Jeff C
Author, Traveler, Surfer, Model, Believer, Photographer
My Faith Adventure
It was my mother who introduced me to Jesus and the idea of having a personal relationship with God.
I cherish the vivid memory I have from one special Mother's Day evening when I was seven years old. My mother and I knelt together at my bedroom window, gazing at the stars. That's when she prayed with me, and I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart.
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A few years ago, I came across a letter my mother had written to my father, who was serving in the military in Korea. In the letter, she mentioned that I had been a challenging son over the past year, but on that particular Mother's Day, she prayed with me to receive Christ as my savior.
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She observed a remarkable change in me after that. I had become more cooperative and open to spiritual matters. I cherish that letter that I now carefully keep in the center of a Bible.
Thank you, mom!
High school days of searching.
As I grew up and entered my early years in high school, I found myself entangled in friendships that were pulling me away from God and His path for me. It was a critical juncture in my life and I began to follow the crowd instead of staying true to my faith and values.
One year my father insisted that I attend a winter retreat for a large youth group in our area. I managed to convince my best friend Jim to accompany me so we could have some fun on our own terms. In my mind, I was attending solely to prove how much of a rebel I was to other people attending the retreat.
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To my surprise God's presence and Spirit touched me profoundly during that retreat. I returned home a completely transformed person. That winter retreat served as the catalyst for my decision to wholeheartedly follow Jesus throughout my life. Jim’s life was also profoundly changed by that weekend, and both of us went on to become active and committed members of the youth group. This shared experience marked a pivotal turning point in both of our lives.
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All of this unfolded during the winter of my junior year in high school. It was also during this time that my mother received a devastating diagnosis of cervical cancer and embarked on a long and grueling battle with the disease. I would often hear her moaning in pain from her bedroom, both during the day and at night. I wanted so badly to do something to alleviate her suffering. The chemotherapy and radiation treatments took a severe toll on her body. Through it all she maintained an attitude of gratitude towards God for all that she had and kept her focus on Jesus.​
Then, one fateful day, her condition took a critical turn and an ambulance arrived at our house. All of my family members rushed off to the hospital, but I was told to stay. That night my mother passed away. It is still a mystery to me why I was not included.
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While her suffering was finally relieved the experience of losing my mother was an incredibly challenging journey.
I was grateful for the many families who stepped in to support us in our time of grief. I was the youngest in the family and still living at home. My brother was away at graduate school, and my sister had just started college. Gracie, my grandmother moved in to care for me and prepare the few basic meals she knew how to cook.
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Living through the absence of the wonderful mother at this very formative juncture in life undoubtedly had a profound impact on the way I view life and shaped my perspective in many ways. With no siblings and my father off to work I learned to be self-reliant and entertain myself. Fixing small engines, building a motorized mini bike and learning guitar were some activities that entertained me. I also joined my high school tennis and swim teams, leaning toward individual performance sports. I felt that some large team sports I had participated in exhibited favoritism toward certain individuals.
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I am thankful for the youth group that God led me to before the loss of my mother. I am sure that group kept me from going off the deep end.
I was surrounded by a dynamic peer group of teenagers who were passionate about following God and sharing their faith with others. They even had fun doing it. This supportive community played a vital role in shaping my spiritual journey during that period. I started growing in my personal relationship with God and my primary mission became sharing Christ with my high school peers.
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After high school graduation, several members of our high school group, including myself, enrolled in Florida Bible College to deepen our understanding of scripture. I spent completed three years at Florida Bible College that gave me a strong and solid foundation for my faith and theology. I then transferred to Grace College in Indiana to further my education and obtain a Bachelors Degree.
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I distinctly remember a meeting with one of my college professors just before graduation from Grace College.
“What now”, he asked me? “Will you be heading to graduate school or into business?”
I told him it was my desire to travel around the world, hopefully by sailboat. Although I had never sailed on a large boat, I knew I would love it and it could get me where I wanted to go. He assured me that many others had set that goal and none that he knew of had ever succeeded.
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Perhaps you know the classic song "Sailing” by Christopher Cross?
"Sailing takes me away to where I always heard it could be.
Just a dream and the wind to carry me and soon I will be free".
This song, along with reading the adventures of Robin Lee Graham, a young man who sailed around the world alone and was featured in National Geographic, were perhaps the inspiration for my dream.
Living my dream on the “Mary Muffin” sailing across the Pacific.
I had just completed 17 uninterrupted years of schooling, attending countless lectures and viewing images and videos from countries and cultures worldwide. Now it was time to venture to the distant corners of the world I had only heard about. I now had the freedom to pursue my dream.
My goal was to personally experience the world - its people, cultures, famous places, historic landmarks, and religions. Over the next five years, I circumnavigated the globe, using various means of travel, including sailboat, motorcycle, mule, bicycle, bus, airplane, and car (often hitching rides).
The adventures were indeed as life-changing as I had anticipated. The experience was perhaps a post-graduate study in world history, culture, and survival. The journals I wrote during the trip, spanning over 1000 pages, are perhaps my dissertation on life.
My experiences were truly amazing, from the magnificent Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramids to sailing across the South Pacific, exploring New Zealand, visiting Sydney and the Opera House, and living with a family in Tokyo. I had the privilege of seeing the Parthenon in Athens, the Colosseum in Rome, surfing on the North Shore of Oahu, and exploring the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef. I've documented this incredible journey in my soon-to-be-published memoir.
The spiritual dimension of my adventures has had a profound effect on my life. Today, I deeply appreciate the rare privilege I had to personally experience all the major religious faiths of the world in their native environments.
"Today, I deeply appreciate the rare privilege I had to personally experience all the major religious faiths of the world in their native environments."
Buddhist
Deep in the heart of Japan I rose at 4:30 am to join Zen Buddhist monks in their daily ceremonies and routines of discipline.
Iconic Buddha and priests in Japan.
Hindu cremation crew
beside the Ganges river.
Hindu
In the Hindu faith Varanasi, situated on the banks of the Ganges River in India, is revered as one of the holiest cities. For every Hindu, the pursuit to bathe in or have their ashes sprinkled on the Ganges at this sacred city is one of the most profound honors. I was able to experience this deeply religious city and wander among the many cremation ghats beside the Ganges.
Islam and Christianity
In various Arab countries I explored many Islamic mosques including the Mosque of Oman, where it is believed that Mohamed ascended to heaven.
Islam and Christianity meet.
Traveling through Israel allowed me to immerse myself in the homeland of Judaism and its fascinating history. I even crossed the Red Sea and ventured through the Sinai wilderness like Moses did.
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I also learned from tracing the footsteps of Christ through Jerusalem and Palestine and the paths of the Apostle Paul through Asia Minor.
As my experiences grew I noticed a fascinating commonality among these major religions I encountered. Candles, incense, rituals, dark, expansive, and elaborate structures were consistently associated with closeness to God. This contrasted sharply with the warmth, light, freedom, and joy I had come to enjoy in my personal relationship with God.
My mother had introduced me to a simple and personal relationship with God as a child on that Mother's day evening.
Even as a child my conscience told me that I was far short of Gods perfect standard. Through the Bible I knew that my distance from Him was a wide canyon that I could not cross. I also realized that the price for my sin carried a judgement that God said would separate me from His presence forever. Jesus spoke to the religious leaders of the day who were so proud of their rituals and religious system and said, " Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven"(Matt. 18:13).
With the simple trust of a child I put my faith in Christ as the total payment for my sin. One sentence from the Bible I still remember says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only unique Son. That whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life "(John 3:16).
My personal quest to explore other faiths of the world did not weaken the truth I had come to know about God through Christ. In fact, my firsthand experiences deflated my expectations of other man-made religious paths, which were perceived to be as complete a path to truth as the cross of Christ.
Through the ups and downs of my life I have come to know that His love for me will never end and that some day when my travels on this earth are complete I will be with Him forever.
I hope that you have also found the joy and fulfillment of knowing your creator and have a clear understanding of the purpose and mission for which He created you.
I invite you to watch this 5-minute video featuring people from many countries I visited around the world who have experienced the same joy I speak of.
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CLICK HERE to watch this video.