John Kuperus' Post

Kuperus’ family’s mission story

In April I shared how our family was planning to attend The University of the Nations, with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Hawaii to take the “Crossroads Discipleship Training School.” This training includes twelve weeks of lecture and an eight week field assignment in another country. This training is described by YWAM as “a wild pursuit of God and His heart for the nations.”

Following is an account of our adventure.

When we departed from Blyth, my objective was to be obedient to God’s call to “go to other towns and villages” and to have a little time to recharge. This venture involved giving up the security of a pay check, a house, our school and our familiar surroundings. We packed our belongings into a 53 foot trailer and took our luggage in a travel trailer to live off of for the next five months.

We were off on September 20, 2010. As part of our trip, we decided to drive across the USA and see natural wonders like the Grand Canyon, which was truly inspiring and breath-taking. My heart resounded with an “amen” to God’s glory being displayed in creation. We also visited historic sites like Mesa Verde, where we saw how Indians lived long ago. We arrived in Los Angeles by September 30 to catch our flight to Hawaii.

Financially, we realized that unless God came through and provided for us, we would be incurring a large debt or we would not be able to do the outreach. With my wife and I studying at the University of the Nations, six of our children in the Foundation School, a care taker caring for our youngest son, and the plane tickets, it was a steep price. I felt God spoke to me with the words “Has my arm grown weak?” and I responded in faith to trust God to provide for our financial needs. I can report that God was faithful and some very generous individuals blessed us with financial gifts.

The training we received was different each week, with a new instructor and a different topic. Three examples of teaching stood out for me.

Our first speaker challenged us with the thought “When you get to heaven and see the wonder and beauty of God, would you lament that you lived your life on earth in the light of a small God instead of the greatness and the wonder of our awesome God?” Moses was concerned about this and said in Exodus 33:18, “Now show me your glory.” Moses knew that his perception of God impacted the way he lived his life, so he wanted to see God’s glory. The instructor’s challenge continues to cause me to reflect on how I see God as small or great. Am I living my life in the light of the greatness of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords or in God being small and powerless? I continue to pray as Moses prayed “Show me your glory” because I want to live within the greatness of God.

Another teaching that came through very clearly is that Jesus told his disciples, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons” (Matthew 10:8). The speaker asked, “Are you doing what Jesus commanded us to do?” The instructor continued by modeling this ministry for us. He asked if anyone wanted prayer. I volunteered in our group because my one leg was shorter than the other one which was negatively impacting my back. I received prayer for my leg as I was sitting with my leg stretched out. My leg began to grow as I received prayer. That was a faith building experience for which I thank Jesus.

A comment from another speaker that struck me was “the biggest hindrance to mission work today is parents.” As parents we want to protect our children and see them in secure places. If God calls our children to dangerous countries or places, we say “no.” If God calls our child to give their lives without financial reward, we say “no.” Jesus was willing to leave the security of heaven and come to the insecurity of earth and be born in a stable. We reason “but that was Jesus, surely he does not want us to be in dangerous places for the gospel”. Yet Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow him (Luke 9:23). When we follow Jesus, he did not promise his disciples a bed of roses; in fact he says “a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God” (John 16:2). Jesus expects us to be willing to lay down our lives even to the point of death and not be cowards.

With our training complete, we were on our way to India for our outreach. Before I came to India I had some reservations about the country because I had studied with Indians in Germany and they gave me some of their food and it almost made me sick. The hot, spicy food was something I would have to adjust to. I can share that we ate Indian food and managed very well as a whole family. My son Joshua commented “The way to a man’s heart is through the stomach,” and he came to appreciate their food. We all picked up the custom of eating with our hands, because the Indians customarily do not use utensils for eating.

One of the highlights of our trip of trip in India was two conferences that we helped lead. The first three day conference was for pastors who were traveling from 10-300 kilometers away. The conference center held 170 guests and was overflowing.

Once the conference began, the Indians enthusiastically sang and clapped. Psalm 47:1 took on new meaning for me when it says “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.” Their worship time included lots of clapping and excitement which would last for two to three hours. We were not always sure what was being communicated, because they would speak in their language, Kannada. One of the last things we did was to wash the feet of the pastors and their spouses. As we let the love of Christ be expressed in this way, many of us broke down and started to cry. One of the pastors shared later that he came to the conference very proud and had not cried for years, as his feet were washed, his pride was broken and a powerful release came in his life. It was a life-changing experience for him and many others.

The second conference was for temple prostitutes known as “devadasie”. These ladies came with their children. This is a sad custom in India where families give up their young daughters as prostitutes to appease the gods. Our objectives were to express the love of Jesus to these ladies and to communicate that they are image bearers of God. I think that for many of them this was the first time they slept on a bed instead of on a mat on the floor. Toward the end of this conference we had a foot washing too. The washing had a powerful impact on the ladies as the love and servant hood of Jesus flowed through us to the ladies and lots of tears flowed. These women are the outcasts of their society and to be treated with respect and dignity was tremendous experience for them. One woman commented that was the first time she experienced genuine love.

In addition to the conferences, we spoke at numerous churches. The pastors would ask me “Do you have a word of encouragement for us?” I normally said “Yes.” Then they would ask, “How long is your message?” I said, “15 – 20 minutes.” They would say, “Is that all?” (Indians are used to 45 -60 minute sermons.) With the translations my time was doubled and so the time allotted to me was filled.

We also visited 3 schools. At the schools, we were treated as foreign dignitaries. On India’s Republic Day they had an outdoor assembly of a school with 500 students. We sat in place of honor and were asked to give a message at the assembly. We observed the students were well-behaved and respectful to others. We heard how Indians have impacted with world with their industrious work force and ideas. It was a privilege to interact with the students and the staff.

We also visited one AIDS hospice with an orphanage to care for the children left behind. One lady was 37 years old, but she looked 87; she died the day we were there. The HIV disease is so deadly and at least one community was willing to help a few of the many that are infected. The hospice was a testimony to us to help people in great need.

We experienced Indian hospitality with them warmly welcoming us into their homes. People wanted to be prayed for, because they believed God was able to heal the sick and cast out demons and dispel the darkness.

We were also blessed by the testimonies of Indians. One Hindu man was very hostile toward Christians and heckled in their meetings. He experienced the power of The Gospel and came to believe Jesus as his Savior. Today he is a pastor. Another testimony is of a man who was arrested for sharing his faith in Jesus. The prison guards forgot to take away his cell phone, so while he was in prison and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the other prisoners; they wanted to have a Scripture of their own. He would call his friends on the outside and after one week, he had seventeen Bibles delivered in the prison. The prison guard said “You better get out of here before you make this place into a church.” He was released after one week in prison.

In conclusion, we were blessed beyond our expectations. It will be a year that we look back on with fond memories. I wish that every family could receive discipleship training. YWAM believes that God uses ordinary people from all different ways of life and welcomes almost everyone. Our class models this and we had a lawyer and his family from England, a farmer of 11,000 acres from Saskatchewan with four children, an economist from Norway, a factory worker from China, a lab worker and his family from Tennessee and Jimmy the carpenter from Texas and others. If you want a challenge, try foreign missions. We thank God for His work in our lives and that we could share the good news of Jesus Christ with others.