Kiesshauer’s music

Ryan and Bethany sang at our wedding (and Neal). They sang at many of our friends' weddings, I'm just glad they did ours before they become famous and inaccessible. One of the Third Day guys went to CCF, too, but does he respond to emails? Ryan still responds to emails, for now.

Ryan quit his job doing Techie computer stuff so that he could work for himself and do Techie computer stuff, but this time he would make his own hours and devote many hours to writing his own music. So now it has happened, Ryan has now made his final demo mix and sent it off to Ed Cash. If you know Ed Cash, put in a good word. I don't know him, but with a name like that he's got to be legit.

Here's a guy (Ryan), married to a great woman (Bethany), and they're both willing to forgo normal income in order to make music. It's hard to do that as a young married couple, other couples don't do that. Luckily Ryan is very talented and gets more Techie business than he can handle, so they've not been out on the street, but here's another couple of friends not afraid to dream and shake their lives up to make their dream happen. One of his songs has already become famous among a very large group of friends, it is a memorial to Pa Harper; you'll want to hear it at your own funeral one day. As soon as his music is publicly available, I'll let you know. If you want to read more about his process, Ryan blogs.

On a personal note to Ryan:

Ryan, we raced Mario Kart together … don't forget me.

On an impersonal note:

Third Day is a very successful group of Christian music artists, and if anyone knows Mark Lee, please ask him to give Rick a call. Rick would love that. Rick is very sorry he didn't think you were good enough for the CCF band.

Tatum’s 100

My friend Jason Tatum has lost 100 lbs this year! I have shared that story with some friends and family because I am so proud of the tremendous accomplishment, but here are the pictures to prove it and here is a story to boot.

Your first thoughts: camera tricks and a haircut. The truth is that I have read everything he's eaten and every time he's exercised for the last year. Actually, hundreds of people have read everything he's eaten and every time he's exercised for the last year. I am one of many who receive the Tatum Daily Update.

Jason is losing this weight to become mission-field-ready in order to join the campus ministry startup in Birmingham, England (a ministry with a fantastic start, so far). To me, the weight loss is the side story; the main story is an incredible young man leaning on community and pursuing his dreams. Mr. Tatum is very talented, and his mind is endlessly focused on others, on ministry, on justice, on stories, on grace … he has limitless creativity and it's all focused on being a light in the world.

Losing weight is more than an exercise; it is a spiritual journey of identity, fear, and discovery. The discovery for those of us who support him in his future ministry is what calling and purpose await after such a difficult road.

[Note: today we are at a negative 108.2 lbs. As Tatum would say, "fist pump." Also, I think I hear that he'll be working at CCF some while fundraising, that's great.]

Rick Harper, mentor

January 1998

The first time I walked into Georgia Tech CCF was 10 years ago. 33 retreats, 12 leadership retreats, 3 campus minister retreats, 1 year of interning, 2 years of seminary, 3 years on staff, 219 Bible studies, 82 runs around campus, 503 meals at no cost to me, 1 wife, countless friends, and 1 life-changing piece of advice later, and here I am with Danielle in Rwanda.

"Give God the glory and anything is possible."

CCF is where I learned to dream and change the world. My marriage, my career, my faith, my relationships are all different because of CCF, because Rick and Beth Harper have used their lives to introduce university students to Jesus.

As Danielle and I studied economics and dreamed about changing poverty, we wondered where and how we might serve, how our gifts would be used. Reflecting now from Rwanda, I praise God a lot for the direction we're going, and I have to thank Rick and Beth for the sacrifices they've made and for believing in someone that must not have seemed worth it at the time.