Road Journal Back Entries 09.05 thru 11.05
CH Road Journal 10.06.05
October 06, 2005
09.21-23.05 - After finsihing a fantastic night at 33 Live, our new youth group at New Life Christian Church, Jenny and I jumped in the car and headed to Rochester where we spent the night at the Johnson's house. Early the next morning we headed south to Randolph, NY to Camp Li-Lo-Li where we were the guest speakers and worship leaders for the Christian Academy of Western New York's annual fall retreat. The two short days we spent there were rich and encouraging as we challenegd the teens to become the leaders of excelence that God has called them to be. I also had a ton of on the zip-line portion of the camp's ropes course! See the zip-line cam video on our Audioblogger page! Many thanks to Mrs. McDonald, Jim, Larry and all the rest of the Camp and School staff.
09.24.05 - Jennifer and I sang in the beautiful wedding of one of my high school class friends, Arianna Woodcock. They were married by my father at Cornell University on Saturtday. Congratulations Jay and Ari! Blessngs and much love!
09.25-27.05 - Spent a few extra days at Grandma & Grandpa (NEW!) Hopper's house in Freeville, NY.
09.30.05 - CAR ACCIDENT! Jenny was driving west on 104 just off 81 going into Mexico (headed towards Rochester). She glanced away from the road towards me to answer a question, and then looked back forward only to scream as she
had drifted into the other lane with 3 cars oncoming. At about 50-mph she swerved back into our lane and over-steered, sending the car into a dangerous back and forth "jibing" motion. I tried to help correct it, but the car ended up going off the road to the right, getting some air, and then running along a deep ditch with the left side of the car scrapping along a 3.5' vertical asphalt/rock ditch wall for about 50'. When the dust cleared we were looking out the driver's side window, almost even with the road above.
Three cars stopped to help us. I pulled Jenny out through the passenger door (as hers was pinned against the wall). Eva didn't even know anything had happened. The incident was very "un-violent" in terms of shaking or motion...everything was smooth. An officer showed up within three minutes as it had been 911'd in. A mom in a mini-van with kids took a shaken up Jenny, along with Eva, to Dr. Ron & Susie Russell's house not 3 miles down the road. No bruises, bangs or
bumps, pulled muscles, etc.
The police officer's patrol car was almost hit twice as we were on the backside of what he termed, "the worst possible section of the worst possible hill you could have broken down on." As other vehicles slowed to offer assistance, the cars coming over the rise behind them locked up, screeched and wildly swerved to avoid more collisions. The officer eventually parked his car on the front side of the hill with flares following.
The officer and I waited for the tow (AAA couldn't find an available tow). The guy who got the car out (as I drove it) was speechless upon it's removal from the ditch.
In tow trucker Dave's exact words upon his initial viewing of the car (pardon the intended speech...but it's reality!), he said, "That f---er is going to be f---ed up even worse than it is now if I try and get it out." I just smiled thinking of the insurance premium. After he rigged up the pulleys and cable, and I steered from the inside, he stood in a dumbfounded look as I climbed out of the car. "In 25 years I have never seen anything like that," he said. I closed the door and
looked at the car...
...not a scratch.
"That is favor," I said to him, and to the cop who looked on.
"Favor?" asked Dave.
"When you serve King Jesus, He has favor on you," I said.
"Well, that's for sure," Dave said. "'Cause that's 1 in 10,000 for me."
After filling out the police report in the back of the officer's car, along with a surprise visit from Dr. Ron who laughed as he took a phone video of me in the back of a cop car, I drove away in our Acura to the Russell's. We had dinner with Ron, Susie and Josh and then headed to Lyndonville. The only problem I'm aware with the car is a slight wobble in the lignment and a creaking in the left front strut.
We spent the rest of the ride thanking the Lord for His mercy and protection for something that could have been fatal. Many prayers were sent up and we just savored how precious our little family is. Upon reaching the Nesbitt's we learned that two other Nesbitt-relative family members had been in automobile predicaments within the SAME HOUR. Tim Thomas (cousin) had a woman pull out in front of him and he missed her barely. But Jeff Katanick (cousin) and his wife weren't so lucky. They were t-boned in Lyndonville by a woman running a stop sign at over 60 mph. Jeff was Mercy Flighted to Buffalo, thrown from the vehicle, breaking his back in 2 places...he's in intensive care. His wife was taken by ambulance and in stable condition with no severe injuries. Please keep them in prayer, both Christians.
10.01.05 - Following the car accident Jenny and I took advantage of the beautiful, warm day the next day by saddling up two horses and riding to Lake Ontario. The ride was gorgeous and much needed. Someone once said, "The best thing for the soul of a man is the back of a horse." Jenny and I ran through fields, woods, pastures, corn rows, and dirt roads. On the final leg of an open stretch of field just before the barns back home, one of the coolest things happened to me. My horse and I ran by a round bail and a red tailed hawk was sitting on top of it. The hawk saw us and took off, crossing directly in front of us from left to right. With my horse running at full speed, totally maxed out and hungry to get home, the hawk flew along side of us about ten feet above and to my right for about 150 yards. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had with God's creation. It was truly a gift from the Lord to me, as He (and Jenny) knows how much I love hawks. Jennifer watched it take place from behind and wished she had had a video camera to capture the moment. But I suppose it was just meant to be shared with us and our horses. Thank you Jesus!
10.01.05 - Had a sweet time of worship at Charles Finney High in Pennfield, NY with CHB. Because the concert was originally scheduled to be at Bethel Church in Rochester the preceding Friday, and was cancled just a week prior, there wasn't much time to advirtise. Thus, only a small group of close fiorneds and family from around the area showed up. It made for a very intimate and infromal time in the presence of God. After worshiping together, Jenny had the idea of releasing the band to go pray for everyone, which they did gladly and with great anointing. Afterwards we packed up and treated everyone to dinner at Proettis Resturant in Webster, NY. Sandra was there to greet us and the staff took GREAT care of us. If you want THE BEST chicken dish in all of western, NY, get their Chicken Antonio...tell them Christopher Hopper sent you! (www.proiettis.com).
10.02.05 - After catching a few hours of sleep we woke up first thing Sunday morning and followed Denis and Becca to Church of Love Faith Center on Exchange St. in downtown Rochester. CHB did special songs for both morning services where Bishop Parris preached out of 2 Kings 4. We love Church of Love because they really know how to get down and boogie (am I allopwed to use that word? Boggie?). Then from there we (got lost) went to the University of Rochester and played a song for the campus Christian Church service (just after the Budhist service and right before the Sekh service!). It was a great time and I enjoyed connecting with a few of the students on campus. God bless you guys!
10.03-04.05 - Took a few extra days to be with Grandma & Grandpa Nesbitt (also NEW!). Family is a precious thing.
10.05.05 - Had a wonderful night at 33 Live back at our home church in northern, NY. Besides a few dates of travel for various ministry requests and the holidays, this concludes a near non-stop pace for us since July. We are glad to be home. Our new house will be finished the first week of November which we're very excited about! It will be the first time for both Jennifer and I that we've had any sort of routine and normalcy. It's the rigfht season for us. I'm planning on speding the winter writing the next installment of the White Lion Chornicles.
Blessings! Thanks for reading!
CH
SYATP 09.21.05
September 21, 2005
09.21.05 - Just had a wonderful time meeting with over 75 students at 1,000 Islands High School in northern, NY for this year's annual See You At The Pole. Just after 7am the student lead prayer meeting kicked off around the flag pole in front of the school with a clear sky and a soft wind, about 60 degrees. A brief history of the event was shared, a few scriptures were read, and prayers offered up. Spiritually, I think it was definitely a start, and a great turn out at that! My heart hungers to see DYNAMIC and PASSIONATE teens raised up in our midst who are as BOLD as LIONS when it comes to leadership and war, yet as GENTLE as SNOWFLAKES when it comes to compassion. Being a youth pastor in this area, this morning's meeting gives me something to work towards for next year. It was also my first time being up at the school, so that was cool...taking the spiritual "pulse" of the place.
CH
CH Road Journal 09.13.05
September 13, 2005
09.02.05 - The new CHB album, Airborn, was released Friday night September 2nd at Awakening. What a joy to see people so excited to hear the new material! The feedback has been very encouraging. I truly think it's our best work to date and I'm so proud of my band and my dad for really making it shine.
09.02-03.05 - Had an amazing time at Awakening September 2nd-4th at the Watertown Arena! Thanks to all of you who made it out, and to all those who prayed us through from afar! Rev. Harvey Carey spoke Friday night and Saturday morning, Rev. Kirk Gilchrist and Rev. Peter Hopper taught seminars Saturday afternoon, Sherri McCready preached Saturday night, Rev. Peter shared Sunday morning, the seminars again Sunday afternoon, and I preached the last session Sunday night. Mariely & The Restoration Band were phenomenal and carried a strong anointing during the main sessions; New Life Worship Band was our pre-session opener and did a wonderful job at leading everyone into God's presence as the doors opened over the weekend. And CHB was there, too, having a blast in the presence of God. Check out the Awakening site soon for a full library of pics, audio and video of the event (www.ourawakening.com).
Through it all we had many teens saved, delivered, miraculous healings, and baptisms in the Holy Spirit and fire! The testimonies continue to pour in! We're looking forward to the upcoming Awakenings, and responding to the new invitations from Florida, Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina.
09.08-11.05 - Just finished up a wonderful weekend in Buffalo, NY. Left home in northern NY on Thursday the 8th. Arrived at TCT Television studios on Friday morning at 11am. Had a wonderful time shooting three songs for later broadcast; "Come Love," and, "Holy Spirit Come," along with Jennifer's, "Pull Me Back," appearing on her new album next month. The staff there (Lynn and Shaun) along with the camera opperators (Josh, Dee, and Rick) were wonderful.
From there we did a 4pm load in at The Wesleyan Church of Hamburg on McKinley Ave. Jenny caught up on some sleep on the floor in the hallway during sound check, and Teaspoon got stuck in traffic arriving just before we started the second song at 7:15pm! Thanks to Paul Warner for sitting in with us on the first tune and being willing to play it out with us without any rehearsal! CHB was there as a special guest for the church's Worship Conference. We played until about 9:30pm and then had a great time meeting everyone afterwards.
That night the band stayed with families in the church (thanks Herb and Michelle!) and then arrived back at the church Saturday morning at 8am. We had a nice breakfast provided by the staff and then went on to lead worship and eventually teach a seminar for worship leaders and musicians/singers. It was a rich time of breaking down songs, leadership, musicianship and "how to get songs to flow." Many thanks to Pastor Ben and Sue Lountchenko for hosting the event!
Saturday afternoon Jenny, Eva and I headed out to stay with her parents, went sailing on Lake Ontario, and spent the night only to rise early Sunday morning to make the long drive back to the 1,000 Islands for our home church service.
Needless to say I slept in Monday morning...
Enjoy the new CD!
CH
