What Christmas In Hawaii Looks Like (For Me)

(Taken from picturesofwinter.net)

There’s only one drawback to living in Hawaii.

Christmas never really feels like Christmas.

This is my second Christmas vacation spent in Hawaii, and no matter how longingly I stare at the sky every morning no fluffy white snowflakes ever fall.

The landscape has not been transformed by a brilliant blanket of white, the sky doesn’t bite at you with its fangs of gnawing, clawing cold, and wearing a coat and scarf is only going to make you faint of heatstroke.

Being mainlander at heart, and Canadian by upbringing, this sad lack of snow, and yes, cold, hurts me to my snow-loving heart.

I miss digging tunnels into the snowbanks, throwing snowballs at random people, sledding down snowhills, and yes, even shoveling my driveway.

Soccer’s eating up most of my time. I had four games already this week, and since they’re not home games, the entire day is devoured by soccer.

On one hand, I like the regularity the practices give my life. On the other, there are other things I would rather do during all this glorious free time.

Like heading towards the beach.

Speaking of soccer, I’m writing this at my iPod touch, on a bus traveling back from a soccer game against Pahoa. And my fingers are cramping left and right.

Dedication.

When I don’t have a soccer game, I have soccer practice. Starting nine o’clock in the morning.

Only days off are Christmas and Christmas Eve.

After practice, I tend to chill out (not literally of course) on the YWAM base for most of the day. I’ve been playing a lot of the make-it-take-it, no-range-no-change sport: basketball. Hanging out also with a couple other guys on the base (Micah Jackson, Isaac and Noah Han, Josh Kirbo, Ariel and Michael Lima, et cetera).

Watched Inception two nights ago and am hoping to watch the Hobbit sometime. I’m also busy reading the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.

Once I get home I’m usually as busy as an overcaffeinated lawyer in setting up this new custom site and making sure it looks as spiffy and professional as possible.

(Notice the snow falling at the top?)

Wednesday, I chilled out with my mentor, Johnny Gillespie, talking about putting Jesus into every moment in life. And praying crazy prayers. I played tennis on Friday after the short soccer practice, then went to a party on the campus,

So.

That’s pretty much what my vacation looks like and I’m liking it.

Cold and all.

And I hope you have just as happy a holiday season and a very merry Christmas!

(Assuming the world doesn’t end first obviously.)

John's Missionary Journey
My first encounter with missionaries was at Sussex Christian School.
The school sponsored a couple doing missionary work in Chile. The
missionaries would visit the school it seemed like once every two
years and share with us how God is working in the country of Chile.
They shared about how this exotic Spanish speaking country was in need
of hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Some where along the way it was planted in me that I wanted everyone
to know Jesus. I envisioned implementing this goal by going up and
down the street from our home, Route 23, knocking on doors and giving
away my little bible story books. It brought joy to my heart that
Jesus would enter those homes to bring life and destroy the work of
the devil.
As a teenager, I took a trip to Urbana, Illinois to attend a Student
Missions Conference hosted by InterVarsity/USA & Canada. This
conference meets every three years with the emphasis on world
evangelization at the University of Champagne. This huge event caught
my imagination that collectively we are working to share the Good News
of Jesus Christ around the world and students are being targeted to
carry this work forward.
The heavenly salt shaker continued to pour over me creating in me a
thirst to know God. This thirst was filled by reading the Bible and
books that opened up a deeper understanding of God. I was also
privileged to attend a Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids,
Michigan for one year giving me a richer understanding of God's Word.
My mission journey took me into the market place, where I started a
feed and pet store. The store gave me contact with people and
situations where I could communicate the love of Jesus and make him
known. My untaught way of evangelism was that others will know that
we are Christians by our love. My approached changed as I heard Jesus
say "For whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall
the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in
his Father's, and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:26). I was not ashamed
of Jesus and began speaking of my Savior and Lord.
In time, I observed my passion was to know where people were at
spiritually while selling them feed or pet supplies was secondary.
This resulted in my desire to be full time in ministry to make Jesus
known. As I followed my passion, it resulted in me returning to
school for more theological training. This training brought me to
Jerusalem, Israel, Pasadena, California and Grand Rapids, Michigan.
After my training, a door opened up for me to be a pastor in Blyth,
Ontario to be pastor of Blyth Christian Reformed Church.
Leading the congregation in Blyth was a privilege and honor. This
was our home and community. I was privileged to meditate on God's
Word during the week and share with the congregation what I heard from
God for us as a community. Then I sensed God releasing me from Blyth
CRC, while being unsure what our next step was.
We eased into a transition by doing a Crossroads Discipleship
Training School with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in 2010 with an
outreach to India. As we went through the school, we were trained to
expect people to be saved and people would be healed as we prayed for
them. On our outreach, we implemented what we were taught with the
greatest reward was our ministry to the temple prostitutes.
A wonderful testimony we share is God's provision. God clearly spoke
to me before I left Blyth that his arm had not grown weak even though
the cost of doing the school was about $60,000. We had to borrow
$21,000 to do the outreach, yet God promised provision. The
provisions came through when we returned to Blyth in the summer of
2011, and received tax money, donations and sale of some of our
household stuff, we had more than $21,000 to repay the entire debt.
God was faithful to his promise.
What I discovered is that God's revelation that his arm is strong
continues to be true. As we returned to YWAM to serve on staff, God
continues to provide. We have entered a new level of trusting him as
our cost have increased by renting a house, tuition cost and all the
other living cost. We are over our heads and this brings us to our
knees seeking God's help.
My inspiration is from the greatest missionary of all time, Jesus.
His mission was to bring heaven to earth, which resulted in healing of
the sick, raising of the dead and casting out of demons. He came to
seek and save the lost and destroy the work of the devil. Jesus meets
with his disciples in the last days of his life and said "I tell you
the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.
He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the
Father" (John 14:12).
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Kuperus family

Items for prayer:
-Thanks for Jesus meeting students in a powerful way bringing transformation.
-Thanks for God giving us a house in Kona for our home.
-That the fire of God deposited in the hearts of students may continue
to burn in the nations of the world where they are sent.
-For Helen and Alisha as they are on a trip to India.
-Continued direction in our lives and with the mission.

Testimonies

Testimonies 2012

The Kuperus family have been such a blessing to me during my time in
Kona! Everywhere I would go around campus, it seems like one of the
kids would see me, say "Hi," or offer a hug. The whole family is so
hospitable. Now that I'm leaving Kona, it's friends like John, Helen,
and the gang that I'll cherish the most from this experience! Travis
Peterson

John
I wanted to tell you that Kendra and I have really appreciated your
being part of Crossroads DTS leadership. You are a gentle and humble
man, full of compassion—so much of Jesus I see in you. You are always
there when prayer is needed and you pray with faith, believing God to
do what is needed. Your gentle voice and a hand on our shoulders as
you pray for us, we feel safe and loved. You speak words of
encouragement and truth, leaves us feeling welcome—we know you care
and that you are sincere. You have been a blessing this past 2.5
months, to both of us. And you still have time to take care of your
family's needs also. Thank you for the love and truth spoken. You
are an honorable man. We have been blessed by you. God bless, Gordon
& Kendra

What I Think About Goalkeeping

My name made it into the newspapers the other day.

Not like the headline news or anything, but nonetheless, my name, Joshua Kuperus, has found its way onto the printed page of West Hawaii Today. Twice actually. It’s also in the Sports Section for cross country. My one friend, Bronston Kosso, makes it in the papers like every three weeks, but we’re not talking about that.

So how, exactly, did my name attract enough attention to achieve newspaper-worthy status?

One word. Goalkeeping.

So far, I haven’t been scored on at all during game-time. Shutout. Sure, I’ve got a killer defense, and sure, I haven’t had a serious shot on me yet, and sure, maybe I’ve only played in the second half (unless it’s a team that’s truly horrendous), but this shall join Bronston Kosso in the list of untalked about subjects.

I started soccer reluctantly enough, and goalkeeping even more so.

Yet, enough pressure can change a coal into a diamond, and enough pressure was applied to me from the team captain and the coach and the school and my mom, that I decided (insert coughing fit here) to join soccer.

taken from: http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/apttone/apttone1010/apttone101000002/7924781-diamond-on-black-background.jpg

I still remember that fateful day I walked into the office and announced that I was going to join soccer, and that fateful moment when I signed my name beside slot number ten.

I still remember both the principle and the secretary thanking me profusely and assuring me that, I was now “the most popular guy in school”.

Since it was early in the morning, and there were like three kids at school, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true.

Anyway, what do I think about being goalie? Stressful. Very stressful.

At least at first.

When you’re a player on the field, you make dozens of small mistakes. But when you’re in net, every mistake is scarily public. And if you make that one tragic mistake, the mistake all goalies fear, the mistake all good goalies have nightmares about, there isn’t anyway to redeem yourself.

It didn’t help my paranoia to learn that in order for the black-and-white patched ball to be barreling down the field towards me, it had to have gone through ten other players. Not a mote.

My fears endured until one day, about two weeks into the season, the coach pulled me from the net and told me to relax. Chill out. Have fun being in net.

That changed my whole outlook.

I’ve learned to enjoy diving and not worry about hurting my sides (I think the black-and-blue splotches on my hips are permanent now. They’re kind of like weird tattoos).

I’ve learned to enjoy blocking hard shots, make some sweet saves, catch a toe-poke shot to the upper-left corner like it was a two-year old baby girl’s kick.

It’s helped me to think of myself as being a mother with a baby in my net, and all those players bolting down the field at me as trying to kill my baby. That, to me, mirrors the desperation I need to have to save the ball.

One quick word of advice to all the aspiring goalies out there: make sure that you invest in some decent goalie gloves. In the past, I used my friend’s old ones and they looked like this:

Right now I use Nike GK JR. Grip Size 7 (I have kind of small hands. Here’s a link to learn more about them:  Nike GK Junior Grip White/Yellow/Black Goalkeeping Gloves) They’re pretty cheap (for gloves) and are working out really well for me.

So, to sum up: what do I think about goalkeeping? Now that I’ve been training awhile, have the rudiments rudimentarily learned, gained more confidence in net, I’ve begun enjoying the position.

I like it. Quite a bit.

Everything except for the bruised hips.

P.S. Three of my cousins, my sister and my mom have all played goalie. Talk about genetics.

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa!

 It's 12/12/12 as of today, the last repeating digits for the next century or so, the world's probably going to end soon and the Mayans are going to laugh at us in their graves, and it also happens to be my Grandparents' 50th anniversary.

I sent a letter to them on a bit back, and I'm not sure if it made it to them. I wrote aforementioned letter in my most formal of formal prose, and looking back, I might have over did it just a bit. Still, I wrote it to honor them, and in that way I believe I succeeded.

Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa! We send you our love from here in Hawaii, and wish we could be opening Christmas presents with you! God bless you specially today!


 Joshua Kuperus
 (Content here removed by administrator.)

 http://kuperusfamilyblog.blogspot.com

To be read December 12, 2012

Dear Grandpa and Grandma,

With the one of every two marriages ending in divorce and divorce rates steadily climbing, staying together fifty years is an incredible accomplishment, a marvelous feat, an extraordinary achievement. (You have my heartfelt permission to congratulate yourselves enthusiastically and loudly.)

I am honored to have you as grandparents and I treasure the few times that we have been together, the too few memories we share. I remember and thank you for always having held out your arms to welcome us back to New Jersey. I remember Grandpa setting up that basketball hoop in my driveway in Canada just for me, when he was on vacation, no less, and that shows me once again just how much love the two of you share.

I scored a lot of three pointers, and won a lot of 'horse' games with that net.

You have blessed us so much. Grandma’s food in particular was fantastic. Grandpa’s jokes and stories always make me laugh, and cheer me up.

Fifty years together is a long, long time, yet I’m sure that today you’re looking back into the photo album of your life together and wondering where the time flew.

You have braved some ups and downs, some mountain peaks and valley lows in your roller coaster life, and yet you two stayed together through good times and bad, in health and in sickness, for richer or for poorer. You stayed together, bound by your marriage vows, strengthened by love and God’s grace, and for that I do love you, praise you, admire you.

In a world shattered by divorces, darkened with the increasing fragility of marriage vows, you two stand together like a beacon of light, an example that it can be done.

I pray now every night that your love for each other will ripen with age, just like good wine. I pray that God will bless you with even more years in each other’s arms, I pray that the last years of your marriage will be even better than the first.

I could go on much longer, but now that my space is drawing to a close, I am forced to conclude: If my marriage were to be nothing more than a half’s half as long and strong as yours, I would consider myself highly blessed. Your footprints guide the next generation, and without you, we wouldn’t be here. Thank you for leading us along a way that takes us deeper into the blessings and grace of God.

May the LORD bless you, and keep you, may the LORD turn His face towards you, and grant you His peace,
Your loving grandson,



Joshua Kuperus

December for Me

'Tis the season to be jolly ...

The season is now upon us, the time of jolly tipsy Christmas carolers, candy canes, prayers to St. Nicholas, church-going, stockings and fireplaces, hot chocolate, presents, gifts, cards, gift-giving, Charles Dickens, pine trees, and snow — well, for some of us anyway.

(Picture taken from Wikipedia.)

Where I live, snow is about as abundant as honest politicians.

I'm not going to talk much about Christmas, since holidays never meant much more to me than a few days off of school. (I went to a goalkeeping practice on Thanksgiving Day. That should tell you something.)

I'm also not going to apologize for my long hiatus (think Mt. Everest stacked on Mt. Kangchenjunga long), because by now you should realize, dear long-term reader, that oftentimes my posts are as few and far between as warm socks in wintertime.

 I mostly decided to write this little post in order to let you all know that I am not getting high of Dropjes still and because my good friend Mr. X (don't know if he wants his name on the internet) berated me, as only Mr. X could, on my FaceBook wall for my abusing the relationship between me and you.

(Thanks for the motivation, Mr. X! I appreciate the feedback [and comments on this blog, hint, hint] as much as I like Pizza Hut's all-you-can-eat buffet after a cross country race.)

Beginning of the season. My thighs got tanner as the season progressed. And I got smarter. I started wearing my spandex UnderArmour.

Life has been going fantastically well. Even with thighs that glow in the dark.

Cross country season ended and soccer season began. I'm the goalkeeper for the team, and my goal for each practice is to get my shirt as dirty as possible. Diving into Old A's wonderful soccer field is as awesome as Halo 1's graphics. My washing machine loves the business also.

By the way, I made it to states in cross country, which was my goal, originally missing the slot by one place, and managed to make 100th place in all of Hawaii. Yay.

I got a letter in the mail letting me know that I was selected for a state team going to Australia, and wondering if I had the money to go. Well, after my stint at construction over the summer, yes, yes, I do have the money to go, but I would rather it in the bank than in a torn airplane ticket. 

Life is also as busy as a mouse in a wheel, but in all honesty, that's how I like life best. Life's a legal midget if you ask me, way too short to not be busy. If I'm not having a soccer game on the weekend, or doing a hill workout with James Whalen, or an hour long run with James Whalen or doing goalkeeper extra practice with the coach and James Whalen, then I'm at a sophomore beach party with my class, catching some waves.

Side note: As I'm writing this, salt water has begun dripping out of my nose onto the floor. Cheers.

Another side note: Fortunately for me, I seem to have figured out that I am a white kid with thighs as white as snow, and the purpose of sunscreen, so I'm only slightly burnt.  Definition of slightly burnt: I'm not going to have half my body peeling off like an orange tomorrow.

Last side note: Since I've looked like Harvey Dent after the majority of my beach trips, this was an improvement for me. Think Apple OS X over Microsoft MS-DOS type of improvement and you'll come close.

November was as crazy as I am, with the soccer season starting and writing a novel in a month for my English honours class. I was only supposed to do 40, 000 words, but my end result was only 400 off of 50, 000. Oh, the joys of over-outlining.

I'm busy reading Of Mice and Men, and The Old Man and the Sea for English class, and for the assignment due for both of them on Monday. Or would be, if I weren't at the family computer, chewing on my fingernail and wondering what I should write next.

Sundays are dedicated to going to church at Solid Rock (9 o'clock service, you should go too), and attempting to take a nice run home at a five minute mile pace.

Five minute miles are about as easy as unstudied-for exams in my opinion, (I'm not even sure if I've even done one) and if you're unfit: impossible to do without having a heart attack.

(By the way, Ryan Hall's Running With Joy is a good book if you know anyone who runs and can't think up a Christmas present.)

I've started training for the next cross country season, and my goal is to be able to run six miles at a five and a half minute pace beside the road and not be killed by some drunken local coming back from the beach in the meantime.

(Taken from http://www.kiheirentacar.com/jeeps_trucks.html)

I would appreciate you mentioning me in your prayers before bed each night.

Exams start next week Tuesday, and those are always fun. Three cheers for cramming!

Christmas holidays begin the week after exams, and I've always enjoyed going into the holidays with dark bags under my eyes.

Sum ego, consummavi.

Finis.