ANYTHING here on my own?

It is for these reasons, and the deep and lasting relationships that are made here that it is worth staying. This country, and this "Cause" is absolutely worthy of a year of my life. It is the ONLY Cause that is worthy of my entire life.

One day in the not too distant future, a great crowd will be gathered around the Throne. I picture God asking those whose lives were changed as a result of this incredible time in history in this country to stand. Rising out of their chairs, people from every tribe, nation, and tongue will be represented because of all the people who served in this country, prayed for this country, or gave money to the work being done here and the profound impact that this country had on the nations for generations to come.

Christ has DRASTICALLY changed my life. I have gone from darkness to light. I have gone from depression to a life overflowing with fulfillment and joy. I have gone from a pitiful, mess of a person to, in God's eyes, one of His own children. I once was dead and am now alive.

And I will dedicate this year and the rest of my life to telling people that, whether in East Asia, America, or whatever other corner of the world He calls me to.

-CK

religion vs THE GOSPEL

I’m back after a lull in communication. You probably haven’t missed me that much…

We’re FINALLY doing some stuff on campus. The freshmen arrived on Monday morning bright and early for registration all day. We tried to meet as many new students as possible and had them fill out surveys with their contact information. We had intended on holding some sort of bigger event today that we could invite our new friends to but between the rain and their busy registration schedules, it didn’t amount to much. We’ll try again Thursday afternoon.

Things have been relatively normal lately. (Not having much news from me is good news in some ways.) No broken bikes, no broken toes, and no broken guitar amps (in fact, mine is probably fixable and BJ just bought a new one…we’re all set!).

We won’t start classes for another couple weeks due to the Paralympics taking place right now…we’re actually going to see Wheelchair Basketball tomorrow and “Visually Impaired Goal-Ball” on Sunday…not sure what to expect with the latter but it is guaranteed to be entertaining.

Not knowing the language hasn’t been as uncomfortable and frustrating as you might think so far. When we’re in this area and on campus we’re relatively isolated from having to test our Chinese skills (or lack there-of). In fact, on the campus I’ll be on, 4 out of 5 students speak very good English, and about 3 out of 5 speak well enough to have significant conversations at a heart-level. Their English will be better than our Chinese, hands-down, so there’s really not much of a point in trying to use it to communicate with students on campus.

Every once in awhile an AC repair-man or water delivery guy will venture into our apartment to do business…that’s when things really get interesting and our lack of language skills really shows. Otherwise, even in going to the store and trying to buy things, the little bit of Chinese that I know is enough to get-by. Even so, I’m actually looking forward to taking classes and trying to pick up the language. It will for sure be frustrating and boring at times but I expect it to be more applicable than 1^st-year Spanish in the States…mostly useless unless you happen to find yourself in a zoo or describing colors.

But don’t get me wrong, things aren’t completely comfortable here. The weather has cooled down considerably lately and it doesn’t feel that humid anymore but there’s still a weird “stickiness” to the climate that leaves you sweating just walking around and drenched in sweat after a game of ping pong. It’s hard to describe and I don’t quite understand it, but most days I’m covered in a film of disgustingness by nightfall.

Last night before bed I opened up my toothbrush container to find a large insect crawling onto my hand…I’ve since zipped up my toiletries. (Which is fine unless the insects have begun to nest in my traveling kit.)

But most of this I’ve just grown to expect and have gotten used to…even the little kids with their “split pants” (like a large “fly” in the front and back) who will pee or poop in the middle of a sidewalk or subway station…it’s almost endearing. Or the water delivery guy who when I told him I didn’t know Chinese and gave him a piece of paper to try to write out some numbers or instructions proceeded to fill the paper with Chinese characters…since I can clearly READ Chinese characters if I can’t understand or speak the Chinese language.

What I’ve loved about the country so far (and this is where things turn a little more serious)…and it might sound strange that I love this…is that many of my weaknesses and shortcomings (sin) are magnified and brought out.

You HAVE TO wake up each day and spend time with the Lord or you’ll never survive.

Just being here for these couple weeks has acted as a “spiritual greenhouse” in many ways for me. Things are being revealed about my character and my personality that I haven’t even begun to fix, but I’ve learned a lot about myself already.

Let me focus on one thing for a minute and I’ll be done:

While here, we’ve talked as a team a fair amount about

Religion v. The Gospel

And how one of our main goals as a team is to raise up believers who will not only be fruitful and multiply their lives but will learn what it means to live according to THE GOSPEL for a lifetime.

The tricky thing is that I myself many times don’t even live according to the Gospel.

I always thought I had put religion (rituals, things that must be done to earn forgiveness, acceptance, love) aside in favor of the Gospel, but as the regional director here in East Asia told us how each day he wakes up and naturally gravitates toward religion, I began to take a closer look at myself.

That night when I got home I read through a large portion of Exodus and the entire book of Galatians in The Message version (something I’ve started to do a little lately).

What I saw was a freedom and life of abundance, filled with love that I can’t fully comprehend or get at, but Paul clearly understood it and felt it absolutely essential for us to grasp.

I could go on and on about the things that jumped off the page at me in Galatians that never had before, but more than anything I realized that many times, I can be just as much into keeping rules and trying to earn my standing with God as the Jews were.

How many times have I read the Scriptures because it’s “the right thing to do?”

How many times have I shared my faith on campus out of compulsion?

How many times have I felt guilty about not praying as much “as I ought to?”

But Paul writes in Galatians 2:21:

“Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.”

If my personal walk with the Lord and my service to Him are not motivated by the Gospel and what He's done for me, I'm going to burn out by the time I'm 25.

Instead, I want to be so overwhelmed by the Gospel and the love of Christ that my gratitude spills over in a multitude of different ways.

The way I love my roommates. The way I love my team. The way I love the students here. The way I love my family. The way I love my girlfriend. The way I love myself.

Families are united, marriages are held together, and lives are changed - only by THIS kind of love.

My prayer for myself since getting here is that I would grow to love Jesus more and more everyday and would begin to comprehend more and more just what happened on the Cross and God’s overflowing love for me.

I appreciate what God has done for me but I don’t fully understand the depth of my sin and the depravity of my situation.

I don’t ADORE Him.

But the other night after reading through a large portion of Exodus again, that began to change a little.

I don’t have a smooth transition or a clever metaphor to share here, and this blog will end abruptly (if you made it to the end) but let me close with an excerpt from what I wrote in my journal last night:

“I’ve been reading through Exodus and feel like God’s used it to teach me a little about grace.

There were so many rules people had to follow it’s ridiculous. Sometimes I get frustrated with the Israelites like you do in a horror movie when the main character keeps making all these terrible decisions, but yet again, I’m way more like them than I care to admit.

Just like how they continuously did stupid things, I seem to do the same. Theologically I’ve known that I’m deserving of a spiritual death but it struck me how in the OT, I’m also deserving of a physical death because of the wickedness of my sin. In the same way, I am completely undeserving of life -period - let alone this life He has given to me that is filled with blessing upon blessing.

I wish I had a view of God that was as big and awe-full as people in the OT, a God who strikes you dead for certain sins because He can’t stand unholiness and the filth of our sin, a God who travels in a cloud of smoke and fire and instills and requires worship and fear. I wish I had a view of God that's like that yet completely convinced of His mercy and grace. I want a view of God like that.

I’m a long way from that, but I feel like I moved one step closer tonight.”

CK

IKEA

A day without destruction or anything going drastically wrong! Now that I’ve got one of those under my belt, I can breathe a deep sigh of relief. Don’t get me wrong, the day had its share of ridiculousness and adventure…

IKEA.

A Swedish furniture store that’s probably a lot of fun to visit in the States…not so much in China. We were able to pick up a lot of stuff that we needed for the apartment, but what should’ve taken an hour max turned into quite the ordeal.

First off, we get into a taxi outside of our apartment and I proceed to put my seatbelt on…which I’ve done or attempted to do many times in taxis here. The taxi driver proceeds to turn and say, “Oh, no no no,” shaking his hand and laughing.

I’m not sure if I insulted his ability to drive a taxi or what exactly happened. He was wearing his seatbelt. BJ in the front seat was wearing his. But apparently he didn’t want me to wear mine. Turns out he’s one of the better taxi drivers I’ve had and he probably just wanted to assure me I was safe.

On the way there we were talking with him a little bit with the little Chinese that we know when we passed a guy on an electric bike honking his horn like crazy.

Now, I’ve come to learn in the past few days that honking is NOT a rude thing here. It’s actually a courtesy in most cases letting the person in front of you know that you’re behind them. Whether on a bike or driving a car, you’re always responsible for what’s in front of you and letting people know that you’re approaching and people behind you are supposed to watch out for you. Not the most comforting thing when you’re on a bike and there are taxis and cars diving in and out of the bike lanes but they’ve kept their eye out for me so far!

Back to the biker honking his horn – there was absolutely no one in front of him for several blocks, so everything I just said did not apply. I began to laugh to myself but thought in the back of my mind that there was still the possibility that what he was doing actually served some sort of a purpose…

Nope. The taxi driver soon noticed what I was laughing about and also began to laugh hysterically at this crazy biker!

Okay, getting back on track…

IKEA.

Picture Sam’s Club, or maybe Costco. Now add two more levels and 10 times as many people and you have a glimpse into IKEA – China edition.

No one really told us what to expect, but for the first hour or so we walked around the third floor (which I’m pretty sure you HAVE to start at) looking at all kinds of displays of living rooms, offices, bathrooms, and bedrooms, and picking out things that would come in handy. NO IDEA how to buy any of those things…

Eventually we figured out that the 2^nd floor is where you pick up the items that are showcased on the 3^rd floor. Maybe this is entirely normal for any IKEA store but imagine our confusion trying to figure out prices and how to buy things in Mandorin and Swedish (is that a language?).

The 2^nd floor was great. Lots of everything you could ever want or need and then some. Probably should’ve STARTED there in the first place…

Eventually, after another hour, we made our way down to the 1^st floor where you pick up larger furniture items and check out. Now imagine doing all of this over the course of a few hours with other people walking around frantically, SHOULDER TO SHOULDER, some pushing carts through areas that needed to be MUCH wider for them to do so.

Quite the afternoon, but it was kind of fun!

Fun to do one time.

I will never go back to IKEA.

Chinese Bikes Suck

Please note: This email was from two days ago.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today’s been a crazy/frustrating/funny/ridiculous day. We FINALLY got to a café after all the ridiculousness this morning but still have to get our power working again. Let me tell you about my day…

Things obviously started on a ridiculous note when our power went out. Then we went to our leaders’ place for breakfast which was great except I gave myself a paper cut and my OJ spilled…not a big deal, but I should’ve known the day was going to go this way right then.

We then went to go get cell phones. Okay there. Next was the bike shop…dun dun dun.

I couldn’t really decide what bike to get but we all eventually just paid a little extra with the intention of being able to go mountain biking a little bit throughout the year. We go to leave the store and we get no more than a block away and the wheel somehow gets broken from driving off the curb onto the road. We walked it back and they tried to blame ME for driving it off the curb. IT’S A MOUNTAIN BIKE!!! It’s not supposed to do that! So we left while they were fixing it…already 30 minutes late for lunch and due to a misunderstanding with our landlord, he had been waiting for us to pay rent and go to the police station to register.

But on the way there, it started pouring…great. And about a block from the restaurant Tom slips on a step and possibly broke his pinky toe. I was already frustrated by this point because of the bike store ordeal and told him, “With all due respect, if that had just happened to me on top of everything else, I would’ve been TICKED!” He didn’t take it personally.

We eventually went back with our leader who is fluent and they still were trying to blame us because they thought we had TWO people on the bike when we drove off the curb (not the case) but he got them to give me my money back anyway since he knows them well and brings them plenty of business. It was so frustrating because I had plotted out in my head all the things I would say in English, like, “It’s a MOUNTAIN bike, it’s not supposed to break when I drive off a curb!” but I obviously don’t know a lick of the language to say any of those things. It just makes me upset even still (a little bit….I’m over it!) because I paid extra for this bike with the hope of being able to take it mountain biking but if someone my size can’t even ride it off of a curb, it’s for sure going to break if I’m riding down a mountain…oh well, it’ll cost me $10 to fix it I guess and I should just expect it to happen.

So that’s it…we pretty much missed lunch and I haven’t eaten anything besides a cookie still left in my bag but at least we’re in an air conditioned café and I got to check my email! All in all I have a pretty good attitude about everything but even though it’s only a matter of $8 or so, that probably wouldn’t be the case had I not gotten my money back!

We still don’t have power or internet but will hopefully be getting power back once we leave from here. Hopefully we’ll have internet within the next few days at our place…I’m excited for that.

We definitely haven’t gotten into a groove yet but things have been so ridiculous that it’s almost been fun. We have a couple weeks before students even get here so we’ll do a lot as a team just hanging out and getting to know each other. I feel bad for Jeff and BJ having to lead us around everywhere and take care of us but he’s been a huge help and so have the other long-termers who are pretty good at Chinese.

Alright, that’s it for now, hope everyone’s doing well and I’ll keep you informed!

We Made It!!!

Sorry it’s taken awhile to contact you, but WE MADE IT! The plane ride was long and I barely slept at all just because it was during the daytime most of the way and I was not feeling good at all toward the end, but I managed and we all got here safely and with all of our luggage. There were times where I thought I was going to have to run to the bathroom on the plane but I made it without any such incidences.

When we got here we got dropped off at our places and then headed to dinner together with everyone from both teams. Our apartment is fairly nice except for the kitchen and the bathroom…both are fine but just older. Both also wreak of the traditional Chinese smell…pollution and mostly, sewage. So that’s lovely. More than anything I just hate the smell here in China!

But today we’re going to get cell phones (hopefully), bikes, apartment furnishings, etc. And I stress hopefully because little has gone as planned so far! We walked in and out of the airport upon arrival several times as we communicated with the bus driver where he was supposed to pick us up and the location kept changing. Our electricity “ran out” halfway through the night last night when I woke up sweating because the air had turned off (electricity, internet, etc run on cards that you charge for a certain amount, and once that amount is up, it just shuts off), and so on. The nice thing about our apartment is that people have been staying here for awhile so there’s already a lot of stuff in here…a TV, dressers and shelves, some furniture, beds (even though mine is extremely hard…I’ll have to do something about that), kitchen table, some kitchen supplies, some sheets and pillows, etc. So we probably won’t have to buy a lot of stuff but can just get some things that’ll make it feel more like home. AIR FRESHNERS for starters, a rug for our living room (hardwood floors), and whatever else might make it feel more like home.

I think it’ll be nicer once we straighten it up a bit and the people who are moving to a different apartment get some of their stuff out of here. It’s just kind of cluttered right now between their stuff still being here and this being the “office” apartment where some stuff gets stored anyway.

Things are okay so far. Dinner was good last night and I actually got full but it probably won’t be like that every day. I didn’t have a lot of expectations coming into this but they haven’t really been met so far mainly because it’s just DIFFERENT than what I experienced last time. We’re smack dab in the middle of everything instead of kind of being isolated on a campus like when I was on SP so everything’s just really BUSY here it seems like. I don’t think I’ve met anyone that speaks English yet (not that we’ve had a ton of interaction with people so far) but hopefully that’s just because a majority of the students aren’t here yet and no one seems to care that we’re here unlike last time when we were the center of attention. The Paralympics will be starting soon (or just started?...) so there’s still stuff on our campus. I think that’s the reason for our late class start but I REALLY HOPE that students are coming sooner than that otherwise it’s going to be a LOONG few weeks before classes. I really need to meet some students and be reminded of why we’re here in the first place.

Well I need to go shower since I just crashed before doing that last night and it’s finally light enough to shower without the lights on, but it’ll hopefully get easier to be in contact within the next few days. Please keep in touch and let me know how you are all doing!

Blessings,

Chris

*Please note: Much of what I post here will probably be copy and pasted from emails I have sent so I apologize if there is ever any content that doesn't seem to make sense or apply to you!

The surpassing greatness

The other day before rehearsal at Blackhawk, one of the leaders read off a list of attributes and names of God and asked us to pick one or two that seemed to be most important to us these days. For the past two weeks or so, the attribute of God that has consistently come to mind is GOOD. There are a lot of other words I could’ve chosen, many of them deeper or more complex, but let me flesh this out a little.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything but I figured I should probably tell some of the stories of how GOOD God’s been to me through this support raising process and throughout the past year in general. It would not be glorifying to God for me to keep these stories to myself, so here it goes…

For those of you not aware, I will be leaving in mid-August to do a year of ministry in East Asia, but in order to go I have to raise $36,000 in support. This has been a very up-and-down process for me and my attitude and excitement seems to change with the weather, but I certainly cannot complain, God’s been extremely faithful. It seems like every time I get down about things and start to doubt whether He can come up with this money, He gives me EXACTLY what I need in the form of an encouraging conversation or a substantial financial commitment from places I never expected.

I could talk for hours about all the things God has done in my life over the past year, but there is one story in particular that I want to share regarding the support raising process. This story comes from an interaction that I had with a man that I had never met before, but a friend of mine told me he might be interested in hearing more about my ministry.

So I sent him a letter and followed it up with a phone call. Unfortunately, after a pretty awkward phone conversation, he told me that he had not had a chance to read the letter yet and to call him back a week later once he had a chance to do so. A week later I called back and he still hadn’t read the letter but allowed me to tell him more about my ministry. I was stumbling over my words and thought for sure that nothing would ever come of it, but a week later, I received an envelope in the mail with a $1000 check.

A few weeks later I was returning home from lunch and there was a large box on my doorstep. I NEVER get packages so figured it was probably for one of my roommates, but sure enough, it was addressed to me.

As Amy and I started to unpack the box, we found two books on world missions, a 160gb iPod with my name and Philippians 3:7-14 engraved in the back, and several other accessories for the iPod! Needless to say I was already in disbelief, but I turned the iPod on to find that it only had 30gb of free space. The rest was full of sermons and talks by hundreds of different people along with several video sermons.

No note, nothing. But the return address on the box…

My referral friend from a few weeks earlier, still never having met him.

As superficial as it might sound, this was the one bit of encouragement or confirmation that I felt like I had been waiting for throughout most of the summer.

I never felt like I had a strong CALLING to East Asia. God never wrote it in the sky that I was supposed to go, I never saw Him in a dream, and I didn’t really have a huge preference to go to one country over another.

Instead, I think I’ve realized that it’s more out of OBEDIENCE that I’m going than anything. From Genesis to Revelation, God commands us to GO and shows us His plan for reaching the nations, and I want to be a part of that.

So not having a strong calling and starting to see just how much I would have to give up and other opportunities I would leave behind to go to East Asia, it made me start to wonder if I had made the wrong choice. Was I even supposed to go to East Asia?

Earlier in the day I had reached the 50% mark slightly ahead of time, and then to have this box show up on my doorstep essentially felt like God saying to me, “Hey, let’s celebrate this. We’re halfway there and I’m going to take care of you, this money is going to come in.”

The week after this box arrived, I saw $6000 come in, or about 16% of my total goal.

***

As I think back on the past few weeks and more than that, even specifically the past year or so of my life, it blows me away to see how GOOD God has been to me and how He has poured out blessing upon blessing on my life.

On July 11th of last year, things were not looking up for me. I was at the peak of a pretty rough summer and a season of brokenness, had no idea what I was going to do with my life (I guess that hasn’t really changed!), and seemed to be struggling to even keep my head above water.

I remember one of my first weeks back in Madison being at church and hearing a sermon about pain and suffering. To close the service the band played the song “You Never Let Go” for the first time. As we sang the bridge, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on - and there will be an end to these troubles but until that day comes – still I will praise You, still I will praise You, I did everything I could to fight back the tears.

Fast-forward about 351 days later and I was onstage singing the same song at Blackhawk, again almost in tears, but this time because I couldn’t help but be THANKFUL in God’s presence for the ABUNDANT life that He has lavished on me and for how GOOD He has been.

I’ve been blessed with good health, I have loving and supportive family and friends, in five weeks I get to spend a year in East Asia with some of my closest friends helping to bring God’s Kingdom to earth in this foreign country, I’ve been given so many awesome ministry opportunities in the past year, and I’ve been blessed with an AMAZING girlfriend that I only like more and more every day!

But I realize that in life there will always be ups-and-downs. And despite how good God appears to be at times and how far He seems at others, I can rest in the truth that He is good ALL the time because of what He did for us nearly 2000 years ago.

And the greatest blessing of all is to continue to get to know and be in the presence of a God like that.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him…” (Philippians 3:7-9a)