Now being fully funded, I had to raise $14,300….and I have it. World Race was a dream. Never thought it’d be true. Never thought I would accomplish it. Never thought I “had it in me” to put forth the time and effort to make it a success. Somehow I made it to training camp, somehow I made it to launch and the first 3 months of the race, and now, somehow I made it 7 months and will be able to finish 11 months.
Do not EVERtell me what’s realistic. Do not EVERtell me “Oh that’s a lot of money, I’m not sure that’s going to be possible”. Do not EVER tell me “man I’d love to support you, but what if you don’t come up with the rest of the money?” You can speak life or death into a situation, literally. It’s up to you and what faith YOU have, and how much you trust the Lord, if you’re a Christian.
I’ve learned a lot from this whole fundraising process. It really is a true test in itself and something to test your limits. I 100% needed what happened with me in my fundraising process. I’m so, so much stronger in my trusting that God provides. Even when you think your not worthy of it or think it wont happen, he surprises you. He tells you “well done”, and provides. Trust me! I’ve had these thoughts many times and believed there have been times I don’t deserve to be here, but God has GRACEand knows my heart, and what I’m going to accomplish in HIS glory!
So I’m going to Africa! And actually I’m late in typing this blog and I’m here now and LOVING it! Encouragers - keep encouraging…PLEASE! We are human and we NEED it. Discouragers – Christian or not, I instantly want to be mean, but I can’t. I will say though, Jesus has a much bigger reality then yours. What makes sense to you and what’s realistic to you is NOT what’s realistic for our God. If you want to know more in depth of what I’ve learned from this whole process, message me on FB or email me. I really have been strengthened so much in this, and now want to practice heavy encouragement even more.
Thank you so much! I have 3.5 more months of the WR and ill be home! Love you!
The past couple months of my race have been a whirlwind of emotions and events. I’ll give a nutshell of what I’ve done in the past couple months. It a somewhat lengthy blog but stay with me!
Thailand we worked with a pastor and his home church with him and his family. We went to local villages throughout the area and visited his friends that he hasn’t seen in a while, some people he used to disciple, and sometimes we went to random houses and villages teaching them about God or giving a quick story about something that God has done in our lives. Now, I cannot put any judgment on it but sometimes my team and I thought we were “speed saving”, if you will. Our translator and pastor would just want to go in and give that word and then leave. We felt like we didn’t get to build any relationships with the locals. However, again, there’s no judgment. We were there for a reason. We became very close with the family and out translator, and were really able to poor into them. During one Sunday I preached on how no matter what we do…God is still pursuing us, and he has pursued us since the beginning of time. I think this was my first time ever preaching, and it felt so good!
Next stop was Cambodia, and I had no idea what to expect. We had debrief here for 4 days which was fun. Some people came out from WR (World Race) to talk and see how we are all doing, just do some things to learn and build each other up. For a small example, we did an activity where we stared in another person’s eyes for 1 minute and talked how we felt, and Sean explained his reasoning for doing it. We also did a talent show and it was optional, but they told me I HAD to play a song on my guitar. My leaders know I love my guitar but I’m terrified to play in front of people. So…I “made up” a song and no idea what to do. It was just a couple sentences and a couple random chords. I played in front of my 46 squad mates and all the WR staff that came out. By the end of it I was almost in tears and afterwards everyone said they absolutely loved it and several said they began to cry because it was just me pouring my heart out to God with how I was feeling about life. I guess they all felt my heart on it. So that opened up a door for me because that was the first time I’ve played a song on my guitar in front of people.
Cambodia was, at the time, my favorite month on the Race. We worked with RFC (Rock Foundation Cambodia) which was an American man, Brett, and his wife. He moved to Cambodia several years ago after going there on a trip previously with YWAM. Now he has started his amazing ministry there about 1 year ago. I related to Brett so much. Brett is a young guy with tattoos, loves to ride dirt bikes, and whose purpose out there is to go out to where no one wants to go, and build people up. He is all about building the relationships and doing everything he can to simply help others with what they need. So in Cambodia we worked with about 4 different very poor villages we called the dump village where a family made about $15 a month, the flood village who literally lives in a ditch, the rock village where they broke boulders off the side of a mountain and then into smaller gravel sized rocks to make $20-25 a month per family. Then we went to the homes around where we lived. In these villages we built very good relationships, heard many, many people’s hearts on life and everything. Every Friday we made a dinner for the rock village and in several villages we had bible studies where the people were excited for them! This was all so, so incredible because of the time Brett, his wife, and Pastor Thyvenn had already poured into these people, made friends, got close, built a total of about 25 homes, and really just loved how Jesus loves, and went literally where no one else goes or would want to go help. We also worked with Pastor Thyvenn who became an incredible friend who I hope I will see again. He has a little wooden church in a neighborhood and we taught English there 3 days a week, and again just got to know the neighboring people and build the relationships. I had to “preach” again and I had no idea, but then I thought about washing feet! So I read about Jesus washing the Disciples feet and explained it. Then everyone washed everyone’s feet in some buckets I had got! It was so awesome! Everybody loved it. No one had ever experienced it before.
In short, Cambodia is a place I would love to go back to. There’s so much I could see myself doing there! And the kids are awesome! Oh and us guys also we to Brett’s property, camped out for a couple days and worked, cleaning and cutting all the brush and clearing around the 100 mango trees. It was hard HOT work, but it was great! OH YEAA! I also rented a Honda XR 250 dirt bike for most of the month and I was able to have a ton of fun on that and I had a little taste of some freedom!
Last month I was in Vietnam and it to, was incredible. I’ll save that for another blog. Now I’m in Malaysia. Thanks for stickin with me! And I’m still in desperate need of support!!! I need about $2500 in the next couple days. PLEASE help me and do what you can do!!!! I must continue to Africa!
Hello friends!
I need help! PLEASE! I'm not coming home just yet, but it is a High possibility if I do not receive funds ASAP! I know I have not posted many blogs! It is partially because my computer has been broken for 3 months. But as always I HATE asking people for money! I thought by this time on the World Race I would be over the shyness…but I’m more shy now then ever lol. I need about $2,500 in 1 WEEK! Please ask yourself the question, “WHAT CAN I DO”?! I need your help guys! DO NOT dwell on the thought of “well what if I give and he doesn’t make the rest”. I don’t want to hear that. Give or don’t. I don’t say that to be mean, at all, but our God is a huge God. I have not made the effort I should have to reach this LAST deadline, but I’m trusting 100% that my efforts in the next week will get me to Africa and finish my Race. So, Please anything from $1-$2,500 will do!
If you are interested in donating go to the “Support Me” link on my blog homepage. You can send a check or use a credit/debit card. The link will guide you! Please tell anyone and everyone about me! Maybe you can be more bold then me. And outside of all of this if anyone has questions about how im doing or what is going on, I would be more then happy to talk! I just really needed to get this blog out to let people know! If people don’t know that I need money, they wont know to send it.
Alright, thank you guys so much! I’m in Malaysia this month in the middle of a jungle doing some construction and fixing up a property! I’ll get another “nice” blog up soon with how the past 3 months has been (its been kind of crazy), and get pictures up! You can also search my name (Ben Coppock) in Facebook to view the albums, if you have FB. Love all you guys!
Sincerely,
Ben Coppock
Bennycoppock.theworldrace.org
Bcfox005@gmail.com
Hey, thank you SOOO much to those who have given, and those who have been praying for me! It means more then you think! Please, please, please continue praying for my team, squad and myself. Everyone is doing good, and I LOVE my team. They are an amazing family for this journey!
So I have about $9,050, and need $10,500, So im almost there!!! You guys have been incredible and generous!
If anyone has thought about giving or still would like to, orrr if you have donated and want to donate morrrre, feeeeel free, haha! This 2nd deadline is almost met, and I NEED your support!
What im going to do now is match any donations made to my account, up to $1000, until Jan 4th. This is when we leave Nicaragua and head to the states for a couple layovers then to Thailand. The deadline is Jan 1st but if they see money coming in (which there is) they should give me a little more time. But PLEASE dont let any of that hold you back! Do it NOW!
On the left side of my blog is the "Support Me" link, and there you can donate by check or credit. Any questions please let me know! Oh and subscribe to my blog!
We can do this guys :)! Lets get it!!! Love you all and thank you so much!!!
If you want to donate by mail, below is the info:
Please mail your tax-deductible contribution to:
Adventures In Missions P.O. Box 534470 Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
Be sure to indicate the purpose of your gift on your check:
For Benny Coppock (Please include the world racer's full name)
In the quiet of the MORNINGS, God is waiting for us there. Psalms 5:3 tells us to pray earnestly to God every day…in the mornings and wait EXPECTANTLY. This is when our mind is most free from problems and distractions. There in that place, whatever, where ever it is for you…he’s there. With that cup of coffee, or that one worship song, or on your patio looking over what he’s created, he will meet you there. Close your eyes…he’ll pull up a chair with you, sit with you, talk with you, listen to you. He’ll hug you, whisper in your ear “please know you can trust me”. He’ll say, “Meet with me every day, I have so much for you. I am God…I give good gifts, and you my son, deserve them”. Our God is a living God, literally. Try, just tryyyy to begin ridding yourself of your selfish desires and finding who God has made you to be. I’m in the process of doing this and will probably always be, and it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It’s not easy and you are going to want to give up sometimes, but it is worth fighting for, HE is worth fighting for.
Someone reminded me the other day that this life is not my own. This life…is NOT my own, but I/we can choose to make it our own, and it be one of the worst mistakes I could make. PRAISE GOD my life IS HIS and in his hands…..cause I hate who my flesh thinks me to be. I hate what my flesh is and desires. Drives me crazy, But it is TRULY ONLY through Jesus I’m no longer that person, although the enemy sometimes wants to sneak in and tell me I am. God has called me to this Race to see who he is, how big he is, to give me passion for the kingdom, etc. He is doing so much…and it’s because I’m letting him. I’m meeting with him. I don’t understand a lot of things that happen but that’s ok. I meet with him and I bring to him what I want for that day…and I wait EXPECTANTLY! And again it is because God DOES give good gifts, and wants us to want these things and HE WANTS to give them!
I don’t want to make this to long cause I want people to read it lol, so thank you everyone who is supporting me and praying for me! Today is Christmas and I’m just soaking in the Holy Spirit this morning with typing this and listening to worship music and just being struck with thankfulness! God is SO good to us if we let him be. If we sincerely make him greater and ourselves less, life change can happen. That’s a verse but I forget where! Love you all!
MERRY CHRISTMASSSS!
I won the block carrying competition lol
Some of our goofy Christmas pics in front of our Christmas tree!
Sooo I’m coming up to my 3 month mark on the World Race and so far it has been an up and down hill battle with me, myself and God. I’ve had good times and bad times. I’ve had God bring some things to life in me and some things, through continually being broken more and more every day, in me that need to die. Things that do not define who I am because they are not what God define me as. So far, this month in Honduras is quite good. I’m becoming more disciplined in a lot of ways, and my eyes are being opened in situations, I’m becoming more thankful!
I’ll explain all of the above in another blog, but this one I just need to make shorter and to the point…I’m kind of scarred rite now, I MUST HAVE $2,400 by Jan 1st. And I automatically revert to “its not happening”, but I said that about myself coming on the race…and I’m here…and I’m being used…and It’s good.
So I’m asking that WHOEVER sets eyes on this blog will help me. I want you to WANT to help me though. I want you to WANT to be a part of this experience with me and ask me questions and have visions and words for me, because I WANT anyone I know to be a part of this with me, SO bad. More now then ever! I want people to feel in their heart what’s in mine, good or bad, so they truly know what I’m experiencing.
So please, if you’re able to, join me in this. If you haven’t donated before please do! If you have donated before…donate again lol! I need to be bold rite now and just say that.
On the left of the blog site there is a “Support Me” link, and you can mail checks or use a debit (but debits take some out for processing). Any questions PLEASE ask me!
Also if you want good ideas for some good worship get “Will Reagan & the United Pursuit”, and “Jonathan David Helser”. VERY GOOD stuff!
Hey everyone! Please check the re-cap video of Honduras and let me know what you think! I really wish I would have had more in there but I didn’t have my camera out to much. I will have you know though that Honduras was incredible! It was hard and I saw a lot (although I wanted to see more) of sad things and how people live AND how hungry they were for Jesus although it was an incredibly dangerous place. I really feel like Zions Gate may have me back there soon to help Tony and Nadia bring their vision to life!
So these are most of the boys that live with Tony and Nadia at Zions Gate. They seriously touched my heart big time. I felt, spiritually and physically, how huge their hearts. They are perfect examples of Gods work. All of these boys were literally living on the streets and in dumpsters. And most of them were huffing paint thinner and smoking weed at 8 years old. Tegucigalpa, Honduras is a very sad place, but one FULL of HOPE, I promise! I’ve seen and felt it and want to go back and help it. These boys now live with Tony, work on the property, and some are going to begin school, and they are all so excited about it.
This is Ronny one of the older boys, and he has a great story and now wants to become a pastor. It was incredible to see how crazy excited he was to become a pastor one day.
This here is crazzzzy Fernando, one of the toughest kids ive ever met. He acts tough but this kid will love you like crazy if you let him! Annnnnd he accepted Christ one night at a "Passion" play.
This is Lewis. I told him over and over that God showed me that hes going to be an incredible leader one day. Hes a boy now, but hes strong and makes good decisions, and is an influence to everyone around him. He tried teaching me Spanish all the time and wouldnt let me ask anyone for help lol.
Arieeel! I love this kid. He to is one of the older boys. Hes an angel, I swear lol. He has such an innocent heart, and that smile never left his face. He had some mad joy in his heart.
This is Dania! She is Ariels and Ronnys sister, and shes incredible! She to has such a genuine heart and really loved spending time with us and really getting to know us deeply. She like most Honduran women, is so so strong! I loved encouraging her and then her loving it and giving me a huge hug :),
This is one of the boys we met the first night. He to has a crazy story to tell about his life and finding Christ. He's a "tough guy" but I told him he has a soft heart. You can see it so big when you watch him interact with everyone. Hes a man with passion and love!
Annnnnd this is Zeb! Awesome brother who was living/working there and he is a World Race alumni.
And theeeeeese 3 girls are the infamous Tres Gringas haha. Ashley (right) is also a former World Racer. And they are from Canada, but I gave them slack casue they were awesome! Had some good laughs, and they are some strong passionate women!
This is my ice cream cone.
So yea, I hope you were able to read everything! Ill hopefully have more recaps of each month and some little ones in between!
Month one is over in Guatemala. It was definitely not how I thought it was going to be. Me and a lot of others on my squad had the idea that we were going to get here and our lives be instantly changed. NOPE! That wasn’t the case at all. Month one was hard, spiritually, and emotionally. A lot of days I was complaining of how I missed my friends, my family and just life back at home and what I could be doing there. A big thing for me here is I can’t let go of something. I don’t know what it is. I can’t pinpoint it. Guatemala was tearing me apart spiritually. I couldn’t understand the purpose for God having me there. I felt so apart from God and his will. I would constantly be thinking “what am I doing here”, “God I don’t see how you are going to use me, I don’t feel like I have anything to give”. Not to say I didn’t have fun. I got to meet a lot of people in Guatemala and in all the cities we went to, and at our ministry site I built some good relationships. I think through us we left something there at “Casa de Sion”. I think we left the spirit of Christ. Aside from any negative feeling only caused by the enemy, I could tell by the end that my little buddy Irwin, his brother and Dad were different. Dominga (our “mother” lol) was smiling all the time and started joking around with us and really loosening up. I loved seeing that. When I know I’ve comforted someone or helped someone come out of a shell it makes my day. Seriously. Sadness or thoughts holding me back are gone. I know that it wasn’t me who put that smile there but Jesus. Thank you God! Wow he is so good. Praise God for the work he does through us! And at times….we don’t even realize he’s doing it…until later when we are seeking him, and it hits us, and we become thankful, because all we thought was that we weren’t doing anything. We thought we weren’t making an influence, we thought we were nothing, we thought we weren’t good enough. And when we listen to him to come talk to him, the doors open. He says “Ben, what took you so long to simply come meet with me? I want you to talk with me DAILY. I’ll show you so much. I’m your papa! I’m so proud of you! Don’t be scared about anything, you’re my son. You have my DNA, which means you don’t have to fear. Seek me! I don’t want you to be fearful! I don’t want you to worry or doubt!
Sooo yea that was month 1 and now I’m Honduras. The minute we drove into Honduras I felt soooo refreshed! It was the weirdest feeling! God was telling me this is going to be a good month for you Ben! And so far it has! I’m loving it here. I’ve still been struggling with feeling kinda bummed out and feeling like I’m useless out here, BUT….this past week has been incredible! I’ve been seeking him more and it’s just been good. SO far I’ve been building really good friendships with our contacts who we are staying with and the contacts we’re working for. The other night we went to a concert and this huge nice church that I didn’t think could exist here. The moment we walked in God told me to pray for this girl in a wheel chair cause she had fallen some time in her life and got paralyzed. I knew I had to, and I wanted to but I didn’t know when a good time would be. I asked my squad leader Mike and he said NOW! So I grabbed our translator and we prayed for this girl and her legs to get up and walk (we prayed around HUNDREEEDS of people). After I prayed nothing happened there and I was kinda upset, but instantly after that I had a peace over me cause I knew I had to do it, so I did. I obeyed and God was happy with that. I’ve never done that before in my life and he was pleased. And I think I was more blessed from the girl and her mom with how much trust they had in the Lord and how they had not an ounce of worry in them! I needed to see that. In that same night a ton of teens came running up to praise God and I was amazed and how many teens and kids LOVED Jesus! It gave me hope for the top murder country in the world! That night God gave me passion for Honduras. Like deep passion. Ever since that night I’ve been so happy every day, loving talking and meeting new people, loving working with our team in this ministry, just a ton of stuff. And the other day me and our bus driver Ronny, who’s a really good friend now, talked to this drunk guy. I didn’t talk much about Jesus but I loved that man. All the women wanted me and the rest of my team to avoid him but I insisted on talking to him. He needed it, and so did I. We talked about his life and kids, we had some laughs and I had some scary moments, cause he kept punching my arm jokingly and I thought if I say something he doesn’t like he was gonna punch me in the face haha, he was quite an aggressive guy lol, but at the end I had our translator tell me how to say “Hey thank you, you’re a good man, and God thinks you are to.” It sounds pretty cheesy but at the time that’s what I was thinking and he loved it. He gave me a big hug and kept thanking me.
Im not sure what else to say, I’m loving Honduras and im loving where we’re staying. We are the first full squad here in Honduras and we are the first squad to stay here at this camp/ retreat center we’re at. Tony and his wife have an INCREDIBLE heart and passion for this country. I couldn’t believe it. It hits you like a tons of bricks and I feel like I could come back here FOR SURE to help him grow this ministry here. It’s the top murder capital in the world, a.k.a not the safest place to be for a pasty white greengo who sticks out, to be. This place needs hope, this place needs compassion accompanied with a fierce authority. I plan on bringing it here while I can, and I can see many more following in our footsteps. God can definetly move through Tony and through all the different ministries we’re working with.
Thanks for reading, everyone! I love and miss you guys SO much!
This is our first ministry site in Guatemala, Casa de Sion
This is a lil glimpse of where we're stayingat now. More to come!
